Elders] An official title among the Jews and in the early Church. From the Gk. for 'elder' 'priest' is derived, and from the Gk. for 'overseer' 'bishop.' In NT. however elders are not distinguished from bishops, as they soon afterwards were: cp. Acts 20:17; Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5; Titus 1:7. A witness] Gk. 'martyr,' not merely one who has seen, but one who bears witness to what he has seen: cp. Hebrews 12:1. The Apostles were to be witnesses: see Acts 1:8; Acts 1:22; John 15:27 cp. Acts 22:20; Acts 26:16; Revelation 2:13; Revelation 11:3; Revelation 17:6 and Revelation 1:5; Revelation 3:14, where Jesus Christ Himself is called 'the faithful witness.'
Related Commentaries of 1 Peter 5:1
1 Peter 5:1
1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: