As we begin to look at the considerable amount of biblical teaching on church leadership structures and roles, we need to begin, as with so many New Testament teachings, in the Old Testament, where it would appear the foundations have been laid for us. It does seem clear that the New Testament practice of church elders stems from the Old Testament role of national and tribal elders, though we can’t, of course, merely transfer the practice from a theocratic nation to that of a local congregation of believers, anywhere in the world.
There are more than 100 references to elders in the Old Testament, compared to around 60 in the New Testament, and the word usually used is the Hebrew word zaqen, which comes from the word zaqan, meaning beard. Interestingly, Ezra mentions the elders of the nation seven times in his historical record, using the word zaqen twice (10:8, 14), but an alternative word, sab, which means someone with grey hair, five times (5:5, 9; 6:7, 8, 14). Jeremiah also uses this word once (29:1), and both those terms are significant in that they indicate a seniority and maturity of age. Sometimes in the Old Testament, the word in context simply refers to old people in general, but on at least 100 occasions it clearly refers to a body of men who have a position of ruling or leadership among God’s people.
We cannot overstate the significance of the elders in the life of the people of Israel. As Strauch says, “The council of elders was one of Israel’s oldest and most fundamental institutions. It was nearly as basic as the family. Israel’s elders were the people’s official representatives….The elders were the eyes, ears, and voice of the people..…they were so integral to the leadership of the nation that to speak to Israel’s elders was to speak to the people”. 1
Israel was not unique in having elders. There are several references to the elders of other nations, e.g. Genesis 50:7; Numbers 22:4, 7; Joshua 9:11; Ezekiel 27:9. And even within Israel there appears to have been elders at different levels of society. So, in addition to national elders, there were elders of tribes, e.g. Deuteronomy 31:28; 2 Samuel 19:11; 2 Kings 23:1; as well as elders at a clan or even city level, e.g. Judges 11:5; 1 Samuel 11:3; 16:4; Judges 8:14, 16.
The elders of Israel are part of the very fabric of God’s people of old all the way through the Old Testament. They are first mentioned in Exodus 3:16 when God meets Moses at Horeb and instructs him to gather “the elders of Israel together” when he returns to Egypt. The final mention of them, chronologically speaking, is in Ezra 10:8 and 14, when they are mentioned as among the leaders of the people who have returned from exile.
They are a key part of Moses’ life and ministry, including leading the observance of the first Passover in Egypt (Exodus 12:21), and accompanying Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu up Mt Sinai (Exodus 24:1, 9). In Joshua’s day they were eyewitnesses of all that was accomplished under his leadership (Judges 2:7), and participated in the covenant renewal ceremony at Mt Ebal (Joshua 8:33; Deuteronomy 27:1-10). During the period of the monarchy, they were involved in the anointing of David as King (2 Samuel 5:3), and among those who brought the Ark from the house of Obed-Edon (1 Chronicles 15:25). They were active during and after the seventy years of exile in Babylon (e.g. Jeremiah 29:1; Ezra 5:5, 9; 6:7, 8, 14; 10:8, 14).
And precisely because of their important role in the life of God’s people, they were held accountable by God for the nation’s headlong plunge into spiritual apostasy (e.g. Isaiah 3:14-15; 9:14-16; Ezekiel 7:26).
As to the role and function of the elders of Israel, they can be categorized under at least three headings – representative, governing, judicial. You might want to add a fourth category, that of spiritual, in that, as representatives, rulers and judges of a theocratic nation, everything they did was, in effect spiritual, but then all of these one hundred plus references would be in that list.
A good example of this is in Deuteronomy 31:9-13 and 27:1, where the elders, along with the priests, are commanded to read the law of God to the people once every seven years.
I have listed below all the references to the elders in the Old Testament as applying to this group of leaders and have grouped them under these headings. In some cases, there is some overlap and in others the categorisation is somewhat subjective on my part as I have wrestled with each text tried to understand the context of the reference itself.
One of the reasons why all of this matters, and is so important in our consideration of the New Testament teaching on church structures and roles, is that when the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek in the 3rd century BC, producing the Septuagint, the translation that was the everyday Scriptures of Jesus, the disciples and the early church, the scholars translated the Hebrew zaqen as presbuteros, the most frequently used word for elder in the New Testament.
Presbuteros, which occurs sixty-six times in the New Testament, can, like its Hebrew equivalent zaqen, simply mean an old person, but in no less than sixty of those sixty-six occurrences it refers to a body of elders fulfilling a leadership role. It is, for example, the word used twice to refer to the Sanhedrin (Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5), and then of those appointed to be the leaders of local churches.
The link between the elders of the Old Testament people of God and the New Testament congregations of believers is clear and though we can’t, of course, as we have already said, merely transfer the practice from a theocratic nation to that of a local congregation of believers, anywhere in the world, there are undoubtedly principles we can draw. Let me summarise them in the following way
1. The Centrality of Elders
- Eldership matters. The whole concept of eldership is foundational; it is, and always has been, a deeply embedded, divinely instituted leadership structure in life of God’s people.
2. The Seniority of Elders
- The eldership is made up of respected members of the believing community. They are the bearded ones, the ones with grey hair, for example. As Alexander Strauch rightly says, they “were pre-eminently men of counsel and wisdom. The concept of wisdom and discernment is implied in the word elder, itself….respected by the community for their maturity and godliness.” 2
3. The Plurality of Elders
- The eldership is a body of leaders. Throughout Scripture, Old and New Testament, “unless a particular elder is addresses, the term…..is always used in the plural. 3
4. The Responsibility of Elders
- The eldership has always been a body responsible for leading the community of God’s people, “never mere figureheads but key leaders of God’s people…..while they are not the sole leaders, they are the lead leaders of God’s people.”4 Capill p17
Old Testament occurrences of the word elders as
Representatives
- Exodus 3:16, 18; 4:29, 31; 12:3, 21, 27; 17:5, 6; 18:12; 19:7, 8; 24:1, 9, 14
- Leviticus 4:13-15; 9:1
- Numbers 11:16, 24, 25, 30; 16:25
- Deuteronomy 5:23; 32:7
- Joshua 7:6; 8:10, 33; 23:2; 24:1, 31
- Judges 2:7; 21:16
- 1 Samuel 11:3; 15:30; 16:4; 30:26
- Psalm 107:32
- Jeremiah 19:1
Governing
- Deuteronomy 27:1-10; 29:10; 31:9, 28
- Judges 8:14, 16; 11:5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
- Ruth 4:2, 4, 9, 11
- 1 Samuel 4:32, 4
- 2 Samuel 3:17; 5:1, 3; 12:17; 17:4, 14, 15; 19:11
- 1 Kings 8:1, 3; 20:7, 8; 21:8, 11
- 2 Kings 6:32 (x2); 10:1, 5; 23:1
- 1 Chronicles 11:3; 15:25, 28; 21:16
- 2 Chronicles 5:2, 4; 34:29
- Ezra 5:5, 9; 6:7, 8, 14; 10:8, 14
- Proverbs 31:23
- Isaiah 3:14; 24:23
- Jeremiah 26:17; 29:1
- Lamentations 1:19; 2:10; 4:16; 5:12
- Ezekiel 7:26; 8:1; 8:11, 12; 9:6; 14:1; 20:1, 3
- Joel 2:2, 14, 16
Judicial
- Deuteronomy 19:11-12; 21:2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 15-19, 20; 22:15, 16, 17, 18; 25:7, 8, 9
- Joshua 20:4
- Alexander Strauch Biblical Eldership Biblical Eldership Resources: Colorado, 2023 p13 ↩︎
- Alexander Strauch Biblical Eldership Biblical Eldership Resources: Colorado, 2023 p123 ↩︎
- Phil A Newton and Matt Schmucker Elders in the Life of the Church: Rediscovering the Biblical Model for Church Leadership (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2014, p50 ↩︎
- Murray Capill The Elder-Led Church Phillipsburgh: P&R Publishing, 2024, p17 ↩︎