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 thou hast gathered the elders of Israel, and hast said unto them: Jehovah, God of your fathers, hath appeareth unto me, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I have certainly inspected you, and that which is done to you in Egypt;
'And they have hearkened to thy voice, and thou hast entered, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye have said unto him, Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, hath met with us; and now, let us go, we pray thee, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to Jehovah our God.
'And thus ye do eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and ye have eaten it in haste; it is Jehovah's passover,
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Pass over before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy rod with which thou hast smitten the River take in thy hand, and thou hast gone:
And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, taketh a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron cometh in, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses, before God.
And Moses cometh, and calleth for the elders of the people, and setteth before them all these words which Jehovah hath commanded him;
And unto Moses He said, 'Come up unto Jehovah, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and ye have bowed yourselves afar off;'
and unto those of the sons of Israel who are near He hath not put forth His hand, and they see God, and eat and drink.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou hast known that they are elders of the people, and its authorities; and thou hast taken them unto the tent of meeting, and they have stationed themselves there with thee,
and Moab saith unto the elders of Midian, 'Now doth the assembly lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the green thing of the field.' And Balak son of Zippor is king of Moab at that time,
'And it cometh to pass as ye hear the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and of the mountain burning with fire, that ye come near unto me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders,
Judges and authorities thou dost make to thee within all thy gates which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, for thy tribes; and they have judged the people -- a righteous judgment.
then the elders of his city have sent and taken him from thence, and given him into the hand of the redeemer of blood, and he hath died;
then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which are round about the slain one,
Then hath the father of the damsel -- and her mother -- taken and brought out the tokens of virginity of the damsel unto the elders of the city in the gate,
'And if the man doth not delight to take his brother's wife, then hath his brother's wife gone up to the gate, unto the elders, and said, My husband's brother is refusing to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he hath not been willing to perform the duty of my husband's brother;
And Moses -- the elders of Israel also -- commandeth the people, saying, Keep all the command which I am commanding you to-day;
'Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your authorities, and I speak in their ears these words, and cause to testify against them the heavens and the earth,
And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land speak unto us, saying, Take in your hand provision for the way, and go to meet them, and ye have said unto them, Your servants we are, and now, make with us a covenant;
and captureth a young man of the men of Succoth, and asketh him, and he describeth unto him the heads of Succoth, and its elders -- seventy and seven men.
And he taketh ten men of the elders of the city, and saith, 'Sit down here;' and they sit down.
And Boaz saith to the elders, and to all the people, 'Witnesses are ye to-day that I have bought all that is to Elimelech, and all that is to Chilion and Mahlon, from the hand of Naomi;
And the people cometh in unto the camp, and the elders of Israel say, 'Why hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? we take unto us from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and it cometh into our midst, and He doth save us out of the hand of our enemies.'
And all the elders of Israel gather themselves together, and come in unto Samuel to Ramath,
and we have been, even we, like all the nations; and our king hath judged us, and gone out before us, and fought our battles.'
And he saith, 'I have sinned; now, honour me, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn back with me; and I have bowed myself to Jehovah thy God.'
Then doth Solomon assemble the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, unto king Solomon, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the city of David -- it is Zion;
And the king of Israel calleth to all the elders of the land, and saith, 'Know, I pray you, and see that evil this one is seeking, for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him.'
And Ahab hath seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu writeth letters, and sendeth to Samaria, unto the heads of Jezreel, the elders, and unto the supporters of Ahab, saying,
And the king sendeth, and they gather unto him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem,
Then we have asked of these elders, thus we have said to them, Who hath made for you a decree this house to build, and this wall to finish?
let alone the work of this house of God, let the governor of the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God on its place.
and every one who cometh not in by the third day, according to the counsel of the heads and of the elders, all his substance is devoted, and himself separated from the assembly of the removal.
Let, we pray thee, our heads of all the assembly stand, and all who are in our cities, who have settled strange wives, do come in at the times appointed, and with them the elders of city and city, and its judges, till the turning back of the fury of the wrath of our God from us, for this thing.'
To bind his chiefs at his pleasure, And his elders he maketh wise.
And they exalt Him in the assembly of the people, And in the seat of the elders praise Him.
Known in the gates is her husband, In his sitting with elders of the land.
And righteousness hath been the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness -- the girdle of his reins.
And these are words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the remnant of the elders of the removal, and unto the priests, and unto the prophets, and unto all the people -- whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,
And it cometh to pass, in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth of the month, I am sitting in my house, and elders of Judah are sitting before me, and fall on me there doth a hand of the Lord Jehovah,
And come in unto me do certain of the elders of Israel, and sit before me.
And it cometh to pass, in the seventh year, in the fifth month, in the tenth of the month, come in have certain of the elders of Israel to seek Jehovah, and they sit before me;
Elders of Gebal and its wise men have been in thee, Strengthening thy breach; All ships of the sea and their mariners, Have been in thee, to trade with thy merchandise.
Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land, Into the house of Jehovah your God,
Gather the people, sanctify an assembly, Assemble the aged, Gather infants and sucklings of the breasts, Go out let a bridegroom from his inner chamber, And a bride out of her closet.
And I have cut off a judge from her midst, And all its heads I slay with him, said Jehovah.