Acts 15:23

οἱ ἀπόστ. καὶ οἱ πρεσβ. καὶ οἱ ἀδελ., but in R.V. “the Apostles and the elder brethren,” see critical notes. The phrase as it stands in R.V. has been called meaningless (Page), but Hort, Ecclesia, p. 71, while admitting that the phrase is unusual, defends it as indicating that they who held the office of elder were to be regarded as bearing the characteristic from which the title itself had arisen, and that they were but elder brethren at the head of a great family of brethren (cf. Knabenbauer in loco). It is of course quite possible that ἀδελ. is merely to be taken as in apposition to ἀπόστ. and πρεσβ., meaning that as brethren they sent a message to brethren (Wendt, Felten, Page). τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἀ. κ. τ. λ., see below. χαίρειν : amongst the Epistles of the N.T. only that of St. James thus commences, as has been often pointed out by Bengel and others. The coincidence may be a chance one, but it is the more remarkable, since the letter may well have been written and dictated by St. James in his authoritative position. On the phrase in letters see Mayor's interesting note on James 1:1. It occurs again in Acts 23:26, but nowhere else in N.T.