I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.
The elders which are among you ... Since these men are those exercising the oversight of the church  (1 Peter 5:2), the church officials of that name are meant here.  Significantly, in some of the older manuscripts "exercising the oversight" is omitted, probably for the purpose of denying the eldership the same authority which came, in time, to be attributed to "bishops" only.  However, as Hunter noted, "In New Testament times the government of the local church was in the hands of a body of men called almost indifferently elders or overseers (bishops)."[3] Other New Testament synonyms for the same office are presbyters, pastors, shepherds and stewards.  See more on this under  1 Peter 5:2.