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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Go and gather the elders of Israel and say to them, 'Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, "I have carefully attended to you and what has been done to you in Egypt."
And they will listen to your voice, and you will go, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews has met with us, and now let us please go [on] a journey of three days into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God.'
And this is how you will eat it--[with] your waists fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you will eat it in haste. It [is] Yahweh's Passover.
And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go on before the people and take with you [some] from the elders of Israel, and the staff with which you struck the Nile take in your hand, and go.
And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God.
And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he placed before them all these words that Yahweh had commanded him.
And to Moses he said, "Go up to Yahweh--you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy from the elders of Israel--and you will worship at a distance.
And toward the leaders of the {Israelites} he did not stretch out his hand, and they beheld God, and they ate, and they drank.
And Yahweh said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy men from the elders of Israel whom you know [are] elders of the people and their officials; take them to the tent of assembly, and they will stand there with you.
And Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now the crowd will lick up all around us, like a bull devours the grass of the field." And Balak son of Zippor [was] king of Moab at that time.
{And then} {when you heard} the voice from the midst of the darkness, and [as] the mountain [was] burning with fire, and [and] all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,
"You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render [for] the people {righteous judgments}.
then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall be put to death.
then your elders and your judges shall go out and shall measure [the distance] to the cities that [are] around the slain one.
then [in defense] the father of the young woman shall take, along with her mother, and [together] they must bring out the [evidence of] the virginity of the young woman [to display it] to the elders of the city {at the city gate}.
But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.'
Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, {saying}, "Keep all of the commandment that I [am] commanding you {today}.
Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may speak in their ears these words, and [that] I may call as witness against them heaven and earth.
So our elders said to us and all the inhabitants of our land, 'Take in your hand provisions for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We [are] your servants; so then {make a covenant with us}." '
He captured a young man {from Succoth} and questioned him. [The young man] listed for him the commanders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat.
And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi.
When the army came [back] to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why has Yahweh defeated us today before [the] Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to us from Shiloh so that it may come into our midst and deliver us from the hand of our enemies."
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
so that we {also} may be like all the nations, and our king may rule us and go out before us and fight our battles."
Then he said, "I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me {so that I can worship} Yahweh your God."
At that time, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the {families} of the {Israelites} before King Solomon, in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion.
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, "Please know and realize that this [man is] seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my women, my sons, my silver, and my gold, and I did not withhold [anything] from him."
Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu wrote letters, and he sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab, saying,
So the king sent [word], and all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him.
Then we asked those elders and said this to them, 'Who issued forth to you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?'
Leave this work of the house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site.
Anyone who did not come within three days, by decision of the officials and elders, all of his possessions would be devoted to God, and he himself would be excluded from the assembly of exiles.
Please let our leaders stand for the whole assembly, and let all that are in our cities who have married foreign women come at set times, and with them the elders of and judges of each city, until the fierce wrath of our God because of this matter is averted from us."
to obligate his officials {as he saw fit} and teach his elders wisdom.
and let them exalt him in [the] congregation of [the] people, and praise him in [the] assembly of [the] elders.
Her husband is known at the gates, in his seat among the elders of the land.
And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
And these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the exiles, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem [to] Babylon,
{And then} in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], on the fifth [day] of the month, I [was] sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah [were] sitting {before me}. And the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell on me there,
And men from the elders of Israel came to me, and they sat {before me}.
And then in the seventh year, in the fifth [month], on the tenth [day] of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to consult Yahweh, and they sat {before me}.
The elders of Gebal and its {skilled men} were {among you} [as] the repairers of [the] seam of your boat; all of the ships of the sea and their mariners were {among you} to barter your wares.
Solemnize a fast! Call an assembly! Gather [the] elders, all [of] the inhabitants of the land [in] the house of Yahweh your God, and cry out to Yahweh.
gather [the] people, consecrate [the] assembly; assemble [the] elders, gather [the] children, even those [who are] breast-feeding; let [the] bridegroom come out from his private room, and [the] bride from her canopy.
And I will cut off [the] ruler from its midst and I will kill all of its officials with him," says Yahweh.