COUNSEL, COUNSELLOR (סﯴד, H6051, a session, assembly; עֵצָה֒, H6783, advice; דְּתָבַר, H10188, judge, lawyer; βουλή, G1087, counsel, purpose, will; βουλευτής, G1085, counselor). The Hebraic mind associated thought and counsel because of the objectivity of the spoken word (Isa 55:11). The counsel of the nations and the thoughts of the people were closely related (Ps 33:10, 11). When counsel had been acted on, tr. into action, it could be spoken of as “standing” (Ps 33:11), as “filled” (Ps 20:4), or as “completed” (Isa 44:26). In the negative, counsel which was rejected could be spoken of as having been “broken” (2 Sam 15:34), as having been “swallowed up” (Isa 49:19), or as having been “emptied” (Isa 19:3).

Isaiah saw the coming king as one whom the Spirit of the Lord had supplied with counsel (Isa 11:2); he was to be called “Counselor.” The counsel of peace was to be established between the coming Messiah and the high priest (Zech 6:13). Prophets were spoken of as standing “in the council of the Lord to hear his word.”

In the NT Joseph of Arimathea was called a bouleutēs, a respected member of the council (Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50). “Counsel” was used less in the NT than the OT, and most frequently was the equivalent of advice. It was said, however, that God’s counsel was immutable (Heb 6:17). The counsel of man was perfectly open to God (1 Cor 4:4). No human counsel could be hidden from God, but His counsel was above the figuring out by men (Rom 11:33).