The servant so completely accepted Nephi as Laban that he carried on a normal conversation with him. Keith H. Meservy describes the “elders of the Jews:” “Among ancient Israelites, the elders (Hebrew, literally ‘bearded ones,’ that is, old men or elders as officials) were heads of families, clans, and tribes who provided counsel, judgment, and leadership.” Reynolds and Sjodahl suggest that the “elders of the Jews” were shoterim, or “officers, assistants, Scribes”:
Considering the fact that Laban had charge of the genealogy—necessary for religious services and for census taking, in case of war; and also that he was the possessor of a sword, such as only a man of high military rank would be likely to own, we may safely conclude that his position was that of a shoterim (an “officer”) in Jerusalem.
Certainly most if not all such shoterim would have been the clan heads. In the case of Laban, such a position combines the known description of Laban as both a military leader and a possessor of records. At this point in Israel’s history, the religious and political hierarchies had some overlap, such that an officer of the ecclesiastical realm could also be an official of the political realm. Later in Israel’s history (at the time of Christ) this overlapping of functions allowed the religious leaders to be the de facto Israelite government when the official government was under the control of the Romans.