πρεσβύτερος

presbuvtero" presbuvtero",
presbutevra,
presbuvteron (comparitive of
prevsbu") (from Homer down), elder; used:1. of age; a. where two persons are spoken of, the elder:
oJ
uiJov"
oJ
presbuvtero" (Aelian v. h. 9, 42), . b. universally, advanced in life, an elder, a senior: opposed to
neanivskoi, ; opposed to
newvtero", f (f; Sap. ; (33); ; ).
oiJ
presbuvteroi (A. V. the elders), forefathers, ;
paravdosi" (which see)
tw'n
presbutevrwn, received from the fathers, ; ,.2. a term of rank or office; as such borne by, a. among the Jews,
a. members of the great council or Sanhedrin (because in early times the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected from the elderly men): ; ,, Rec.;,,,; ; ; ; ,; ; ; ; ; ; ,; ; ; ; with the addition of
tou'
!Israhvl, R G; of
tw'n
!Ioudaivwn, ; of
tou'
laou', ; ; .
b. those who in the separate cities managed public affairs and administered justice: . (Cf. BB. DD., under the word Elder.) b. among Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or churches): ; ; ,,,f; ; ; ,; ; ; ; ,; with
th'"
ejkklhsiva" added, ; . That they did not differ at all from the (
ejpivskopoi) bishops or overseers (as is acknowledged also by Jerome on (cf. Lightfoot's Commentary on Philippians, pp. 98f, 229f)) is evident from the fact that the two words are used indiscriminately, ,; ,, and that the duty of presbyters is described by the terms
ejpiskopei'n, f, and
ejpiskophv, Clement of Rome, ,; ; accordingly only two ecclesiastical officers,
oiJ
ejpivskopoi and
oiJ
diavkonoi, are distinguished in ; ,. The title
ejpivskopo" denotes the function,
presbuvtero" the dignity; the former was borrowed from Greek institutions, the