It is generally accepted that from about AD 6, they controlled the high-priesthood. As a result, they also controlled most of the Sanhedrin under King Herod’s nodding approval. This council of elders acted as the principal ruling body of Judaism. The Sanhedrin was responsible for administering all internal Judean activity under the presiding rulership of the high priest. These hefty judgments fell into the Sanhedrin’s capable hands with the incredibly small number of only seventy men, plus the