Congregation

An assembly of people met together for religious worship. The term has been also used for assemblies of cardinals appointed by the pope for the discharge of certain functions, after the manner of our offices and courts; such as the congregation of the inquisition, the congregation of rites of alms, &c.&c.

It also signifies a company or society of religious persons cantoned out of this or that order and making an inferior order, &c. Such are the congregations of the Oratory; those of Clupy, &c. among the Benedictines.

Congregation. This describes the Hebrew people, in its collective capacity, under its peculiar aspect as a holy community, held together by religious, rather than political bonds. Sometimes, it is used in a broad sense as inclusive of foreign settlers, Exo 12:19, but more properly, as exclusively appropriate to the Hebrew element of the population. Num 15:15.

The congregation was governed by the father or head of each family and tribe. The number of these representatives being inconveniently large for ordinary business, a further selection was made by Moses of 70, who formed a species of standing committee. Num 11:16.

Occasionally indeed, the whole body of people was assembled at the door of the Tabernacle, hence, usually called the Tabernacle of the congregation. Num 10:3. The people were strictly bound by the acts of their representatives, even in cases where they disapproved of them. Jos 9:18.

’eedah. CONVOCATION, qaahaal (restricted to the Pentateuch, except Isa 1:13). The Hebrew, regarded in their collective capacity as a "holy" community, gathered in sacred assembly composed of the homeborn Israelites. Settlers, only if circumcised, were admitted to the privileges (Exo 12:19). Each Israelite was member of a house; the family was a collection of houses; the tribe, a collection of families; the congregation, a collection of tribes. The CONGREGATION was a national parliament, with legislative and judicial powers. The CONVOCATION was restricted to religious meetings (Leviticus 23). Each house, family, and tribe had its head; these representative heads were "the elders" or "princes."

Moses selected 70 elders by God’s appointment to share the burden of government with him (Num 11:16). The sounding of the two silver trumpets was the signal for the whole body of the people assembling at the door of the tabernacle, which was there called "the tabernacle of the congregation," the moed, literally, a place of meeting (Num 10:2-4). The princes were convened with only one trumpet. The people were bound to abide by the acts of their representatives (Jos 9:18). In later times the Sanhedrin council (corresponding to Moses’ seventy elders) represented the congregation. Synagogue, which originally applied to the assembly, came to mean the place of worship.

(usually דָה, edah’, or perhaps more technically קָהָל, kahal’, both often rendered “assembly;” Gr. ἐκκλησία or συναγώγη), a term that describes the Hebrew people in its collective capacity under its peculiar, aspect as a holy community, held together by religious rather than political bonds. Sometimes it is used in a broad sense as inclusive of foreign settlers (Exo 12:19), but more properly as exclusively appropriate to the Hebrew element of the population (Num 15:15); in each case it expresses the idea of the Roman civitas or the Greek πολιτεία SEE ALIEN.

Every circumcised Hebrew (אֶוְרָח; αὐτόχθων; indigena; A. V. “home-born,” “born in the land,” the term specially descriptive of the Israelite in opposition to the non-Israelite, Exo 12:19; Lev 16:29; Num 9:14) was a member of the congregation, and took part in its proceedings probably from the time that he bore arms. It is important, however, to observe that he acquired no political rights in his individual capacity, but only as a member of a house; for the basis of the Hebrew polity was the house, whence was formed in an ascending scale the family or collection of houses, the tribe or collection of families, and the congregation or collection of tribes. SEE GOVERNMENT.

Strangers (גֵּרִים) settled in the land, if circumcised, were, with certain exceptions (Deu 23:1 sq.), admitted to the privilege of citizenship, and are spoken of as members of the congregation in its more extended application (Exo 12:19; Num 9:14; Num 15:15); it appears doubtful, however, whether they were represented in the congregation in its corporate capacity as a deliberative body, as they were not, strictly speaking, members of any house; their position probably resembled that of the πρόξενοι at Athens. The congregation occupied an important position under the Theocracy, as the comitia or national Convention, invested with legislative and judicial powers. In this capacity it acted through a system of patriarchal representation, each house, family, and tribe being represented by its head or father. These delegates were named זִקְנֵי הָעֵדָה(Sept. πρεσβύτεροί; Vulg. seniores; A. V. “elders”), נְשִׁיאִים(ἄρχοντες; principes; “princes”), and sometimes קְרִיאִים(ἐπίκλητοι; qui vocabantur, Num 16:2; A. V. “renowned,” “famous”). SEE ELDER.

The number of these representatives being inconveniently large for ordinary business, a farther selection was made by Moses of 70, who formed a species of standing committee (Num 11:16). Occasionally, indeed, the whole body of the people was assembled, the mode of summoning being by the sound of the two silver trumpets, and the place of meeting the door of the tabernacle, hence usually called the tabernacle of the congregation (מוֹעֵד, lit. place of meeting) (Num 10:3); the occasions of such general assemblies were solemn religious services (Exo 12:47; Num 25:6; Joe 2:15), or to receive new commandments (Exo 19:7-8 [comp. Act 7:38]; Lev 8:4). The elders were summoned by the call of one trumpet (Num 10:4), at the command of the supreme governor or the high-priest; they represented the whole congregation on various occasions of public interest (Exo 3:16; Exo 12:21; Exo 17:5; Exo 24:1); they acted as a court of judicature in capital offenses (Num 15:32; Num 35:12), and were charged with the execution of the sentence (Lev 24:14; Num 15:35); they joined in certain of the sacrifices (Lev 4:14-15); and they exercised the usual rights of sovereignty, such as declaring war, making peace, and concluding treaties (Jos 9:15). The people were strictly bound by the acts of their representatives, even in cases where they disapproved of them (Jos 9:18). After the occupation of the land of Canaan, the congregation was assembled only on matters of the highest importance. The delegates were summoned by messengers (2Ch 30:6) to such places as might be appointed, most frequently to Mizpeh (Jdg 10:17; Jdg 11:11; Jdg 20:1; 1Sa 7:5; 1Sa 10:17 1Ma 3:46); they came attended each with his band of retainers, so that the number assembled was very considerable (Jdg 20:2 sq.). On one occasion we hear of the congregation being assembled for judicial purposes (Judges 20); on other occasions for religious festivals (2Ch 30:5; 2Ch 34:29), SEE CONVOCATION; on others for the election of kings, as Saul (1Sa 10:17), David (2Sa 5:1), Jeroboam (1Ki 12:20), Joash (2Ki 11:19), Josiah (2Ki 21:24), Jehoahaz (2Ki 23:30), and Uzziah (2Ch 26:1). In the later periods of Jewish history the congregation was represented by the Sanhedrim; and the term synagogue (συναγώγη), which in the Sept. is applied exclusively to the congregation itself (for the place of meeting אֹהֶל מוֹעֵדis invariably rendered ἡ σκηνή τοῦ μαρτυρίου, tabernaculum testimonii, the word מוֹעֵדbeing considered = עֵדוּת), was transferred to the places of worship established by the Jews, wherever a certain number of families were collected. SEE ASSEMBLY.

MOUNT OF THE CONGREGATION (הִר מוֹעֵד, mountain of the assembly, Isa 14:13 [14]; Sept. ὄρος ὑψηλόν, Vulg. mons testamenti), usually supposed to refer to Mount Moriah as the site of the Temple (comp. Isa 33:20). The tenableness of this interpretation was disputed by Michaeiis (Biblioth. Orient. v. 191), who contends that the name designates some place of religious ceremony among the Babylonians, and has hence been compared with the sacred hill of the gods (q. d. mount of their meeting), such as the Alborj named in the Zend-Avesta as situated in the north of the earth (comp. Rhode, Heil. Sage, p. 230 sq.). We may also compare with this the Mount Olympus of the Greek mythology, and the Meru of the Indian. Indeed all pagan systems seem to point to the north of the respective regions as the locality of the highest mountains, naturally assumed as the abode of the gods; possibly having a vague reference to the great Caucasian range (see Gesenius, Jesa. 2:316 sq.; Rosenmüller, Alterth. I, 1:154 sq.; Henderson, Comment. in loc.). SEE MOUNT.

The general word for congregation is Kahal (קהל). It properly signifies an assembly or assemblage, and is applied to all sorts of gatherings, whether for war, for complaint, for listening to instruction, or for any similar purpose.

The verb is first used of the gathering of the people against Moses (Exo 32:1); compare Num 16:3; Num 16:19 (the LXX has συνίστημι in each case) in Num 20:2, the LXX has συναθροίζω, to mark the tumultuous nature of the gathering; in the fourth verse the congregation is συναγωγή; and in the eighth the verb ἐκκλησιάζω is used, whilst the Hebrew word is the same throughout. Gatherings for wicked purposes are referred to in Gen 49:6, Pro 5:14, and Psa 26:5.

The first passage of special interest in which the noun occurs is Gen 28:3, where Isaac says to Jacob, ’God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be an assemblage of peoples’ [The words Am and Goi had not yet received their differentiated and technical meaning. See chap. xxii.] (εἰς συναγωγάς ἐθνω̂ν) in Gen 35:11 this blessing is repeated by God Himself, ’I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee;’ and Jacob, when an old man, cited the words of the blessing in his conversation with Joseph, ’I will make of thee a multitude of peoples’ (48:4). The word multitude is unfortunate. The R. V. has company.

The congregation or assembly of Israel, which is so often spoken of in the O.T., is sometimes referred to as συναγωγή (synagogue), sometimes as ἐκκλησία (ecclesia), in the LXX. Once, where the judicial function of the congregation is referred to, the LXX renders the word συνέδριον (whence the word Sanhedrim), namely, in Pro 26:26, ’This wickedness shall be shewed before the congregation.’

The assembly or congregation of Israel is well defined in Jos 8:35, ’There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers which were conversant with them.’ The congregation, then, properly meant all the male adults of the nation in Ezr 2:61; Ezr 2:65, ’the whole congregation’ was numbered at 42,360, exclusive of menservants and maidservants in chap.10:1 we read of ’a congregation of men, women, and children.’ in Neh 8:2 we are told of ’a congregation both of men and women.’ in Joe 2:16 the prophet says, ’Gather the people, sanctify (i.e. call with sacred solemnity) the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts.’

Israel was regarded as a vast family, the women and children forming an integral portion of it, except for public or judicial purposes, and none excluded except through wilful disobedience of the law of Moses, or (for a time) through ceremonial uncleanness. this great family was addressed, both by Moses and the prophets, in the singular number, as if they might be regarded as one, in spite of their diversities of age, circumstances, and dwelling-places. this fact illustrates the teaching of the N.T., where we find that there was One person who concentrated in Himself the fulfilment of much that had been spoken to Israel in its corporate capacity, and became in his turn a centre of unity to a spiritual Israel, gathering together into one all the children of God that were scattered abroad (Joh 11:52).

The first great assembly d Israel was at the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. The reference to it in Deu 18:16 is interesting from its connection with the prophecy concerning Him who was to build up a new ecclesia, ’The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly (ἐκκλησία), saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, lest I die. and the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put my words into his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.’ The assembly on the occasion here referred to was a representative assembly, but the whole of Israel, even all their generations, were regarded as pledged by what was then transacted. this is brought out clearly, both in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Thus in Deu 4:10 we read, ’The Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, . and ye came near, and stood under the mountain;’ and in Deu 5:22, after recapitulating the commandments, Moses says, ’Those words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount. . and it came to pass, when ye heard the voice . that ye came near, even all the heads of your tribes and your elders.’ What the representatives did was evidently regarded as done by the whole people, and not by one generation only, for in the same chapter and the third verse we are told that ’the Lord made not the covenant with our fathers (only), but with us, even us (also), who are all of us here this day;’ and yet the actual generation of men with whom the covenant was originally made had passed away.

Although theoretically ’the congregation of Israel’ signified the whole people of Israel, yet for practical purposes they were represented by elders. Other examples will be found in 1Ki 8:1-3, and 2Ch 5:2-3. The same was probably the case in the gathering (Kahal) of all the congregation at the entrances of the tabernacle for the observance of special national ceremonies. See Lev 8:3-4.

In Lev 4:13-14; Lev 4:31, the whole congregation is described as sinning; a national offence has been committed, and a national Sin-offering is to be offered. Accordingly, the elders of the congregation in their representative capacity laid their hands on the head of the bullock which was to be offered, to signify the transmission of the nation’s evil deed to the atoning victim.

The gatherings at religious feasts are probably referred to in Psa 22:22; Psa 22:25; Psa 26:12; Psa 35:18; Psa 40:9-10; Psa 68:26; Psa 107:32; Psa 149:1.

The being ’cut off from the congregation of Israel,’ and the being forbidden to enter it (Num 19:20; Deu 23:1), seem to have implied severance from the privileges, religious and social, which the nation as such enjoyed in some places, however, it was synonymous with death in Pro 21:16 we read of ’the congregation (συναγωγή) of the dead,’ a striking picture of that vast gathering which is being daily enlarged as men are ’gathered to their fathers,’ and which remains an integral portion of the family of man.

In Psa 58:1, where we read, ’Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation,’ the word used is Alam (אלם), which signifies either to bind into a sheaf, or to be dumb. The former meaning would present a very suitable symbol of a congregation, but the latter meaning, ’ye dumb folk,’ would also give good sense. See R. V.

In Psa 68:10 the Psalmist says, ’Thy congregation shall dwell therein;’ and in 74:19, ’Forget not the congregation of the po or for ever.’ Here the word (חיה) means a living being. Translators have not been agreed as to its meaning here, but our version gives a fair sense in some versions we here find the strange rendering, ’Thy beasts shall dwell therein.’

Besides Kahal, an assemblage, there is another word which occurs about a hundred and fifty times in the O.T., with almost the same width of meaning, namely, Adah (עדה). this word first appears in Exo 12:3, and is almost always rendered congregation. It is frequently used in the early books, but rarely in the later. Whilst Kahal generally refers to the representative gathering, Adahoften signifies an informal massing of the people. Adah is used of the company of Korah (Num 16:5; Psa 106:17) in Jdg 14:8 it is used of a swarm of bees; in Psa 68:30, of a multitude of bulls. It only occurs three times in the prophets, namely, in Jer 6:18; Jer 30:20, and Hos 7:12; whilst Kahal occurs twenty-two times, chiefly in Ezekiel. The LXX usually has συναγωγή as a rendering for Adah.

The word Adah not only signifies congregation, but also witness or testimony, and in another form (Aduth) it is used of ’the ark of the testimony.’ this chest was so called because it contained the tables of the Law which testified to God’s character and attributes (Exo 25:21-22). The same form is used in connection with the tent which contained the ark, and which was consequently called the tent or tabernacle of the testimony or of witness in Exo 38:21; Num 1:50; Num 1:53; Num 10:11; Num 17:7-8; Num 18:2; and 2Ch 24:6.

Wherever we read of ’the tabernacle of the congregation,’ the word moed (מועד) is used. It is generally supposed that this word is derived from yaad (יעד), to appoint, and, in the passive, to meet or make an appointment. this verb is used of God’s meeting Moses and communing with him from above the mercy-seat in Exo 25:22; and in Exo 29:42-43, it is apparently adopted to explain the true meaning of the word moed, for we here read, ’This shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations, at the do or (i.e. opening) of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak there unto thee, and there I will meet with the children of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory.’ See also Exo 30:6; Exo 30:36, where the same Hebrew words are used in the same relationship. The ’tabernacle of the congregation’ was therefore the appointed place of meeting between God and Israel; they were brought near together in that Holy Place, just as God and man are said to be brought near together in the Body of Christ, which is the true Tabernacle not made with hands.

The LXX has almost always rendered this expression by the words σκηνή του̂ μαρτυρίου, ’the tent of witness,’ thus connecting the word moed with adah, which has been discussed above. There is a good deal to be said in favour of this view of the matter, for the roots of the words are cognate, if not the same. See Act 7:44, Rev 15:5.

The word moed is also used to represent seasons (Gen 1:14), appointed times (Gen 18:14), feasts (Lev 23:2), and solemnities (Deu 31:10) in all these renderings, which frequently recur in the O.T., there is an idea of some time or place appointed by God.

What, then, was the Tabernacle of the Congregation? Not the tent or collection of tents in which the congregation of Israel dwelt, but the tent or tabernacle in the most sacred part of which the ark of the testimony was placed, and which was set apart as the dwelling-place of God, the centre whence issued the promises, warnings, and commands of the Most High. The R. V. rightly renders it ’the Tent of Meeting.’

The term is constantly applied in the O.T. to the community of Israel, and also to the actual assembling together of the people according to the unity of the congregation. Every descendant of the twelve tribes formed a part of that community. Those of other nations were received into the congregation on becoming PROSELYTES, q.v. The Ammonite and the Moabite were forbidden ever to come into the congregation of Jehovah, and there were a few other restrictions. Deu 23:1-4. For various offences an Israelite was cut off from the congregation. Exo 12:19; Num 9:13, etc. See EXCOMMUNICATION.

By: Kaufmann Kohler

1. An assembly convoked for a certain time and purpose ( = ἐκκλησία, I Kings viii. 65; Joel ii. 16; Ps. xl. 10. For and in Ps. xxvi. 12, lxviii. 26, "assemblies" would be more correct than "congregations" [A.V.]; and in Ps. lxxiv. 4 should be rendered " synagogues," not "congregations," as in A. V.).

2. A single community ( = συναγωγή, Num. xxxv. 23 et seq.).

3. The whole body of Israel, called ("the congregation of the Lord," Deut. xxiii. 1 et seq.; R. V. "assembly is incorrect); Num. xxvii. 17; "the congregation of Israel," Ex. xii. 3; "the congregation of the children of Israel, Ex. xvi. 1; "the assembly of the congregation of Israel," Ex. xii. 6 and Num. xiv. 5; or simply and used indifferently, Lev. iv. 13 et seq.; Prov. v. 14, where is preferably translated by LXX. συναγωγή, and ἐκκλησία. To this must be added "the congregation of Jacob," Deut. xxxiii. 4 (R. V. "assembly"; LXX. συναγωγαίς, plural; so also Ecclus. [Sirach] xxiv. 23).From the Apocryphal and other Hellenistic writings (see Ecclus. xxiv. 2, xliv. 15, 1. 13 et seq.; I Macc. ii. 56, iii. 13, etc.), and the inscriptions in Schurer ("Gesch. des Jüdischen Volkes," ii. 432 et seq., iii. 40-46), it appears that "synagogue" = συναγωγή was the name, corresponding to , Aramean , given to the Jewish congregation as a community, as well as to the place of worship; while the name ἐκκλησία (τοῦ Ωεοῦ, or Κυρίου= "assembly of the Lord"; hence κυριακή [οἰκία] "church") was chosen to designate the assembly of worshipers.It was owing to the influence of Paul that ἐκκλησία (= "church") became the distinctive name of the Christian communities, while "synagogue" became that of the Jewish congregation, and for some time, also, of the Judæo-Christian congregations (compare Schürer, l.c.). See Community, Organization of; Minyan; Synagogue.

(1) A body of Catholics, usually the members of a parish, assembled together in a church for Divine worship.

(2) A body of delegates chosen by the professed or senior members of the provinces of a religious order or congregation, to consider matters pertaining to the government, good works, and welfare of the order; also called chapter by some religious institutes.

koṇ-grē̇-gā´shun (קהל, ḳāhāl, עדה, ‛ēdhāh).

1. Terms Employed

These two words rendered by “congregation” or “assembly” are used apparently without any difference of sense. They appear to include an assembly of the whole people or any section that might be present on a given occasion. Indeed, sometimes the idea appears to correspond closely to that conveyed by “horde,” or even by “crowd.” ‛Ēdhāh is once used of bees (Jdg 14:8). It has been sought to distinguish the two words by means of Lev 4:13, “if the whole ‛ēdhāh of Israel err, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the ḳāhāl.” The ḳāhāl would then be the smaller body representing the whole ‛ēdhāh, but the general usage is not favorable to this view (compare e.g. Exo 12:19, “cutting off from the ‛ēdhāh of Israel,” with Num 19:20, “cutting off from the ḳāhāľ”). The idea denoted by these words is said by Wellhausen to be “foreign to Hebrew antiquity,” though it “runs through the Priestly Code from beginning to end” (Prolegomena 78). Yet it is Deuteronomy that presents us with laws excluding certain classes from the ḳāhāl, and the word is also found in Gen 49:6; Num 22:4 (the Revised Version (British and American) “multitude”); Deu 5:22; Deu 9:10; Deu 31:30; Jos 8:35; 1Sa 17:47; 1Ki 8:14; Mic 2:5, and other early passages, while ‛ēdhāh occurs in 1Ki 12:20 (see further, Eerdmans, Das Buch Exodus, 80 f). On the other hand taste and euphony appear to be responsible for the choice of one or other of the words in many cases. Thus the Chronicler uses ḳāhāl frequently, but ‛ēdhāh only once (2Ch 5:6 = 1Ki 8:5).

2. Legal Provisions

Moses provided for the summoning of the congregation by trumpets (Num 10:2-8). For the sin offering to be brought if the whole congregation erred, see Lev 4:13-21.

Deu 23:1-8 (in Heb 2 through 9) excludes bastards, Ammonites and Moabites from the assembly, even to the tenth generation, while Edomites and Egyptians were admitted in the third. Those who suffer from certain physical defects are also excluded.

3. Other Terms

One other word must be noted, מועד, mō‛ēdȟ. It occurs often in the phrase ’ōhel mō‛ēdh (“tent of meeting”; see TABERNACLE). But in Num 16:2 we find it used of certain princes who were “men of renown called to the assembly.”

For עצרת, ‛acereth, rendered by the Revised Version (British and American) “solemn assembly”, see FEASTS. On מקרא, miḳrā’, see CONVOCATION.

In Tindale’s Version (1534) and in Cranmer’s (1539) ‘congregation’ was used instead of ‘church’ to translate both ἐêêëçóßá and óõíáãùãÞ. But Wyclif had used ‘church,’ and the Geneva Version, followed by Authorized Version , reverted to it. Revised Version , with one exception, has ‘church’ exclusively in the text, though in several places ‘congregation’ appears in the margin. The exception is Heb_2:12, where in the quotation from Psa_22:25 ‘congregation’ is in the text and ‘church’ in the margin. F. J. A. Hort (The Christian Ecclesia, London, 1897) chose ‘Ecclesia’ as a word free from the disturbing associations of ‘church’ and ‘congregation,’ though the latter has not only historical standing (as above) but also the advantage of suggesting some of these elements of meaning which are least forcibly brought out by the word ‘church’ according to our present use (cf. Expository Times viii. [1896-97] 386). So far, however, as there is any substantive difference between the two words as found in the English Bible, the ‘congregation’ of Revised Version margin points to an actual church assembled in one place.

In the NT ἐêêëçóßá naturally designates the Christian Church. The associations of óõíáãùãÞ were against its Christian use, though it is retained in Jam_2:2 to describe an assembly of Jewish-Christians; but this is explained by the destination of the letter-‘to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion.’

In St. Paul’s address to the elders of Miletus (Act_20:17) we see the old Jewish óõíáãùãÞ in the process of passing into the more distinctively Christian ἑêêëçóßá. He quotes Psa_74:2 ‘Remember thy congregation which thou didst purchase of old’; but for the Septuagint óõíáãùãÞ he puts ἐêêëçóßá. Thus in the Apostle’s hands this passage becomes ‘one of the channels through which the word “ecclesia” came to denote God’s people of the future’ (Expository Times viii. 387). Cf. also article Assembly; and, for the Heb. and Gr. terms in the OT, article ‘Congregation’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) .

W. M. Grant.

A gathering of people, usually of believers, in a common religious faith.