What was the Sanhedrin?

• A. The Roman governor
• B. The gathering of the apostles
• C. The supreme Jewish council that tried Jesus and handed him over to Pilate
• D. The temple priests who offered sacrifices

Answer: (C)

The Sanhedrin was the highest Jewish ruling body in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. It functioned as the supreme religious and legal council, made up of chief priests, elders, and scribes, numbering about seventy-one members. In the Gospel accounts, it acts as the body that conducts Jesus’s formal trial, makes charges (often framed around blasphemy or threats to Jewish religious order), and then hands Jesus over to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, for execution, since the Sanhedrin did not have authority to carry out capital punishment under Roman rule.

This description fits best because it captures both the authority structure and the specific action described—delivering Jesus to Pilate—rather than identifying the Roman governor, the apostles, or the temple priesthood in isolation. The other options either refer to a different authority (the Roman governor) or describe groups that are not the official ruling council responsible for judicial decisions in Jerusalem at the time.