Saturday, August 26, 2006

The Early Church and the Synagogue

Never knew this.... Take it as you will.
Here, assembly is a translation of the word "synagogue," which is used to denote the meeting or meeting place of believers. This fits the Jewish background of the readers (cf. 1:1). Later James also uses the word "church" (5:14).
http://www.biblebb.com/files/GR763.HTM

This sure fits in with the idea that the early church was synagogue-based.

And why don't Bible translators stick to the text instead of substituting words ("ekklesia" for "synagogue"; "the LORD" for "Yhwh", etc)?!

1 comment:

Kent West said...

Also:

Acts 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

and

Acts 26:9 In fact, I [Paul] myself supposed it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10 I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 In all the synagogues I often tried to make them blaspheme by punishing them. I even pursued them to foreign cities since I was greatly enraged at them.