Note 24 — Chapter IX

The word “Elders” is in the Greek Presbyteroi, from which comes “Presbyter,” and from the shortened form “Prester,” which was once in use, comes our present English form “Priest.” The use of this word “Priest” to translate the word Hiereus, which is the name in the Greek of the Jewish Minister, and the mistaken idea that the sacrifices he offered were propitiatory in the sense that they “could take away sin” (Heb. x. 4), have caused much misunderstanding of the word, and prejudice against it, which the knowledge of its meaning removes.