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See also:ELDER (Gr. 1rpev(3iTepos) , the name given at different times to a ruler or officer in certain See also:political and ecclesiastical systems of See also:government.
I. The See also:- OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")
office of elder is in its origin political and is a relic of the old patriarchal See also:system. The unit of See also:primitive society is always the See also:family; the only tie that binds men together is that of kinship. " The eldest male See also:parent," to quote See also:Sir Henry165
See also:Maine,' " is absolutely supreme in his See also:household. His dominion extends to See also:life and See also:death and is as unqualified over his See also:children and their houses as over his slaves." The tribe, which is a later development, is always an aggregate of families or clans, not a collection of individuals. " The See also:union of several clans for See also:common political See also:action," as See also:Robertson See also:- SMITH
- SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790)
- SMITH, ALEXANDER (183o-1867)
- SMITH, ANDREW JACKSON (1815-1897)
- SMITH, CHARLES EMORY (1842–1908)
- SMITH, CHARLES FERGUSON (1807–1862)
- SMITH, CHARLOTTE (1749-1806)
- SMITH, COLVIN (1795—1875)
- SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY (1824-1893)
- SMITH, G
- SMITH, GEORGE (1789-1846)
- SMITH, GEORGE (184o-1876)
- SMITH, GEORGE ADAM (1856- )
- SMITH, GERRIT (1797–1874)
- SMITH, GOLDWIN (1823-191o)
- SMITH, HENRY BOYNTON (1815-1877)
- SMITH, HENRY JOHN STEPHEN (1826-1883)
- SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED (1847– )
- SMITH, JAMES (1775–1839)
- SMITH, JOHN (1579-1631)
- SMITH, JOHN RAPHAEL (1752–1812)
- SMITH, JOSEPH, JR
- SMITH, MORGAN LEWIS (1822–1874)
- SMITH, RICHARD BAIRD (1818-1861)
- SMITH, ROBERT (1689-1768)
- SMITH, SIR HENRY GEORGE WAKELYN
- SMITH, SIR THOMAS (1513-1577)
- SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893)
- SMITH, SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY (1764-1840)
- SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845)
- SMITH, THOMAS SOUTHWOOD (1788-1861)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (1769-1839)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (c. 1730-1819)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (fl. 1596)
- SMITH, WILLIAM FARRAR (1824—1903)
- SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1808—1872)
- SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1825—1891)
- SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-'894)
Smith says, " was produced by the pressure of See also:practical See also:necessity, and always tended towards See also:dissolution when this practical pressure was withdrawn. The only organization for common action was that the leading men of the clans consulted together in See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time of need, and their See also:influence led the masses with them. Out of these conferences arose the senates of elders found in the See also:ancient states of Semitic and See also:Aryan antiquity alike." 2 With the development of See also:civilization there came a time when See also:age ceased to be an indispensable See also:condition of leadership. The old See also:title was, however, generally retained, e.g. the 'yipoems so often mentioned in See also:Homer, the yegovala of the Dorian states, the senatus and the patres conscripti of See also:Rome, the See also:sheikh or elder of See also:Arabia, the See also:alderman of an See also:English See also:- BOROUGH (A.S. nominative burh, dative byrig, which produces some of the place-names ending in bury, a sheltered or fortified place, the camp of refuge of a tribe, the stronghold of a chieftain; cf. Ger. Burg, Fr. bor, bore, bourg)
- BOROUGH [BURROUGH, BURROWE, BORROWS], STEVEN (1525–1584)
borough, the seigneur (See also:Lat. See also:senior) of feudal See also:France.
2. It was through the influence of Judaism that the originally political office of elder passed over into the See also:Christian See also:- CHURCH
- CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
- CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
- CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
- CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
- CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)
Church and became ecclesiastical. The Israelites inherited the office from their Semitic ancestors (just as did the Moabites and the Midianites,of whose elders we read in See also:Numbers xxii. 7), and traces of it are found throughout their See also:history. Mention is made in See also:Judges viii. 14 of the elders of Succoth whom " See also:Gideon taught with thorns of the See also:wilderness and with briers." It was to the elders of See also:Israel in See also:Egypt that See also:Moses communicated the See also:plan of Yahweh for the redemption of the See also:people (See also:Exodus iii. 16). During the sojourn in the wilderness the elders were the intermediaries between Moses and the people, and it was out of the ranks of these elders that Moses See also:chose a See also:council of seventy " to See also:bear with him the See also:burden of the people " (Numbers xi. 16). The elderswere the See also:governors of the people and the administrators of See also:justice. There are frequent references to their See also:work in the latter capacity in the See also:book of See also:Deuteronomy, especially in relation to the following crimes—the disobedience of sons; See also:slander against a wife; the refusal of See also:levirate See also:marriage; See also:man-slaughter; and See also:blood-revenge. Their See also:powers were gradually curtailed by (a) the development of the See also:monarchy, to which of course they were in subjection, and which became the See also:court of See also:appeal in questions of See also:law;3 (b) the See also:appointment of See also:special judges, probably chosen from amongst the elders themselves, though their appointment meant the loss of See also:privilege to the See also:general See also:body; (c) the rise of the priestly orders, which usurped many of the prerogatives that originally belonged to the elders. But in spite of the rise of new authorities, the elders still retained a large amount of influence. We hear of them frequently in the See also:Persian, See also:Greek and See also:Roman periods. In the New Testament the members of the Sanhedrin in See also:Jerusalem are very frequently termed " elders " or rrpev,6irrepot, and from them the name was taken over by the Church.
3. The name " elder " was probably the first title bestowed upon the See also:officers of the Christian Church—since the word See also:deacon does not occur in connexion with the appointment of the Seven in Acts vi. Its universal See also:adoption is due not only to its currency amongst the See also:Jews, but also to the fact that it was frequently used as the title of magistrates in the cities and villages of See also:Asia See also:Minor. For the history of the office of elder in the See also:early Church and the relation between elders and bishops see See also:PRESBYTER.
4. In See also:modern times the use of the See also:term is almost entirely confined to the Presbyterian church, the officers of which are always called elders. According to the Presbyterian theory of church government there are two classes of elders—" teaching elders," or those specially set apart to the See also:pastoral office, and " ruling elders," who are laymen, chosen generally by the See also:congregation and set apart by ordination to be associated with the pastor in the oversight and government of the church. When
' Ancient Law, p. 12b. 2 See also:Religion of the Semites, p.34.
3 There is a hint at this even in the See also:Pentateuch, " every See also:great See also:matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shah See also:judge themselves."
the word is used without any qualification it is understood to apply to the latter class alone. For an See also:account of the duties, qualifications and powers of elders in the Presbyterian Church see See also:PRESBYTERIANISM. .
See W. R. Smith, History of the Semites; H. Maine, Ancient Law; E. See also:Schurer, The Jewish People in the Time of See also:Christ; J. See also:Wellhausen, History of Israel and See also:Judah; G. A. Deissmann, See also:Bible Studies, p.
End of Article: ELDER (Gr. 1rpev(3iTepos)
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