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The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas

The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.

Elders

Older men respected for wisdom led Israel's villages in the Old Testament and still led Jewish communities and synagogues in the first century, usually as a group. The first churches took over the pattern, calling their elders overseers too, with deacons beside them.

The first churchesGroups and offices

First, in plain English

The village did not have a mayor; it had the old men who sat at the gate and settled things together. In the Old Testament, towns were run by elders, older men known for wisdom. In Jesus' day Jewish communities and synagogues were still led by groups of elders, and Greek cities had councils of elders too. When Paul and Barnabas set up new churches, they appointed elders in each one, following the same pattern.

What it meant then

Certain older men earned a name for wisdom and maturity. In the Old Testament chosen elders governed and judged the villages, and the role stayed a respected one, usually held as a group. Elders did the same in much of the Mediterranean world. Most ancient synagogues had several elders acting as councils, and the Greek East gave much influence to the Gerousia, clubs of elders. Elders were traditionally the leaders of Jewish communities. In the Diaspora, local leadership varied. The ESV Study Bible says Paul's churches copied the synagogue's rule by elders, placing several in every church. They appointed them from the start, even in young churches. The CSB Study Bible argues that formal offices existed from the church's earliest stage, and that being led by the Spirit and having appointed leaders do not conflict. At Miletus Paul calls the Ephesian elders overseers and charges them to shepherd the flock. Overseer was a Greek administrative title. It also appears in the Greek Old Testament and, in Hebrew form, in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The ESV Study Bible takes elders, overseers and pastors as names for one office. In 1 Timothy and Titus overseer and elder name one office, which had changed by Ignatius's time early in the second century (Keener). Carson, Moo and Morris find the two equated in Titus 1:5-7, and Wright finds them at least overlapping. Keener compares the deacon with the synagogue attendant, the chazan, who looked after the building and often owned the house where the congregation met. His notes find the first-century meaning elusive.

The bridge to today

An analogy: a village council of senior members who know every family and settle disputes together. No one of them is boss, and the town trusts them because they have lived there longest.

What it changes in the reading

Elders appointed in every church, as in Acts 14:23, follow the leadership pattern of the synagogue and the village. James 5:14 tells the sick to call the elders, and 1 Timothy 5:17 speaks of elders who lead well.

Where the analogy breaks

Not simply the oldest members. Elder was a recognized office with responsibility for the community, and in the churches elders were appointed.

Where scholars disagree

Two points. First, how early the churches had formal offices. The CSB Study Bible answers those who think the earliest church had none, and the ESV Study Bible says elders were appointed from the beginning. Keener and the cultural backgrounds notes describe the Jewish and Greek pattern without arguing the point. Second, whether the offices of 1 Timothy fit Paul's lifetime. Wright and Bird report the view that fixed offices of overseer and deacon, filled from the top down, mark a church of the late first or second century. They answer that Paul's churches already had household leaders, elders and deacons, still far from Ignatius's single bishop. These letters, they add, deal with leaders' character, not their institutional power. Carson, Moo and Morris find nothing that demands more than the overseers and deacons of Philippians 1:1, though this office soon became the single bishop. Wright leaves open whether the overseer of 1 Timothy 3 was one leader or one of a team.

Passages where it appears

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-11-19-30\/","n":"Acts 11:19-30, Antioch, and the name Christian","s":"Scattered believers bring the message to Gentiles in Antioch, where the disciples are first called Christians. When a prophet foretells famine, the church sends relief to the elders in Judea.","r":"Acts 11:19-30"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-14-21-28\/","n":"Acts 14:21-28, Elders appointed, and home to Antioch","s":"Paul and Barnabas retrace their route, warning that the kingdom comes through hardships and appointing elders in each church, then report to Antioch that God has opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.","r":"Acts 14:21-28"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-20-17-38\/","n":"Acts 20:17-38, Farewell to the Ephesian elders","s":"Hurrying to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost, Paul calls the elders of Ephesus to Miletus. He reminds them how he lived among them, warns of wolves who will attack the flock, charges them as overseers to shepherd God's church, and leaves them in tears.","r":"Acts 20:17-38"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1timothy-3-1-13\/","n":"1 Timothy 3:1-13, Overseers, deacons and the women","s":"Paul lists what is required of an overseer, above reproach, faithful in marriage, hospitable, able to teach, managing his household well, and then of deacons and of the women, who must also be worthy of respect.","r":"1 Timothy 3:1-13"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1timothy-4-6-16\/","n":"1 Timothy 4:6-16, Training for godliness, and a young leader","s":"Timothy is to train himself for godliness as an athlete trains his body, set an example despite his youth, devote himself to the public reading of Scripture and teaching, and not neglect the gift given when the elders laid hands on him.","r":"1 Timothy 4:6-16"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1timothy-5-17-25\/","n":"1 Timothy 5:17-25, Double honor, two witnesses, the elect angels and a little wine","s":"Elders who lead well deserve double honor and pay; charges against them need two or three witnesses; Paul charges Timothy before God, Christ and the elect angels to act without favoritism, to lay hands on no one hastily, and to take a little wine.","r":"1 Timothy 5:17-25"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/titus-1-1-9\/","n":"Titus 1:1-9, Elders in every town, and God's steward","s":"Paul greets Titus, whom he left in Crete to put in order what was unfinished and to appoint elders in every town, and lists what an elder must be: blameless, faithful to his wife, with believing children, a steward of God's household, hospitable and able to hold to sound teaching.","r":"Titus 1:1-9"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/james-5-13-20\/","n":"James 5:13-20, Elders, oil and Elijah's prayer","s":"The suffering should pray and the cheerful sing; the sick should call the church's elders to pray over them and anoint them with oil. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful, as Elijah's was, and whoever turns a sinner back covers a multitude of sins.","r":"James 5:13-20"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1peter-5-1-14\/","n":"1 Peter 5:1-14, Elders, the roaring lion, and greetings from Babylon","s":"As a fellow elder Peter urges the elders to shepherd God's flock willingly, not for gain, until the Chief Shepherd gives them an unfading crown. All must be humble, for their adversary the devil prowls like a roaring lion. Peter writes through Silvanus and sends greetings from she who is in Babylon and from his son Mark.","r":"1 Peter 5:1-14"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2john-1-6\/","n":"2 John 1-6, The elder to the chosen lady","s":"The elder writes to the chosen lady and her children, whom he loves in the truth. He is glad that some of her children walk in the truth, and he asks for no new command but the old one, that they love one another, which means walking in God's commands.","r":"2 John 1-6"}

Sources

NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Acts 11:30 and 14:23, and on 1 Timothy 4:14 and James 5:14
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Acts 14:23
ESV Study Bible, study note on Acts 14:23
CSB Study Bible, note on Acts 11:30
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Acts 20:28
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Acts 20:28
ESV Study Bible, study note on Acts 20:17
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on 1 Timothy 3:1 and 3:8
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on 1 Timothy 3:8
N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, The New Testament in Its World, ch. 23, Authorship
D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 15, The Pastoral Epistles, The Ecclesiastical Organization, and The Contribution of 1 Timothy
N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Letters, comments on 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9

All ideas