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2.6.1 The elders of the cities of refuge meet the fleeing killer at the
gates and, having heard his story, settle him in the city until he can
have a trial by the assembly and send the avenger away. The elders
of the city in which a homicide occurred also go to the city of refuge
to get murderers and deliver them to the blood avengers (Deut. 19:12).2.6.2 The family laws of the Book of Deuteronomy vest the author-
ity to kill children in the elders. If the parents denounce a wayward
son to the elders, the boy is stoned. No investigation is mentioned:
the denunciation is enough, thus leaving real power with the par-
ents and giving the elders the authority to hand the child over for
stoning (Deut. 21:18–21). Similarly, the father of a daughter whose
bridegroom claims she was not a virgin brings the sheet before the
elders, who flog the accusing bridegroom if the sheet shows blood
and hand the girl over to be stoned if it does not (Deut. 22:13–21).2.6.3 As overseers of family affairs, local elders also witness the cer-
emony for dissolving the levirate responsibility (Deut. 25:9–10).2.6.4 The “elders of the land” formed a tribunal of sorts which kings
might consult before proclaiming war (1 Kings 20:7–8), or which might
cooperate with a prophet against the king (2 Kings 6:32). Elders of
the land also intervened in the trial of Jeremiah ( Jer. 26:17).^262.7 ro"“(“Head”) and qaßin (“Captain”)
In the desert at Ba'al Pe"or, God suggests impaling the “heads” in
punishment for apostasy, but instead Moses has the leaders find and
execute the guilty parties (Num. 25:4–5). Micah refers to the ro"“,
who should know justice but instead abhors it and oppresses the poor
(Mic. 3:1–9), and he indicts the heads who give judgments for a fee
(3:11). Jehoshaphat appointed Priests, Levites, and heads of households
to be the central judges in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 19:8). The qaßin is
an officer of unspecified functions, possibly military (e.g., Josh. 10:24).2.8 The Priesthood
The priests were a hereditary group that claimed descent from Aaron
(Num. 10:8).(^26) Weinfeld, “Elder.”
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