Ezekiel 14:1

Then came certain of the elders of Israel Men of note, that were in office and power among the Jews. “The prophet neither tells us the name nor the intention of these elders of Israel, nor the time when they came to him. But the manner wherein God speaks, gives us to understand that they came only to tempt him, as the Pharisees came to Christ, and with no design to profit by what they heard, or to correct their faults:” see Calmet. And sat before me As was the usual posture of those that came to hear the instructions of any prophet or teacher: see Ezekiel 8:1. In after times the teachers sat in a chair or eminent seat, and the hearers on lower forms at the feet of their masters: see Luke 10:39; Acts 22:3.