refer in this text to 2 Ne. 5:26
“Was there a Church anciently, and if so, how was it organized and regulated? There was not so much as the twinkling of an eye during the whole so-called pre-Christian Era when the Church of Jesus Christ was not upon the earth, organized basically in the same way it now is. Melchizedek belonged to the Church; Laban was a member; so also was Lehi, long before he left Jerusalem. There was always apostolic power. The Melchizedek Priesthood always directed the course of the Aaronic Priesthood. All of the prophets held a position in the hierarchy of the day.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Symposium on the New Testament, BYU, 1984, p. 6)
“We know very little about the city government of the Jews, save that the ‘elders’ played the principal role. By ‘elders’ has been been understood the heads of the most influential familes of a city.” (Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, p. 6)
“The elders of the Jews were undoubtedly the leading citizens of the community, the wise men of the synagogue or local church. The heads of several influential families may have formed a body which served in an advisory capacity to the king in civil and religious matters.” (R. Millet and J. F. McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 1:46)