The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-05-12

family, as the unit OF the Church. as
well as the State, was under the gov
eminent and teaching of the head of the
family. He was a type of Christ, being
the teacher, Cor prophet) the priest, and
the king or ruler of his household On
the death Of the parent the oldest son
succeeded to his place and functions.
Thus arose the Patriarchal system, the
word patriarch being derived from one
meaning father and another meaning to
rule, that is, it was a system which recog-
nize this rule of father As families in
creased, all the descendants of the father,
as long as he lived, were under his con-
troll, and when his increase had continued,
there grew up tribes comprehending sew
eral families, and by the multiplication of
tribes and their extension over larger dis
trlcts, there grew up nations This struc-
ture OF society is still illustrated in the
state of our North American Indians. as
we find In the cases Of "the Choctaw Ma
ton, 1.-THE Cherokee Nation" and others
and In many oriental countries This
was also illustrated in the structure of
the Jewish nation, in the history of which
we read of heads" of families and
" heads" of tribes The name by which.
these heads came to be distinguished,
was ELDERS, of whom we first read in
Gen. /: Z. The word in Hebrew, Greek,
Latin, and English, is of the same prim-
tive root and Specification, meaning an
old or an older Cor elder man. In the
passage just cited, there is evidence that
these officers existed among the Egyp-
tlans, showing, as already intimated, the
great antiquity Of the institution and its
existence and use, not only among other
peoples than the Jews, but as the process
of change from strictly patriarchal form
OF government to the tribal and then ma
tional The earliest record of the exist
ence of elders among the Jews is in Elk.
III: Is, while the nation was in bondage
IN Egypt. In xviii u, they are men
toned as attendants on Moses on the oc-
caslon of the feast he prepared for his
tather-in-law, Jethro, at whose sugges-
ton aids for the administration of JUS
tlce, "rulers of thousands, rulers of hun
dreds, rulers of ffties, and rulers of tens
were provided This arrangement re-
celved divine sanction, as appears from
Num- XII l5-l7, and is referred to. Deut
|: 1917. The liable men" mentioned,
Ex. xviii: 81, %, were evidently elders,
as appears from the more particular re
cltal of Mum. xi: 16 II, "a, %, in which
we have an account of the formation of
great council of elders, known afterwards
as the Sanhedrim. The rulers of a city
are constantly spoken of as "elders of the
clty.-Jud. viii: IA; Deut. xix: u, xxi !
So They were entrusted with a reli- !
gious, as well as secular government. See
Deut XXI: 10, XIV: s. Synagogues are
not mentioned in the Old Testament ex-
cept Ps. lx&iv: 8, where our version en-
ploys 1t to translate word which has
rather general meaning of appointed
time, then of the service of such time
than any place of assembly. The word
synagogue is more specific than the use
OF the original term employed would JUS
tify.
1t thus appears that elder was a gen
uine name for rulers. The rulers of the
synagogue were evidently elders though
IN our Lords time they are not so called.
The best authorities, however, accept this
view, whether accepting the views of
Presbyterians or not. This name is the
same with pres6yter-which is transla-
ton (nearly) of Greek word meaning
elder, and so generally translated in our
version. Hence the name of the Church
holding to government by elders or
presbyters, Is very properly PREsBYTE-
RAN. B. M. S,