understanding of charisma has been remembered, what he had to say about the elders has largely been ignored.12 We shall begin by examining the identity and role of the elders in a variety of Jewish contexts prior to the New Testament, including Ancient Israel and Jewish national life in the Second Temple period, as well as the first-century synagogue and the Qumran communitys. It will be shown that the term is exceedingly vague and flexible, connoting honour and leadership, but denoting no particular