Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Debelak
Well, YP, it seems to me that the word "eldership" does appear in the New Testament. It isn't a derivation of /prebeturos but rather the greek word /gerousia. Strongs number 1087. Its the word to refer to the Sanhetrin in, for example, in Acts 5:21.
|
Interesting, but why is this term used but once? It's not just an example. Acts 5:21 is the only scriptural occurrence outside the LXX.
And why is it used in the same book where the other term is used?
It mustn't be identical in meaning. What is the distinction?
Although \gerousia\ does appear to be the preferred term in LXX, there is no entry for this term in Kittel's TDNT. Instead, it is mentioned dismissively in a footnote in the article on \sunedrion\.
But that's not the strange part.
Quote:
"In Ac. 4:15 \sunedrion\ means 'place of assembly.'"
Note 79 on page 871 of Vol. 7. "In Ac. 5:21 \sunedrion\ and \gerousia\ are used alongside one another with no difference in meaning."
Note 80 right underneath it.
|
May we then assume that \gerousia\ means "place of assembly"???
Of course, I'm being facetious, but, seriously, there seems to be just a TAD bit of carelessness in the handling of these terms.
I'm suspicious I have an idea why that might be but, like you, I'm just researching at the moment.
I'm withholding judgment at present on the significance (or accuracy) of these two terms being used for allegedly the same leadership entity. But it's definitely another piece of a larger puzzle that may have been neglected historically by, at least, believers of a more evangelical bent.
By the way, I haven't said that the term "eldership" doesn't appear in the New Testament to refer to a group of "elders." It does. Usually with reference to the Jews but once in 1 Timothy as well. What I have said is that it doesn't appear in reference to an "office." My Englishman's Greek interlinear uses the word "elderhood" in these places you are discussing and I think that helps make the distinction necessary between a body and a title.