Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Elder
Subjects in this Topic:
ELDER (in OT).—The rudimentary form of government which prevailed amongst the Hebrews in primitive times grew out of family life. As the father is head of the household, so the chiefs of the principal families ruled the clan and the tribe, their authority being ill-defined, and, like that of an Arab sheik, depending on the consent of the governed. In our earliest documents the ‘elders of Israel’ are the men of position and influence, who represent the community in both religious and civil affairs (Exo_3:16; Exo_3:18; Exo_12:11; Exo_17:5 f., Exo_18:12; Exo_19:7, Num_11:16, Deu_5:23; Deu_27:1; Deu_31:28): the ‘elders’ of Exo_24:1 are the ‘nobles’ of Exo_24:11. Josephus sums up correctly when he makes Moses declare: ‘Aristocracy … is the best constitution’ (Ant. VI. viii. 17). The system existed in other Semitic races (Num_22:4, Jos_9:11, Eze_27:9, Psa_105:22). After the settlement in Canaan the ‘elders’ still possessed much weight (1Sa_4:3; 1Sa_8:4; 1Sa_15:30, 2Sa_3:17; 2Sa_5:3; 2Sa_17:14 f., 1Ki_8:1). And now we find ‘elders of the city’ the governing body of the town (Rth_4:2; Rth_4:9, 1Sa_11:3, 1Ki_21:8; 1Ki_21:11, 2Ki_10:1; 2Ki_10:5); the little town of Succoth boasted no fewer than seventy-seven (Jdg_8:14). Deuteronomy brings into prominence their judicial functions (Deu_16:18; Deu_19:12; Deu_21:2 ff; Deu_22:15 ff; Deu_25:7 ff.), which were doubtless infringed upon by the position of the king as supreme judge (1Sa_8:20, 2Sa_15:4, 1Ki_3:9, 2Ki_15:5, Isa_11:5, Amo_2:3), but could not be abolished (1Ki_20:7 ff., 2Ki_10:1 ff; 2Ki_23:1). During the Exile the ‘elders’ are the centre of the people’s life (Jer_29:1, Eze_8:1; Eze_14:1; Eze_20:1, Ezr_5:9 ff; Ezr_6:7 ff.; cf. Sus 5), and after the Return they continue active (Ezr_10:8; Ezr_10:14, Psa_107:32, Pro_31:23, Joe_1:14; Joe_2:16). It is not improbable that the later Sanhedrin is a development of this institution.
J. Taylor.
ELDER (in NT).—See Bishop; Church Government, 6 (2).