Gamaliel

Gamaliel is a Hebrew name from gamal (to reward or repay) and El (God), meaning God is my reward or recompense of God. The name appears multiple times in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), borne by a leader of the tribe of Manasseh and a prince of that tribe. Most famously, Gamaliel was the great Pharisaic rabbi mentioned in the New Testament Acts of the Apostles, where he counseled tolerance toward the early Christians. He is said to have been the teacher of the Apostle Paul.

Gamaliel has remained rare but steady in deeply religious communities, both Jewish and Christian, who value its direct biblical connection to one of the most respected Pharisaic teachers. In the US, the name carries additional associations with President Warren G. Harding, whose middle name was Gamaliel — a reflection of the 19th-century Protestant practice of giving children weighty biblical names.

Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder, called Rabban Gamaliel, is one of the most revered figures in early rabbinic Judaism. In the Talmud he is praised as one whose death heralded the end of glory in Israel. His counsel in Acts 5 to let the early Christians be, for if their movement is from God it cannot be stopped, has been cited for centuries as an example of religious tolerance and wisdom.