counsel vs subject matter

counsel and subject matter both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
counsel	Yes	No	Yes	No
subject matter	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, subject matter is a hypernym of counsel; that is, subject matter is a word with a broader meaning than counsel:

counsel: something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action
subject matter: content communicating a message; what something is about

Other hypernyms of counsel include content, message, substance.

counsel (noun)	subject matter (noun)
something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action	content communicating a message; what something is about
a lawyer who pleads cases in court

counsel (verb)	subject matter (verb)
give advice to