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Tradition of the Elders
The "tradition of the elders" is a New Testament expression for the regulations, handed down from generation to generation outside the Law of Moses, that the Pharisees and scribes observed. It appears in the dispute over handwashing in Matthew 15 and Mark 7.
Seventy Elders
The seventy elders were a group of seventy leaders chosen from among the elders of Israel in the time of Moses. They appear in Exodus 24 and Numbers 11, and a group of seventy elders also appears in Ezekiel 8.
Term of Office for Elders
The term of office for elders is the period during which an elder holds and exercises office in the church. Korean Presbyterian churches often regard the eldership as a lifelong office and have elders serve until the mandatory retirement age. Some churches also hold periodic votes of confidence to renew the congregation's endorsement.
Gamaliel
Gamaliel was a first-century Pharisaic teacher of the law in Jerusalem. In the Book of Acts he dissuades the council from punishing the apostles, and he is named as the teacher of Paul.
Hillel
Hillel was a Jewish teacher of the Law, active from the late first century BC to the early first century AD, and the founder of the "School of Hillel." He is known for the prosbul, a legal instrument connected with the cancellation of debts in the sabbatical year, and for a teaching that resembles the Golden Rule.
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish teacher of the law active from the late first century BC to the early first century AD. Together with his contemporary Hillel, he is regarded as a leading representative of Pharisaic legal interpretation, and he founded the "School of Shammai," known for its strict interpretation of the law.
Oral Law
The Oral Law is the body of Jewish interpretations and regulations believed to have been transmitted by word of mouth alongside the written law of the Pentateuch. In the New Testament it appears under the expression "the tradition of the elders."
Samuel Wesley
Samuel Wesley (1662–1735) was a Church of England priest and poet. He served as rector of Epworth for nearly forty years and was the father of John Wesley and Charles Wesley, leaders of the Methodist movement.
Eldad
Eldad was one of the seventy elders listed during the wilderness period who did not go out to the tabernacle but stayed in the camp. There he and Medad received the Spirit of God and prophesied (Numbers 11:26-29).
James 5:14–15
This passage instructs the sick to call for the elders of the church, who are to pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The Catholic sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, Pentecostal divine healing ministry, and Protestant pastoral visitation of the sick all appeal to this passage, though each understands its meaning differently.
Seniors' Sunday
Seniors' Sunday is a Sunday set apart to honor and bless the elderly members of the church and to reflect on life and faith in old age. It is also called Respect for the Aged Sunday.
Acts 20
Acts 20 is the chapter in which Paul, having completed his third missionary journey and setting out for Jerusalem, restores to life the young man Eutychus, who had fallen to his death at Troas, and at Miletus delivers a farewell address to the elders of the church at Ephesus.
Mary Scranton
Mary Scranton (1832–1909) was the first woman missionary sent to Korea by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (the Northern Methodist Church in the United States). In 1886 she founded Ewha Haktang, Korea's first modern educational institution for women.
Miletus
Miletus was a port city on the western coast of Asia Minor where Paul, traveling to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey, summoned the elders of the church at Ephesus and delivered his farewell address.
Merab
Merab was the elder daughter of Saul, the first king of Israel. An Old Testament figure, she was promised to David as his wife but was instead given in marriage to Adriel the Meholathite. Her younger sister was Michal, who became David's wife.
Acts 20:35
The verse in which Paul, taking leave of the elders of the church at Ephesus, urges them to remember the words of the Lord Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." It is one of the rare verses that preserve a saying of Jesus not recorded in the four Gospels, and it is widely cited to encourage sharing and giving.
Second Epistle of John
The Second Epistle of John is the twenty-fourth book of the New Testament, a brief letter of thirteen verses written by an author who identifies himself as "the elder" to "the elect lady and her children." It contains the commandment to love one another and a warning against false teachers.
Parable of the Two Sons
The Parable of the Two Sons is a parable of Jesus found in Matthew 21:28-32. It contrasts a son who refused his father's request but afterward changed his mind and went to work with a son who said he would go but did not.
Sect of the Nazarenes
The "sect of the Nazarenes" is the expression the advocate Tertullus used in Acts 24 for the followers of Jesus when he brought charges against Paul. The Greek word behind it is closer in meaning to "sect" or "faction" than to "heresy" in the modern doctrinal sense.
Senior Adult Department
The senior adult department is the church department responsible for worship, education, fellowship, and care for older members of the congregation. It is also called silver ministry, the elders' honor department, or senior ministry.