Greek word · G1087

γερουσία

gerousia

council of elders

Literally a 'body of elders' (from gerōn, 'old man'). In the Greek world it was the name of the council of elders in several states, most famously Sparta. There it was a council of 28 men over sixty, together with the two kings.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

γερουσία, -ας, ἡ

(γέρων), [in LXX (Hex. only in OT) for זָקֵן ;]

a council of elders, senate; in NT, of the Sanhedrin (Cl. Rev., i, 43f.; DB, ext., 99): Acts 5:21.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Maccabees 12:6

Range of meaning

Literally a 'body of elders' (from gerōn, 'old man'). In the Greek world it was the name of the council of elders in several states, most famously Sparta. There it was a council of 28 men over sixty, together with the two kings. In the Hellenistic period (the centuries after Alexander the Great) it was also used of aristocratic councils in other places.

Against the English

KJV and Brenton have 'the elders of the nation', which gets the idea of age and seniority but loses the sense of a formal institution. WEB and NRSV have 'senate', which gets the institution but can call up a modern elected legislature or the Roman Senate. 'Council of elders' covers both sides.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josephus reports a decree of Antiochus III from about 200 BC that grants privileges to the Jewish gerousia (Antiquities 12.138, 142). This is the earliest clear evidence for the body. It appears again in 2 Macc 1:10, 4:44 and 11:27, in 3 Macc 1:8, and in Judith 4:8, 11:14 and 15:8. In the New Testament, Acts 5:21 names 'the council (synedrion) and all the gerousia of the sons of Israel' together, which shows a continuity with the later Sanhedrin.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 5:21 γερουσίαν Senate

    At daybreak the apostles entered the temple courts as they had been told and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.