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For a translator, the relevant question is, “What did the original readers understand when they read the word?”

“No Greek lexicons or other scholarly sources suggest that “presbyteros” means “priest” instead of “elder”. The Greek word is equivalent to the Hebrew ZAQEN, which means “elder”, and not priest. You can see the ZAQENIM described in Exodus 18:21-22 using some of the same equivalent Hebrew terms as Paul uses in the GK of 1&2 Timothy and Titus. Note that the ZAQENIM are NOT priests (i.e., from the tribe of Levi) but are rather men of distinctive maturity that qualifies them for ministerial roles among the people.

Therefore the NT equivalent of the ZAQENIM cannot be the Levitical priests. The Greek “presbyteros” (literally, the comparative of the Greek word for “old” and therefore translated as “one who is older”) thus describes the character qualities of the “episkopos”. The term “elder” would therefore appear to describe the character, while the term “overseer” (for that is the literal rendering of “episkopos”) connotes the job description. To sum up, far from obfuscating the meaning of “presbyteros”, our rendering of “elder” most closely associates the original Greek term with its OT counterpart, the ZAQENIM.”

http://isv.org/catacombs/elders.htm

The word, when used in the New Testament, did NOT convey the idea of a priest offering sacrifices. The idea of Eucharist meaning an ongoing, continual sacrifice of Jesus had to be developed before the Eucharist (thanksgiving) could be turned into a sacrifice requiring priests.

The New Testament church had no priests, other than the priesthood of the believer, offering sacrifices of praise and obedience.

Another good, short discussion is here:

http://www.answers.com/topic/presbyter