Counsel/council
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G4824, symboúlion, is a Greek noun for counsel or a plan formed through deliberation and, by extension, for a council that deliberates. In the Gospels, the word most often appears when leaders coordinate opposition to Jesus.
Reader summary
Full entry for συμβούλιον (G4824) · Open the biblical lexicon
G4824, symboúlion, is a Greek noun for counsel or a plan formed through deliberation and, by extension, for a council that deliberates. In the Gospels, the word most often appears when leaders coordinate opposition to Jesus.
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (5), a plan (1), conspired (1), council (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:14. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (5), Mark (2), Acts (1).
G4824, symboúlion, is a Greek noun for counsel or a plan formed through deliberation and, by extension, for a council that deliberates. In the Gospels, the word most often appears when leaders coordinate opposition to Jesus. They plot after His Sabbath healing, seek a way to trap Him in speech, resolve to put Him to death, decide how to use Judas’s returned money, and construct a false explanation after the resurrection.
The repeated pattern shows that organized consultation can become an instrument of violence, deception, and institutional self-protection. A formal process is not righteous merely because recognized leaders participate in it. Mark 15:1 likewise places the whole leadership body around a plan that hands Jesus to Pilate. The verse does not make every council wicked; it exposes a particular council by the truth and outcome of its decision.
Acts 25:12 supplies the other major sense. Festus confers with his council before answering Paul’s appeal to Caesar. The noun can therefore refer to advisers or a deliberative body within a legal-administrative setting, but the verse does not establish a complete model of modern due process or endorse every feature of Roman rule. G4824 helps readers distinguish the fact of deliberation from its moral quality.
Counsel may slow a decision, gather expertise, clarify jurisdiction, or test a proposal. It may also coordinate a lie, isolate a target, or give collective cover to wrongdoing. Faithful application asks who is heard, what evidence is examined, whether power can be challenged, what protections exist for the accused and vulnerable, and whether the conclusion serves truth and justice.
The word does not prove that committees are wise, that private meetings are corrupt, or that modern councils duplicate first-century bodies. It calls teachers to read each plan and council inside its narrative purpose.
G4824 names counsel or a deliberated plan in seven Gospel scenes and a council in Acts. The Gospel concentration exposes coordinated opposition to Jesus, while Acts shows the noun’s institutional sense in an appeal decision.
But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
The Pharisees respond to Jesus’ healing by forming a lethal plot, revealing deliberation directed against mercy and the healer.
Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
The plan seeks to trap Jesus through His words, so consultation becomes coordinated verbal entrapment rather than honest inquiry.
When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him to death.
The chief priests and elders conspire toward Jesus’ death, locating the plan inside the Passion narrative’s abuse of authority.
After conferring together, they used the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.
The leaders deliberate over blood money and buy a burial field, addressing its use without confessing the injustice surrounding it.
And after the chief priests had met with the elders and formed a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money
The formed plan funds a false report about the empty tomb, making organized deception part of the resurrection opposition.
Early in the morning, the chief priests, elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin devised a plan. They bound Jesus, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate.
The leadership body devises a plan, binds Jesus, and transfers Him to Pilate, joining deliberation to coercive action.
Then Festus conferred with his council and replied, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
Festus consults his council before recognizing Paul’s appeal, showing the noun’s metonymic use for an advisory body.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. A deliberative assembly or formal counsel session, distinct from συνέδριον by Hellenistic rather than Jewish institutional context.
A deliberative assembly or formal counsel session, distinct from συνέδριον by Hellenistic rather than Jewish institutional context.
(σύμβουλος), [in LXX: 4Ma.17:17 א * ;] a word of the Græco-Roman period (of. Lat. consilium, and see Deiss., BS, 238) = cl. συμβουλία (Arist., Xen.),
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a council, advice
Read versea council, advice
Read versea council, advice
Read versea council, advice
Read versea council, advice
Read versea council, advice
Read versea council, advice
Read versea council, advice
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
συμβούλιον is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Matthew’s uses of G4824 form a sobering sequence. Leaders deliberate after an act of healing, plan verbal entrapment, conspire toward Jesus’ death, decide how to dispose of blood money, and later fund a false account of the empty tomb. The procedures vary, but the pattern is consistent: collective action can make wrongdoing look orderly without making it just.
The noun itself names counsel or a council; the narrative reveals its moral character. Acts 25:12 prevents a simplistic conclusion that every deliberative body is condemned. Festus consults advisers before answering Paul’s appeal, and the legal setting requires attention to jurisdiction and process. Yet Acts as a whole also shows the limits of imperial justice.
G4824 therefore helps churches and leaders examine both substance and process. A faithful council seeks truth, hears affected people, permits challenge, identifies conflicts of interest, protects the vulnerable, and remains accountable for its decision. A corrupt council may use confidentiality, urgency, unanimity, or institutional reputation to suppress evidence and share blame.
The lesson is not that meetings save or destroy by themselves. Deliberation is a tool whose moral quality appears in what it loves, whom it serves, what truth it receives, and what action follows.
Matt.28.12
G4824 is a neuter noun. The accusative singular appears in the Gospel expressions for taking or forming counsel, while the genitive in Acts 25:12 refers metonymically to the council with whom Festus conferred. Grammar marks the phrase’s role; context identifies plot, plan, or advisory body.
Hebrew Scripture repeatedly portrays counsel as something that may serve wisdom or plot harm. The Gospel uses of G4824 continue that moral distinction around opposition to Jesus, while Acts places a council within a legal appeal. The canonical connection concerns accountable deliberation; it does not collapse distinct Hebrew terms, Jewish bodies, and Roman institutions into one lexical identity.