What is a synagogue?
The synagogue is the local Jewish meeting place that appears on almost every page of the Gospels and Acts — the room where Jesus taught, where Paul began in each new city, and from which believers in Him were eventually thrown out. Its name, its history, and its furniture all say something about the kind of religion it served.
The Name
The word is Greek, and it survives in English almost unchanged. One writer breaks it down for readers who know no Greek:
G C WillisYou will notice that the word we are looking at is really made up of three words; and the second and third together, sunagoge, make a very common English word: "Synagogue." One is the Greek way, the other the English way, of spelling the same word. As you may guess, it really means "A-Gathering-together," and in this way it is often used in the Greek Old Testament. In the New Testament it has generally come to mean the place where they gathered. And today the Jews gather together in the synagogues to hear the Law and the Prophets and to pray.
Its Origin
The Old Testament has no synagogue buildings. Commentators trace their beginnings to the period after Israel's exile in Babylon:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThis word occurs only once in the Old Testament, Psalm 74:8, but the same Hebrew word (moed) is many times translated 'congregation.'… As far as is known there were no buildings called synagogues in Old Testament times. It has been judged that they arose after the captivity, and may perhaps have been prompted by a desire to carry on the work begun when the people asked Ezra to read them the book of the law, and those who heard were deeply affected.
The Building
Archaeology and the Gospels together give a picture of a plain hall with a fixed layout — and with seats that were worth arguing over:
Morrish Bible DictionaryAn ark was placed at one end, in which the sacred books were kept. Near this was the place of honour, or the 'chief seats,' which some sought after, Matt. 23:6, and James 2:2-3 (where the word translated 'assembly' is 'synagogue'). Nearer the centre of the building was a raised platform with a kind of desk or pulpit, where the reader stood. A screen separated the women from the men.
Sacrifice never happened here. That belonged to the temple in Jerusalem alone:
J. N. DarbyThe "synagogue" was among the Jews what is called a church in Christendom. Sacrifices were indeed only offered in the temple, but the ordinary divine service took place in the synagogues. Here they read the word and preached, and from here came the discipline that cast out those who were not regarded as faithful Jews.
Commentators differ on how much more than reading went on. One describes prayers offered there, while another calls synagogues "not places of worship… merely buildings in which copies of the Scriptures were kept."
The Service
The weekly pattern was fixed, but the platform was open to a competent stranger — a freedom that later commentators found striking:
William KellyIt is remarkable what measure of liberty was enjoyed. After the reading of the law and the prophets, a message came to them from the synagogue-rulers to speak if they had any word of exhortation for the people. Can there be a more painful contrast with the habits of Christendom?… Yet who ever hears of such an invitation nowadays?
That same openness is why Jesus is so often found in one:
Morrish Bible DictionaryIt was the custom of the Lord to visit the synagogues, and in them He worked some of His miracles and taught the people. Matt. 4:23. In Luke 4 the Lord, in the synagogue at Nazareth, stood up to read, and the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him… It is recorded that the people were in the habit of freely expressing their opinions about what was taught, and here they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
Expulsion
Membership could be revoked, and confessing Christ was the offence that triggered it:
Morrish Bible DictionaryTo be "put out of the synagogue" was the Jewish excommunication… The only recorded case is that of the man born blind, when he bore testimony to Christ. It was a happy exchange for him, for the Lord then revealed Himself to him as the Son of God. John 9:34-38. Of others we read that many of the chief rulers believed on the Lord, but feared to confess Him in case they should be cast out.
Synagogue And Church
The New Testament never calls the Christian gathering a synagogue, and the difference is built into the vocabulary:
Frederick W GrantThe word for the New Testament assembly, "ecclesia," comes from two words meaning "called out." It is not merely a gathering; it is a gathering of people who are distinctly "called out" from others. On the other hand, "synagogue" is a mere "gathering together." It is no gathering out; and this very precisely distinguishes the Jewish from the Christian gathering.
Summary
- Gathered — the word simply means "a gathering together," used first for the people, then for the building they gathered in.
- Grown — no synagogues existed in Old Testament times; they seem to have arisen after the exile, out of hunger to hear the law read.
- Given — a plain hall with an ark for the scrolls, a reader's platform, and chief seats men competed for; the law and prophets were read every Sabbath, and any capable visitor could be invited to speak.
- Graced — Jesus made a custom of going, taught and healed there, and read Isaiah aloud at Nazareth; Paul began his work in the synagogue city after city.
- Gone out — expulsion from the synagogue was Jewish excommunication for confessing Christ, and the one man it happened to met the Son of God outside.