Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
The word "elder" (presbuteros) basically means "one of age, of one advanced in life, a senior." This word later came to refer to those selected overseers of the congregation (Acts 20:17-28, 1 Peter 5:1-2). The question in this passage is whether this word in verse 5 is used in reference to elders as overseers or elders as older people in the congregation. It is difficult to switch from one usage to another in close context yet this seems to be the case. The words younger and elder seem to be set in comparative degree as respects age alone. Paul does this in 1 Timothy 5. In verse 1 he forbids rebuking one advanced in years (an elder) and in verse 17 turns his attention to the elders (overseers) selected to "rule well."