The rabbinic tradition as recorded in the Mishnah (m. Sanh. 1:6) traces the origin of the Sanhedrin back to the command of God to MOSES to gather together seventy men chosen from among the elders of Israel (Num. 11:16). After the EXILE it was said to have been reorganized by EZRA. While the precise origins of the Sanhedrin remain obscure, it is commonly argued that historically one cannot speak of the Sanhedrin proper until Hellenistic times, that is, the period of Israel’s domination