συμβούλ-ιον G4824
Counsel, consultation, plot; a council of advisors
The noun symboulion carries two related but distinguishable senses rooted in the idea of deliberation. Most frequently in the New Testament it denotes the act of taking counsel or hatching a plot — a conspiratorial meeting of minds rather than a formal body. The Pharisees 'took counsel' against Jesus (Matt 12:14), they plotted how to entrap him (Matt 22:15), and the chief priests 'took counsel' to put him to death (Matt 27:1). In a single occurrence at Acts 25:12, however, it refers to the actual advisory council that accompanied the Roman governor Festus, a technical term for the consilium of Roman provincial administration.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Counsel, consultation, or plot — the act of deliberating together, typically with hostile or strategic intent. This sense appears seven times, always in the phrase symboulion lambanein or symboulion didonai ('to take counsel' or 'to give counsel'). The Pharisees take counsel to destroy Jesus (Matt 12:14), to trap him with the question about taxes (Matt 22:15), and the chief priests conspire to condemn him (Matt 27:1) and then deliberate about the blood money (Matt 27:7) and bribing the guards (Matt 28:12). Spanish 'consejo' and French 'conseil' consistently render the deliberative action, while German 'Beratung' and 'Rat' both emphasize the planning process. Mark 3:6 and 15:1 round out this hostile-consultation pattern. 7×
AR["مَشورَةً","مَشُورَةً","مَشْوَرَةً"]·ben["পরামর্শ"]·DE["Beratung","Rat"]·EN["a-council","counsel"]·FR["conseil"]·heb["עֵצָה"]·HI["के","मशवरा","सभा","सलअह","सलाह"]·ID["keputusan","musyawarah","rencana"]·IT["consiglio"]·jav["Pirembagan","pirembagan","rembugan","rerembagan"]·KO["모의를","의논-을","의논을","의논했다","회의를"]·PT["conselho"]·RU["совет","совещание"]·ES["consejo"]·SW["baraza","mashauri","shauri","wakashauriana"]·TR["danışma","karar","toplantı"]·urd["مشورہ"]
2. sense 2 — A council of advisors — the formal body assembled to consult with a governing official, corresponding to the Latin consilium. At Acts 25:12 the Roman governor Festus confers 'with his council' (meta tou symbuliou) before ruling that Paul will be sent to Caesar. English 'council,' Spanish 'consejo,' and French 'conseil' overlap with sense 1 in form, but the shift from abstract action to concrete governing body is clear from context. German 'Beratung' (deliberation) somewhat underplays the institutional character that the Greek and Latin parallels suggest. 1×
AR["المَجْلِسِ"]·ben["পরিষদের"]·DE["Beratung"]·EN["council"]·FR["conseil"]·heb["מוֹעֵצָה"]·HI["परिषदके"]·ID["dewan,"]·IT["consiglio"]·jav["dèwan,"]·KO["자문회와"]·PT["conselho,"]·RU["советом"]·ES["consejo"]·SW["baraza"]·TR["meclisin"]·urd["مشیروں"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
συμβούλ-ιον, τό, advice, counsel, especially with purposes of evil, NT __II a council of advisors or assessors, Refs 1st c.AD+; especially frequently of the consilium of a Roman magistrate, governor, etc., NT+2nd c.BC+