πρέσβυς, -εως, ὁ, poët. form of πρεσβύτης (q.v.),
[in LXX (= πρεσβευτής, an ambassador): Nu 21:20 (21), al. (מַלְאָךְ), Is 13:857:9 (צִיר), I Mac 9:70, al.;]
an old man. Compar., πρεσβύτερος, -α, -ον, [in LXX chiefly for זָקֵן;]
1. of age, elder: ὁ νἱὸς ὁ π., Lk 15:25; as subst., opp. to νεανίσκοι, Ac 2:17; to νεώτερος, I Ti 5:1, 2; of the religious leaders of the past, Mt 15:2, Mk 7:3, 5, He 11:2 (= οἱ πατέρες, He 1:1).
2. Of dignity, rank or office (as found in π. and Inscr. of civil and religious offices, including priesthood, in Asia Minor and in Egypt; v. Deiss., BS, 154 ff., 233 ff.; LAE, 373);
(a) among Jews: Mt 16:2126:47, 5727:3, 12, 20, 4128:12, Mk 8:3111:2714:43, 5315:1, Lk 7:39:2220:122:52, Jo 8:[9], Ac 4:5, 8, 236:1223:1424:1; τ. Ἰουνδαίων, Ac 25:15; τ. λαοῦ, Mt 21:2326:327:1;
(b) among Christians: Ac 11:3014:2315:2, 4, 6, 22, 2316:421:18, I Ti 5:17, 19, Tit 1:5, II Jo 1, III Jo 1, I Pe 5:1, 5; τ. ἐκκλησίας, Ac 20:17, Ja 5:14;
(c) in the visions of the Apocalypse: Re 4:4, 105:5, 6, 8, 11, 147:11, 1311:1614:319:4. (On the NT use of this word and its relation to ἐπίσκοπος (q.v.), cf. Lft., Phl., 93 ff., 189 ff.; CGT, Past. Epp., lvi ff.) †