Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

The Acts of the Apostles

cf. 12228). Thus these men are overseers by divine placement, initia tive, and design. Paul stresses the personality and will of God the Holy Spirit in de termining who oversees the church of God. It was not the church nor the apostles that placed these men as overseers. Although human means were not excluded from the process, the placement was ulti mately made by a divine person, God the Holy Spirit. So as God’s overseers, the elders must guard the church with their lives. To do anything less would be to disobey the One who ultimately appointed them. Following the reference to “elders” in verse 17, we might expect to read that the Holy Spirit set these men as “elders” to shepherd the church of God (verse 28). Instead, verse 28 refers to the elders as “over seers.” Paul has just exhorted the elders to keep watch over the flock, so it is appropriate for him to call them “overseers.” As the word indi cates, overseers are responsible for the overall supervision, protec tion, management, and care of the flock of God. The New American Standard Bible accurately translates the Greek word episkopoi as “over seers,” which is an exact translation. Although some English Bibles translate episkopoi as “bishops,” this rendering conveys concepts that are not present in Paul’s thought and creates misunderstanding for modern readers. Word Study on Overseer The Greek word overseer (episkopos) is a general term like our English words supervisor, manager, or guardian. In ancient Greek society, the word was a well-known designation of office. It was broadly used to describe any official who acted as a superintendent, manager, guardian, controller, inspector, or ruler. “More commonly,” states Hermann W. Beyer, “the episkopoi are local officials or the officers of societies.”30 The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) used overseer in much the same way to refer to various officials. Beyer says, “There is no closely defined office bearing the title episkopos in the LXX. But the term ‘overseer’ is freely used in many different ways.”31 A few examples of Old Testament overseers include the following: superintendents responsible for temple repair (2 Chron. 24: 12,17), army officers (Num. 31214), temple guardians (2 Kings 11:18), leaders supervising the people (Neh. 1129), and tabernacle overseers (Num. 4216).

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