www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Scripture and Patristic Writings Presbyteros and Hierus

I recently learned from someone that the biblical word for priest is actually hierus (this is what I did not know) and that the word for elder is presbyteros (this I did know).

Does anyone know if the word presbyteros is always used for elders in the early Church and is the word hierus ever used to refer to the heads of the Churches or elders? Or, is hierus the term used when talking about the Old Testament priesthood, Christ's high priesthood, and the Church as a "nation of priests..." ?

Also, in the earliest, ante-Nicene fathers, does anyone know whether the words hierus and presbyteros are ever used interchangeably?

Joe

All I know that Hieros is used when referring to the Jewish Priests and to Pagan Priests, Presbyteros is only referring to the Christian Priesthood.

Dr. Eric,

Thanks, this is the kind of thing I am interested in knowing. The word presbyteros simply means "elder." Is there anything signicant about this?

Joe

St Paul in Romans speaks of his priestly ministry. Sorry, that I can harldy type but I sprained my hand this morning after I mend I will respond. Just finished an RCIA class on Priesthood and Ministry and the Religious Life.
Stephanos I

I think this is a question better suited for our venerable "Presbyteroi."

I couldn't find anything useful with google.

FWIW, in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the priest is referred to as "Iereus." [goarch.org]

-----
Western Orthodoxy Blog [westernorthodox.blogspot.com]

Hieros is not used to denote "priest" in the NT, but rather holy things, like Scripture. For "priest", arxiereus is used, referring to the Jewish priests and in the book of Hebrews (4:14-15), Jesus Christ. I don't know about the Septuagint, though.

The root meanings of hieros and presbuteros are very different. A quick look at my NT Greek lexicons shows me that hieros has the basic sense of "mighty", and sometimes "holy", "divine", or even "super-human", whereas presbuteros has the basic sense of "old" or "of rank."

It's interesting to note that hieros is a cognate of hierosoluma, Jerusalem.

Presbuteros does, however, seem to be used interchangeably with episkopos (bishop, overseer) in the NT. To my knowledge, the two are only distinguished in 1 Tim. 3:1-8, but their specific roles are not described.

Thanks WO and Rachel, this is rather interesting. Are there any conclusions that we can draw from this?

Joe

hier-os, hier-a, hier-ov : an adjective meaning holy, sacred, pious, also referring to the temple/sanctuary; but, it seems, not used in the LXX to refer to God (hagios is used); in NT 2 Timothy 3:15, Mark 16:8 only.

hiereus : priest (in the NT refers to Levitical priests; a pagan priest; priest of the order of Melchizedek: Christ; the priesthood of believers)

hierus is not a (NT, LXX, Classical) Greek word

Of course! (duh, Rachel). The misspelling threw me off.

arxiereus is "high priest" (of the Jews; Jesus) and hiereus is used as described by ajk, neither one interchangeable with presbuteros.

Is it possible that "hieros, -a, -on" has Hebrew roots?

What kind of conclusion are you looking for?

My guess is no, but it'd be interesting to look into. I can look after I finish two scary research papers...

Rachel,


By all means, I never stand in the way of scary research papers!

Best,
Michael

Well, I wonder of some protestant apologists might not use the distinctions between these words as a basis for saying that the New Testament presbyter is not a priest in the sense of one offering sacrifice.

Joe