Acts 11:30

Elders. Gr. presbuteroi, “older [men],” and so “elders,” “presbyters.” This is the first notice of such officers in the Christian church. They were probably not the apostles, for elders are mentioned separately from apostles in ch. 15:2, 4, 6. Henceforth they appear as a prominent element of church organization. The term “elder,” and to a considerable extent the office in the church to which it referred, had backgrounds in both Gentile and Jewish life. Papyri from Egypt show that the “elders” played an important role in the economic life of local villagers. Thus appeals were made to them in questions regarding the renting of land and the payment of taxes (see J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, p. 535). In Asia Minor the term was used for the members of a corporation, and in Egypt, for the priests of a temple (see A. Deissmann, Bible Studies, pp. 156, 233). In Jewish life “elder” (presbuteros) was used to designate the leader of a local synagogue, as is shown by the Theodotus Inscription (see on ch. 6:9). It was also used for lay members (Heb. zeqenim) of the Sanhedrin (see on ch. 4:5). The term thus lay ready at hand for the Christian church to adopt for their officers who held the primary responsibilities in their local congregations. In addition to these local responsibilities, the elders in the church at Jerusalem may also have occupied a position somewhat analogous to that of the zeqenim in the Jewish Sanhedrin, inasmuch as they, with the apostles, are seen in ch. 15 to have had some authority beyond the limits of their own congregation. In the present instance it was to them that the funds collected at Antioch were sent for distribution to those in need, by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

In the early church the elder was also known as an episkopos, meaning “overseer,” a word that has come into English as “bishop.” Although historically, at least since the 3d century A.D., the terms “presbyter” (elder) and “bishop” have represented two different officers of the church, the evidence of the NT indicates clearly that in apostolic times the two terms referred to the same official (cf. 1 Tim. 3:2-7 with Titus 1:5-9; see on Acts 20:28; cf. Phil. 1:1). Clement of Rome (c. A.D. 96) appears to equate the two (Epistle to the Corinthians 44), and Chrysostom (d. A.D. 407) declared, “In olden times the elders were called overseers [or bishops] and ministers [or deacons] of Christ, and the overseers, elders” (First Homily on Epistle to the Corinthians 1, in Migne, Patrologia Graeca, vol. 62, col. 183).

According to James’ epistle one of the duties of an elder is visiting the sick, praying to the Lord for their restoration to health, and anointing them with oil for healing (ch. 5:14). For a discussion of later developments in the offices of elder and bishop see pp. 26, 38-43.