Reference: Elder
Hastings
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 (Ex 3:16,18; 12:11; 17:5 f., Ex 18:12; 19:7; Nu 11:16; De 5:23; 27:1; 31:28): the 'elders' of Ex 24:1 are the 'nobles' of Ex 24:11. Josephus sums up correctly when he makes Moses declare: 'Aristocracy
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Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:
And they shall hearken to your voice: and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and you shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us: and now let us go, we beseech you, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.
And thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with you of the elders of Israel; and your rod, with which you smote the river, take in your hand, and go.
And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.
And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship afar off.
And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
And it came to pass, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that you came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
Judges and officers shall you make in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, throughout your tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
Then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
Then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
Then shall the father of the young woman, and her mother, take and bring forth the evidence of the young woman's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:
And if the man desires not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.
And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.
Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth as witness against them.
Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make you a covenant with us.
And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men.
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.
And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it comes among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray you, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeks trouble: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.
And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying,
And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
Then asked we those elders, and said unto them, Who commanded you to build this house, and to complete these walls?
Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.
And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the order of the leaders and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and he himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.
Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them who have taken foreign wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter is turned from us.
To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his elders wisdom.
Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.
And righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist.
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the rest of the elders who were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
The elders of Gebal and its wise men were in you as your caulkers: all the ships of the sea with their oarsmen were in you to market your merchandise.
Sanctify you a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD.
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that nurse: let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her chamber.
And I will cut off the judge from its midst, and will slay all its princes with him, says the LORD.