'Elders' in the Bible

So Joseph went up to bury his father. And all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, went up with him,

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 Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the {Israelites}.

And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and he said to them, "Select and take for yourselves sheep for your clans and slaughter the Passover sacrifice.

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.

Look, I [will be] standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out from it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel.

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 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy from the elders of Israel went up.

And to the elders he said, "Wait for us here until we return to you. And look, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever {has a dispute} will bring [it] to you."

And the elders of the community shall place their hands on the bull's head before Yahweh, and he shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh.

Then on the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and Israel's elders,

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.

So Moses went out, and he spoke the words of Yahweh to the people, and he gathered [together] seventy men from the elders of the people, and he {made them stand} all around the tent.

Then Yahweh went down in the cloud and spoke to him, and he took away the spirit that [was] on him, and he {put it} on the seventy elders. And as soon as the spirit was resting on them they prophesied, but they did not do it again.

Then Moses and the elders of Israel were gathered to the camp.

So Moses stood up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed after him.

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.

So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went [with] a fee for divination in their hand; they came to Balaam and spoke the words of Balak to him.

{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,

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.

{And then} the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with [in the field], that has not pulled a yoke,

and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a {wadi that flows with water all year} and [that] has not been plowed and has not been sown; [then] {there they shall break the neck of the heifer in the wadi}.

And all of the elders of that city nearest to the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer [with] the broken neck in the wadi.

then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his {town},

and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son [is] stubborn and rebellious; {he does not obey us}, [and] he is a glutton and a drunkard.'

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}.

And [then] the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man as wife, but he [now] {dislikes} her,

and now look {he has accused her falsely}, saying, "I did not find {your daughter a virgin}," but here [is] [evidence of] the virginity of my daughter'; and they shall spread the cloth [out] {before} the elders of the city.

Then the elders of that city shall take the man, and they shall discipline him.

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 the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him, and [if] he persists and says, '{I do not desire to} marry her'

[then] his sister-in-law shall go near him before the eyes of the elders, and she shall pull off his sandal from his foot, and she shall spit in his face, and she shall {declare} and she shall say, 'This is how it is done to the man who does not build the house of his brother.'

Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, {saying}, "Keep all of the commandment that I [am] commanding you {today}.

"You [are] standing {today}, all of you, {before} Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel,

So Moses wrote this law, and he gave it to the priests, the descendants of Levi, the [ones] carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel.

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.

Remember [the] old days, {the years long past}; ask your father, and he will inform you, your elders and they will tell you.

And Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up [with] the elders of Israel before the people of Ai.

Then all Israel, {foreigner as well as native}, with the elders, officials, and judges stood {on either side} of the ark before the priests and the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. Half of them [stood] in front of Mount Gerizim, and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses Yahweh's servant had commanded before to bless the people of Israel.

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}." '

The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them.

Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, heads, judges, and officials, and he said to them, "I am old and {well-advanced in years},

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem; he summoned the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officials, and they presented themselves before God.

Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who lived long after Joshua, and who had known all the work that Yahweh did for Israel.

And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who saw all the great work Yahweh had done for Israel.

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.

He took the elders of the city and [the] thorn bushes and briers of the wilderness, and {he trampled} the men of Succoth with them.

When the {Ammonites} made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.

Jephthah said to the elders, "Did you not shun me and drive me out from the house of my father? Why do you come to me now when you have trouble?"

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us {to fight} against the {Ammonites} and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead."

So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back {to fight} against the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gives them {over to me}, will I be your head?"

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a {witness} between us; we will act according to your word."

So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.

So the elders of the congregation said, "What should we do for the remaining [ones] for wives, since the women from Benjamin have been destroyed?"

And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat.

And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]."

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.

And all of the people who [were] at the gate and the elders said, "[We are] witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who {together} built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem.

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 the elders of Jabesh said to him, "Leave us alone for seven days so that we may send messengers in all the territory of Israel, and if there [is] no deliverer for us, then we will come out to you."

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."

So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, "{Have you come in peace}?"

Then David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "{Here is} a gift for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh!"

The word of Abner {came to} the elders of Israel, saying, "{For quite some time} you were seeking David as king over you.

All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David {made a covenant} with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh; then they anointed David as king over Israel.

The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he [was] not willing, and he did not eat [any] food with them.

The word [was] right in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "{Thus and so} Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, but {thus and so} I have advised.

Then King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak to the elders of Judah: 'Why [are] you last to bring back the king to his house? The talk of all Israel has come to the king in his house.

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.

All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.

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."

All of the elders and all of the people said to him, "Do not listen and do not consent."

So she wrote letters in the name of Ahab and sealed them with his seal. She sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who [were] dwelling with Naboth in his city.

The men of his city and the elders and nobles who were living in his city did according to what Jezebel had sent to them, as [was] written in the letters which she had sent to them.

Now Elisha [was] sitting in his house and the elders [were] sitting with him, and [the king] dispatched a man from before him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Did you see that this son of a murderer has sent to remove my head? Look, when the messenger comes, close the door; and you must {hold the door closed against him}. [Is] not the sound of the feet of his master behind 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 whoever was over the house, and whoever was over the city, and the elders and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, "We [are] your servants; all that you say to us, we shall do. We shall not make anyone a king. Do [what] is good in your eyes."

He sent Eliakim who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, the elders, and the priests, [all] clothed in sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

So the king sent [word], and all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him.

Then all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh. And they anointed David as king over Israel according to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Samuel.

And it happened [that] David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the house of Obed-Edom with joy.

And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of Yahweh standing between earth and heaven, with his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

Then Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the {families} for the {Israelites}, to Jerusalem in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which [is] Zion.

And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.

Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who had been {serving} before Solomon his father when he was alive, saying, "What word do you advise to answer this people?"

But he forsook the advice of the elders that advised him and took counsel of the young men who had grown up with him who were {serving} before him.

And the king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the advice of the elders.

Then they sent [word] to the king, and he gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

And the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report came to Darius, and then [answer] was received.

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.

And I issue forth a decree for what you should do for these elders of the Jews to build this house of God. The full expense will be paid to these men from the riches of the king from the taxes of [the province] Beyond the River, without delay.

So the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building by the command of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia.