ELDER, IN THE OT (זָקֵנ֮, H2418, related to a word for beard, chin; שֵׂיב, H8483, from שִׂיב, H8482, to be gray, only in Ezra; LXX πρεσβύτερος, G4565). A group of adult men (perhaps all the adult men, those who wore a beard) who gathered in popular assembly, or as a kind of council in every village. They also served as local rulers. Usually they were the heads of families, but prob. were selected also on the basis of age, wisdom, ability, respect, or prowess. Pharaoh had his elders (Gen 50:7), as well as the Midianites and Moabites (Num 22:7), and the Gibeonites (Josh 9:11). The Greeks and Romans also had elders. The modern equivalent is the sheik of Arabia.
The origin of the elders in Heb. history goes back to the nomadic period in the life of Israel before the occupation of Pal., with the roots of the office prob. in the individual home within the clan. The elders were already recognized as a part of the community during the period of bondage in Egypt (Exod 3:16; 4:29). It was the elders (obviously the heads of the houses) who were instructed concerning the observance of the first passover in Egypt whereby the people might escape death (12:21). They were particularly associated with religious leadership (24:1, 9), including the offering of sacrifices (Lev 4:15). Seventy elders were selected to share with Moses the burden of the people and were given part of the Spirit that rested on Moses (Num 11:16, 17). They were often mentioned alongside the priests (1 Kings 8:3). There is one mention of elders of the priests (2 Kings 19:2).
The elders served in various capacities. A principal function was to serve as judges in disputes or to dispense justice as they sat in the gates of the city (Deut 22:15). The prophets demanded that respect for justice at the gate be shown (Amos 5:10-12; Zech 8:16) and charged that the elders had become corrupt in their administration of justice. As members of what amounted to a popular court, the elders were not to bear false witness, accept gifts, nor follow the majority in defiance of justice. Their responsibility was to condemn the guilty and acquit the innocent. Each town had its own elders (Deut 19:12) who determined if a man should be turned over to the avenger to die, thus depriving him of the protection of the cities of refuge. They determined whether a rebellious son should be stoned to death and they participated in the execution of the sentence (21:18-21). They also adjudged the validity of a husband’s charge that his bride was not a virgin (22:15). They settled cases concerning Levirate marriage where a man did not want to take his deceased brother’s wife (25:7-10), and served as witnesses to commercial transactions (Ruth 4:4). The elders also served as military leaders (Josh 8:10; 1 Sam 4:3). They were involved in the selection of kings of the nation. They demanded that Samuel appoint for them their first king (8:4, 5) and participated in the anointing of David as king over all Israel after the death of Saul (2 Sam 3:17; 5:3). It is most likely that it was the elders who gathered at Shechem after the death of Solomon to receive certain assurances from Rehoboam before recognizing him as king. They apparently did not acknowledge the right of automatic succession by inheritance (1 Kings 12). When Jezebel plotted the death of Naboth, she wrote the elders and nobles of Jezreel to provide false witnesses in order that Naboth might be stoned to death (1 Kings 21:8-11). Through the wise counsel of the elders Jeremiah’s life was saved by remembering the prophecies of Micah (Jer 26:16-19). They were included among those carried into exile (29:1; Ezek 8:1).
The elders seemed to occupy a continuing place of importance throughout the history of Israel, from their sojourn in Egypt to the postexilic period when mention was made that they gave orders to assemble the people to deal with the question of foreign marriages (Ezra 10:8). The elders were able to survive the collapse of the royal institutions.
Nothing is said about the organization of the councils of the elders of the tribes. Their number prob. depended on the size of the local community; there were seventy-seven at Succoth (Judg 8:14). It is quite unlikely that there was a council of elders of the entire nation selected from the elders of the various tribes.
In the Mari archives of the 18th cent. b.c. down to the royal correspondence of the Sargon dynasty in the 8th, the elders appear as representatives of the people and defenders of their interests, but without administrative functions. In the Hitt. empire, the elders did control municipal affairs and settled local disputes in co-operation with the commander of the garrison. The Phoen. towns had their elders also, as non-Biblical documents attest for Byblos and Tyre.
It is difficult to determine if the officials, שָׂרִ֖ים, are equivalent to the elders. In Numbers 22:7, 14 and Judges 8:6, 16 the terms appear alternately. They also appear together in Succoth (Judg 8:14). In Job 29:9 the śārîm sat at the gate of the town, as did the elders of Proverbs 31:23.
Bibliography J. Pedersen, Israel, I-II (1926), see “elders” in Index; C. A. Simpson, The Early Traditions of Israel (1948), 227, 629, 630; M. Noth, The History of Israel (1960), 108, 226; R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (1961).