You seem to studiously avoid one of your translation principles in the translation of the word presbyteros. It means "priest." Why don't you just use the word that most clearly renders the meaning? "Elder" obfuscates. Perhaps if our English translations would treat this word correctly, there would be less confusion among historically illiterate Christians about the fact that the church has always had priests among its ordained clergy.
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.
By the way, we would also question the fundamental assumption that you bring up in your last observation, i.e., that "the church has always had priests among its ordained clergy". We can find no documentation of that claim.
Welcome to the Catacombs
Genesis 1 — On translating “day”
Genesis 1:1 — Did God Get Fat?
Genesis 1:2 — Did the earth “become” formless and void?
Genesis 1:29-30 — Were the pre-fall animals “wild”?
Exodus 33:19 — On translating “name of the Lord”
Joshua 10:13 — On “Lost” Bible Books
1 Samuel 17:4 — How Tall was Goliath?
1 Kings 16:34 — On the Sons of Hiel
Nehemiah 1:1 — Cup Bearer or Security Advisor?
Psalm 22:16 — Are his feet pierced, or like a lion?
Lamentations 4:10 — Are Jewish Babies on the Dinner Menu?
Isaiah — Why were the Dead Sea Scrolls used to translate this book?
Jonah 4:4 — Does being angry make you right?
Zechariah 12:10 — Can God be pierced?
On translating “Messiah” or “Christ”
Matthew 1:1 — On translating βίβλος γενέσεως as “a record of the life”
Matthew 3:12 — On translating “winnowing fork”
Matthew 5:17 — Does the ISV “Destroy the Law”?
Matthew 5:32 — On translating “put away” as “divorced”
Matthew 6:13 — Did Jesus say the whole verse?
Matthew 8:8, 21 — “Sir” or “Lord”?
Matthew 28:19 — On translating “make disciples”
Mark 7:2-5 — On “eating” vs. “eating bread”
Mark 12:36 — On “Lord” vs. “LORD”
Luke 4:4 — On alternative readings that omit “every word of God”
John 1:12 — On translating “authority” or “power”
John 3:16 — On translating the Greek word “monogenes”
John 20:28 — Is “My Lord and my God” an Exclamation or an Address?
Acts 1:11—Is Jesus Coming or Going?
Acts 2:38 — Holy “Ghost” or Holy “Spirit”?
Acts 2:38 — Is baptism “since” or “for”?
Acts 8:37 — Why is this verse omitted in the ISV?
Acts 13:2-3 — On “they” and “their”
Acts 16:17 — A Way or The Way?
Acts 17:11 — On “More Noble” or “More Receptive”
Acts 27:10, 22 — Did Paul Change His Mind?
Romans 1:4 — On translating “in power” as “powerful”
Romans 1:31 — On translating astorge as “heartless”
Romans 8:16 — Why Render PNEUMA as a Person?
Romans 12:8 — On translating “mercy” vs. “kindness”
Romans 13:14 — On “fulfilling the lusts thereof”
1 Corinthians 5:7 — Is Christ the Passover or the Passover Lamb?
1 Corinthians 6:12 — Is “Everything Permissible”?
1 Corinthians 11:14-15 — Nature Doesn’t Teach
1 Corinthians 12:8 — On translating “message of” or “word of”
Ephesians 1:14 — “until” or “for” the redemption?
Ephesians 4:12 — On translating “perfecting the saints”
Ephesians 4:30 — On translating “sad” or “grieved”
Ephesians 6:2 — The first command with a promise?
Philippians 1:6 — On translating “in” or “among”
1 Timothy 1:11 — On Translating Ambiguities
1 Timothy 2:11-15 — Should Women Teach?
1 Timothy 4:10—“Especially” or “That is”?
2 Timothy 1:12 — On entrusting
Hebrews 2:7-9 — Was the Incarnation of Jesus only “for a little while”?
Hebrews 6:6 — Can the Fallen be Restored?
James 4:6 — On translating “arrogance” or “pride”
1 John 5:6-8 — On Trinitarian Doctrine
Revelation 1:10 — On translating “Day of the Lord”
Revelation 2:4 — On translating “first love”
Nine Questions from an ISV Reader
On Adam’s First Wife
On Angels and Singing
On Anthropos and Man’s Fallen Nature
On the Genealogy of Jesus
On Hell and Eternal Punishment
On Identifying ISV Wording not in the Original Languages
On treatment of changes to the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament
On translating “church” or “congregation”
On Translating “elders”
On translating “faith” or “faithfulness”
On translating “Jesus the Messiah”
On translating “Lord of Hosts”
On translating “saints”
On translating “sexual immorality” instead of “fornication”
On translating “This day I have begotten you”
On comparing the ISV to the NET Bible
Is the ISV NT based on the Westcott and Hort Greek text?
Is the ISV NT based on the Textus Receptus Greek text?
Is the ISV too expensive?
On the ISV use of contractions
On ISV Fonts
On ISV Footnotes
Were the “Colorado Guidelines” used with the ISV?
The ISV: Non-interpretive to a fault!
A good balance between literal translation and modern idiom
Thanks to God for the ISV…
On Calvinist or Arminian translation bias
On the quality of the ISV translation
On Chuck Missler’s Endorsement of the ISV
Why does the ISV contain poetry?
How does the ISV translate Old Testament Poetry?
We can’t stand poetry.
On Translation Snobbery…