“leading men” elsewhere (Acts 13:50; 25:2; 28:7, 17), it is possible to understand the term as indicating social rather than religious status. In Josephus the term refers to the social elite.48 For example, an embassy of Jews consisting of οἱ πρῶτοι was sent to petition Caesar to remove Herod’s son Archelaus as ruler of Judea (Ant. 17.8.2 §342).49 οἱ πρῶτοι would have been the normal Greek way to designate the social/political elite. The fact that they are clearly seen to be in Jerusalem, yet