You are strongly recommended to add to your library the excellent revised edition of Harper's Bible Dictionary titled, The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition [book review], edited by Paul J. Achtemeier, with the Society of Biblical Literature (NY: Harper Collins, 1996). It is currently the best one-volume Bible dictionary in English, and it is available at Border's Books, Christian Science Reading Rooms, http://www.borders.com, or http://www.christianbook.com.

elders, senior tribesmen of Israel. The elders performed tasks of local government and justice throughout the biblical period. Aspects of their function and historical importance can be seen in Exod. 18:13-17; 24:1-11; Num. 11:16-30; Judg. 21:16-24; and 1 Sam. 8:1-9. In the nt, elders were either important Jewish leaders (e.g., Matt. 15:2; Mark 14:43; Luke 7:3; Acts 4:8) or leaders in the nascent Christian communities (Acts 15:2; 21:18; Titus 1:5; James 5:14) although the word can also mean simply an elderly person (1 Tim. 5:1).