Synagogue (04864)(sunagoge from sunágo = lead together, assemble or bring together) refers to a group of people “going with one another” (sunago) literally describes a bringing together or congregating in one place. Eventually, sunagoge came to mean the place where they congregated together. The word was used to designate the buildings other than the central Jewish temple where the Jews congregated for worship. Historically, the Synagogues originated in the Babylonian captivity after the 586 BC destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar and served as places of worship and instruction. Sunagoge was the name of a group "Synagogue of the Freedmen" (Acts 6:9). Synagogues should have been (and frequently were) a place of teaching and proclamation of the Gospel (Mt 4:23, 9:35, 12:9, 13:54, Mk 6:2, Lk 4:15, 16, Lk 4:44, 6:6, 13:10, Jn 6:59, 18:20, Acts 9:20 = Paul immediately "began to proclaim Jesus," Acts 13:5 = Paul proclaimed "the word of God," Acts 14:1 = place Paul, et al, spoke and where "a large number of people believed," Acts 17:17, 18:4, 18:19, 19:8 = Paul, et al reasoned with various audiences in synagogues). In James 2:3 the synagogue seems to describe an assembly-place for Judeo-Christians. Sadly many synagogues became hotbeds of hypocrisy (Mt 6:2), assemblies for arrogant display (a form of hypocrisy) (Mt 6:5, Mk 12:39, Lk 11:43, 20:46). Synagogue is used in the Septuagint of Ps 21:16 to describe a group of persons who banded together with hostile intent. Synagogues also were used as places where court was held and punishment inflicted = they became places of false accusation (Lk 12:11) and of scourging, flogging, etc of true disciples (Mt 10:17, Mk 13:9, Lk 21:12, Acts 22:19 = imprisoned, Acts 26:11 = Paul's punishment of believers, ), and places of violent reaction to unpopular teaching (Lk 4:28). See Multiple Dictionary Articles - Synagogue In the time of Jesus and the apostles every town, not only in Palestine but also among the Gentiles if it contained a considerable number of Jewish inhabitants, had at least one synagogue, the larger towns several or even many. That the Jews held trials and even inflicted punishments in them, is evident from such passages (Mt 10:17, 23:34), a haunt of demon possessed (Mk 1:23). Liddell-Scott has some additional secular uses of synagoge = I.1. a bringing together, uniting, Plat. 2. a place of assembly, synagogue, a levying of war, Thuc. 2. a gathering in of harvest, Polyb. 3. a drawing together, contracting, a forming an army in column, Plat.; a pursing up or wrinkling of the face, Isocr. 4. a collection of writings, Arist. III. a conclusion, inference, Id. TDNT describes the secular and Septuagint uses of synagoge... A. Secular Greek. 1. The General Meaning. The basic sense of synagoge is that of bringing together or assembling (cf. a gathering of people, a collection of books or letters, the ingathering of harvest, the mustering of troops, the knitting of brows, the drawing in of a sail, and in logic the deduction or demonstration). 2. Societies. Relative to societies, the term usually denotes the periodic meeting. Only rarely is synagoge the place of meeting. Often a festal assembly (cultic or otherwise) is denoted, e.g., a feast or even a picnic. Unlike ekklesia (the assembly of free citizens), synagoge is not a constitutional term. Conversely ekklesia plays no part in guild life. B. The LXX. 1. Occurrence. synagoge occurs some 200 times in the LXX. It usually translates either ‘eda or qahal. The former is the term for the national, legal, and cultic community of Israel, preferred in Exodus and Leviticus, used exclusively in Numbers, but replaced by qahal (which has essentially the same meaning) in Deuteronomy, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. 2. ekklesia and synagoge. Like the Hebrew terms, these two words have essentially the same sense. Individual translators seem to prefer either the one or the other. If synagoge is mostly found in the Pentateuch, this is perhaps because the translators find here the charter of their synagogal communities. They almost always use it for ‘eÃ'dÑaÖ. 3. Gathering. The term synagoge may have such normal senses as the collecting of taxes, the ingathering of harvest, the heaping up of stones, the gathering of a crowd, the mustering of troops, the swarming of bees, and a great number of people. 4. Assembly. When “assembly” is the point, there is little difference from the secular use. At times the stress may be on assembling for common action, but this is not always the case. 5. The Whole Congregation. synagoge is often a term for the congregation, i.e., the whole people of Israel, sometimes with pasa or Israel. The people is not as such a religious entity, but often the reference is to the people as it assembles for legal or cultic purposes. The synagoge is thus the cultic community engaged in sacred acts or the legal community engaged in judgment. The term bears a strong historical character as the desert community, the community that sees God's wonders and inherits the promises, yet also the eschatological community that is to be gathered from the dispersion. 6. The Individual Congregation. In the Apocrypha the term comes to be used for the local congregation, and the plural is now used for Israel as a whole. Synagoge - 56x in 56v - NAS Usage: assembly(1), synagogue(31), synagogues(24). Matthew 4:23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. Matthew 6:2 "So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 5 "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. Matthew 9:35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Matthew 10:17 "But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; Comment: Could there be any association between Mt 9:35 and Mt 10:17? Teach the Word and duck! Matthew 12:9 Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. Matthew 13:54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Matthew 23:6 "They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, Mark 1:21 They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. 23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 29 And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 39 And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons. Mark 3:1 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. Mark 6:2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Mark 12:39 and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, Mark 13:9 "But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. Luke 4:15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. 16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 38 Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon's home. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. 44 So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Luke 6:6 On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. Luke 7:5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." Luke 8:41 And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus' feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house; Luke 11:43 "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. Luke 12:11 "When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; Luke 13:10 And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. Luke 20:46 "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, Luke 21:12 "But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name's sake. John 6:59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. John 18:20 Jesus answered him, "I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. Acts 6:9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. Acts 9:2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." Acts 13:5 When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper. 14 But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 43 Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God. Acts 14:1 In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks. Acts 15:21 "For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath." Acts 17:1 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. Acts 18:4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 7 Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. 19 They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 19:8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. Acts 22:19 "And I said, 'Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. Acts 24:12 "Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot. Acts 26:11 "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities. James 2:2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, Revelation 2:9 'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Revelation 3:9 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie-- I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. Synagoge - 186 verses (some 200 actual uses) in the non-apocryphal Septuagint - Ge 1:9; 28:3; 35:11; 48:4; Ex 12:3, 6, 19, 47; 16:1ff, 6, 9f, 22; 17:1; 23:16; 34:22, 31; 35:1, 4, 20; 38:1, 25; Lev 4:13ff, 21; 8:3ff; 9:5; 10:3, 6, 17; 11:36; 16:5, 17, 33; 19:2; 22:18; 24:14, 16; Num 1:2, 16, 18; 8:9, 20; 10:2f, 7; 13:26; 14:1f, 5, 7, 10, 27, 35f; 15:14, 24ff, 33, 35f; 16:2f, 5f, 9, 11, 16, 19, 21f, 24, 26, 33, 42, 45, 47; 19:9, 20; 20:1f, 4, 6, 8, 10ff, 22, 25, 27, 29; 22:4; 25:6f; 26:2, 9f; 27:2f, 14, 16f, 19, 21f; 31:13, 16, 26f, 43; 32:2, 15; 35:12, 24f; Deut 5:22; 33:4; Josh 9:15, 18f, 21, 27; 18:1; 20:3, 9; 22:16f, 20, 30; Judg 14:8; 20:1; 21:10, 13, 16; 1 Kgs 12:20f; 2 Chr 5:6; Esther 10:3; Job 8:17; Ps 7:7; 16:4; 22:16; 40:10; 62:8; 68:30; 74:2; 82:1; 86:14; 106:17f; 111:1; Pr 5:14; 21:16; Isa 19:6; 22:6; 37:25; 56:8; Jer 6:11; 26:17; 31:4, 13; 44:15; 50:9; Ezek 26:7; 27:27, 34; 32:22; 37:10; 38:4, 7, 13, 15; Dan 8:25; 11:10ff; Obad 1:13; Zeph 3:8; Zech 9:12 First use in OT - (Gen 1:9) Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. In the Lxx synagoge was used to mean a collection of something (Gen 1:9) or a company of individual (Ge 28:3, 35:11, 46:4), a gang (Ps 21:17), a congregation (Ex 12:3), a multitude (Ezek 38:4), swarm of bees (Jdg 14:8, crowd of bulls (Ps 68:30) Acts 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. philosophers Romans 1:22; 1Corinthians 1:20,21; Colossians 2:8 encountered Acts 6:9; Mark 9:14; Luke 11:53 babbler or, base fellow. Proverbs 23:9; 26:12; 1 Corinthians 3:18 Jesus Acts 17:31; 26:23; Romans 14:9,10; 1Corinthians 15:3,4 Philosophers (philosophos from philos = friend/lover + sophia = wisdom; see philosophia) is literally a friend or lover of wisdom often from a particular worldview (especially non-Christian). One who is fond of wise things. Those who professed the study of wisdom were, among the ancient Greeks, called sophoà (4680), wise men; but Pythagoras introduced the more modest name of philosophos, a lover of wisdom, and called himself by this title. Wiersbe - Newspaper columnist Franklin P. Adams once defined philosophy as "unintelligible answers to insoluble problems," but the Greeks would not have agreed with him. They would have followed Aristotle who called philosophy the science which considers truth. Thayer writes philosophos refers to a "philosopher, one given to the pursuit of wisdom or learning (Xenophon, Plato, others); in a narrower sense, one who investigates and discusses the causes of things and the highest good: This is one of the only two specific references in the Bible to "philosophy," the other being Colossians 2:8-note. Both have strongly negative emphases, warning against philosophy--the love of human wisdom." Henry Morris - Like all other Greek and Roman philosophies of the day, Epicureanism and Stoicism were based on an evolutionary world view. The Epicureans were essentially atheists, like modern Darwinists, whereas the Stoics were pantheists, much like modern New Age evolutionists. Both believed in an infinitely old space/time/ matter universe, and both rejected the concept of an omnipotent transcendent Creator. On the popular level, both were expressed in terms of polytheism, astrology and spiritism, with the many gods and goddesses essentially being personifications of natural forces and systems. Both would naturally be strongly opposed to Biblical Creationist Christianity. Barclay - Epicureans (i) They believed that everything happened by chance. (ii) They believed that death was the end of all. (iii) They believed that the gods were remote from the world and did not care. (iv) They believed that pleasure was the chief end of man. They did not mean fleshly and material pleasure; for the highest pleasure was that which brought no pain in its train. Stoics. (i) They believed that everything was God. God was fiery spirit. That spirit grew dull in matter but it was in everything. What gave men life was that a little spark of that spirit dwelt in them and when they died it returned to God. (ii) They believed that everything that happened was the will of God and therefore must be accepted without resentment. (iii) They believed that every so often the world disintegrated in a conflagration and started all over again on the same cycle of events. (Acts 17 - William Barclay's Daily Study Bible) Epicurean (Epicureanism - Wikipedia) - followers of Epicurus (341-270BC) believed that while God existed but that He had no interest in humankind, and the main purpose of life was pleasure. Sounds very modern, doesn't it? In fact the word has lost its original sense and so Epicurean describes the pursuit of fine food. Epicurus, a contemporary of Zeno, considered practical atheism the true view of reality. Denying a future life entirely, he claimed pleasure as the ruling principle of life. He allowed for the existence of gods but considered them distant and unconcerned with the lives of men. Both these systems, with their doctrines of self-discipline on the one hand and fruitful earthly life on the other, differed sharply from the Christian resurrection hope for life in eternity. This should have generated a desire for the gospel in true philosophers, i.e., those serious-minded, truth-seeking men. Epicurus was an existentialist in that he sought truth by means of personal experience and not through reasoning. The Epicureans were materialists and atheists, and their goal in life was pleasure. The Stoic said "Endure Life" while the Epicureans said "Enjoy Life"! Vincent - Epicureans = Disciples of Epicurus, and atheists. They acknowledged God in words, but denied his providence and superintendence over the world. According to them, the soul was material and annihilated at death. Pleasure was their chief good; and whatever higher sense their founder might have attached to this doctrine, his followers, in the apostle's day, were given to gross sensualism. Stoics = Pantheists. God was the soul of the world, or the world was God. Everything was governed by fate, to which God himself was subject. They denied the universal and perpetual immortality of the soul; some supposing that it was swallowed up in deity; others, that it survived only till the final conflagration; others, that immortality was restricted to the wise and good. Virtue was its own reward, and vice its own punishment. Pleasure was no good, and pain no evil. The name Stoic was derived from stoaa porch. Zeno, the founder of the Stoic sect, held his school in the Stoa Poecile, or painted portico, so called because adorned with pictures by the best masters. (Acts 17 - Vincent's Word Studies) Stoics (Stoicism - Wikipedia) - This group believed God was the world's soul, and life's goal was to rise above all things, showing no emotional response to either pain or pleasure. The Stoics were pantheists, much like modern New Age evolutionists. They rejected the idolatry of pagan worship and taught that there was one World God. The Stoics emphasized personal discipline and self-control and their goal in life was to follow one's reason and be self-sufficient, unmoved by inner feelings or outward circumstances. It telling that the first two leaders of the Stoics committed suicide Zeno of Citium (c. 334 — c. 262 BC) taught in the Stoa (Porch), and his teaching accordingly was called Stoicism. He advanced many noble ideas, such as self-mastery, but occasionally he or his followers would adhere to the ideas with such strictness that their austerity led to immense pride, and suicide became the solution for failure. Thus, many followers were distinctly selfish and unloving, frequently espousing a pantheistic world view (Modern day New Age Movement). Pantheism says that god is the all, and therefore all that exists is god. God is almost always an impersonal god in any pantheistic system. The doctrine of the Stoics taught that human beings should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law, calmly accepting all things as the result of divine will. Stoicism was one of the most influential Greek schools of philosophy in the NT period. It took its name from the Stoa Poikile, the painted “portico” (stoa) in Athens where the founder Zeno of Citium (about 280 b.c.) taught. Zeno was followed by Cleanthes (about 260 b.c.), Cleanthes by Chrysippus (about 240 b.c.), who was regarded as the intellectual founder of the Stoic system. Stoicism soon found an entrance at Rome, and under the empire Stoicism was not unnaturally connected with republican virtue. The Stoics believed that people are part of the universe, which itself is dominated by reason. God is identified with the world-soul and so inhabits everything. Therefore, one’s goal is to identify oneself with this universal reason that determines destiny, to find one’s proper place in the natural order of things. Since people cannot change this grand design, it is best for them to cooperate and to take their part in the world order. Moreover, they must live above any emotional involvement with life, exemplifying a detached virtue in serving others. Above all, they must be self-sufficient, living life with dignity and pride. Individual Stoics, including the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, set a high standard of personal conduct. The ethical system of the Stoics has been commonly supposed to have a close connection with Christian morality. But the morality of Stoicism is essentially based on pride, that of Christianity on humility; the one upholds individual independence, the other absolute faith in another; the one looks for consolation in the issue of fate, the other in Providence; the one is limited by periods of cosmical ruin, the other is consummated in a personal resurrection. In Stoicism God was not a personal Being but a spiritual force or soul-power immanent in men and things. He was given many names—Logos or Reason, Nature, Providence, divine Spirit et al. His substance was the whole world and the heavens. An elaborate pantheon was developed to agree with God’s total immanence. The highest good was to follow reason or virtue, suppress the emotions, and conduct oneself according to what nature wills. In the end there was reabsorption into the world Soul, but no individual immortality. The "greatness" of Stoicism was found in its high ethical concepts and doctrine of human brotherhood. "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/acts_17_commentary.htm#s