Elders

The elders are the tribal leaders who formally petition Samuel for a king — their collective voice gives the demand political weight and frames it as a national consensus, not a fringe opinion.

The elders are part of the collective leadership that sends Jehu a message of total surrender, unwilling to stake their lives on defending a dynasty they know is already finished.

The Elders sit in council alongside the Apostles, representing the broader leadership of the Jerusalem church as they collectively wrestle through this defining theological question.

The elders are receiving their formal commission here — Paul charges them to act as overseers and shepherds of the flock, knowing he will not be around to course-correct them.

The Ephesian elders are the community Paul has just said farewell to — their emotional goodbye in Acts 20 is the departure point for this chapter's journey.

The elders appear again here as those who, along with the chief priests, agreed to co-sponsor the fake hearing — the text underlines their complicity by naming them twice in the plot.