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( óõíáãùãή ; other equivalent terms are ðñïóåõ÷ή or ðñïóåõêôήñéïí , i.e. chapel; Heb. àֵì îåֹòֵã , or assembly of God; Aramaic áé ëðùúà , ëðùúà ), in the Jewish place of worship in post-Biblical and modern times. However obscure the origin of these establishments, they eventually became so important and characteristic as to furnish a designation of the Jewish Church itself in later literature.
It may be well to note at the outset the points of contact between the history and ritual of the synagogues of the Jews, and the facts to which the inquiries of the Biblical student are principally directed. 1. They meet us as the great characteristic institution of the later phase of Judaism. More even than the Temple and its services, in the time of which the New Test. treats, they at once represented and determined the religious life of the people. 2. We cannot separate them from the most intimate connection with our Lord's life and ministry. In them he worshipped in his youth and in his manhood. Whatever we can learn of the ritual which then prevailed tells us of a worship which he recognized and sanctioned; which for that reason, if for no other, though, like the statelier services of the Temple, it was destined to pass away, is worthy of our respect and honor. They were the scenes, too, of no small portion of his work. In them were wrought some of his mightiest works of healing (Mat_12:9; Mark 23; Luk_13:11). In them were spoken some of the most glorious of his recorded words (4:16; Joh_6:59); many more, beyond all reckoning, which are sot recorded (Mat_4:23; Mat_13:54; Joh_18:20, etc.). 3. There are the questions, leading us back to a remoter past. In what did the worship of the synagogue originate? What type was it intended to reproduce? What customs, alike in nature, if not in name, served as the starting-point for it? 4. The synagogue, with all that belonged to it, was connected with the future, as well as with the past. It was the order with which the first Christian believers were most familiar, from which they were most likely to take the outlines, or even the details, of the worship, organization, and government of their own society. Widely divergent as the two words and the things they represented afterwards became, the ecclesia had its starting- point in the synagogue.
I. Name and its Signification. — The word óõíáãùãή , which literally signifies a gathering, is not unknown in classical Greek (Thucyd. 2, 18; Plato, Republ. 526 D), but became prominent in that of the Hellenists. It appears in the Sept. as the translation of not less than twenty-one Hebrew words in which the idea of a gathering is implied (Tromm, Concordant. s.v.). But, although the word is there used to denote any kind of gathering, heap, mass, or assemblage, such as a gathering of fruits (for the Heb. àñ , àñé , Exo_23:16; Exo_34:22), of water ( î÷åí , î÷åä , Gen_1:9; Lev_11:36), a heap of stones ( âì , Job_8:17), a band of singers ( îçåì , Jer_31:4; Jer_31:13), a mass or multitude of people or soldiers ( àñôä , çéì , Isa_24:22; Eze_37:10), a tribe or family ( áéú , 1Ki_12:21), etc., yet its predominant usage in this version is to denote an appointed meeting of people either for civil or religious purposes, thus being synonymous with ἐêêëçóßá . This is evident from the fact that the Sept. uses óõíÜãùãή 130 times for the Hebrew òֵãָä , and twenty-five times for ÷ָäָì , which in seventy instances is rendered in the same version by ἐêêëçóßá . The synonymous usage in the Sept. of these two expressions is also seen in Pro_5:14, where ἐêêçóßá and óõíáãùãή stand in juxtaposition for the Hebrew ÷äì and òãä .
In the books of the Apocrypha, the word, as in those of the Old Test., retains its general meaning, and is not used specifically for any recognized place of worship. For this the received phrase seems to be ôüðïò ðñïóåõ÷ῆò (1Ma_3:46; 3Ma_7:20). In the New Test., however, we find óõíáãùãή , like ἐêêëçóßá , used metonymically, more especially for an appointed and recognized Jewish place of worship (Mat_4:23; Mat_6:2; Mat_6:5; Mat_9:35, etc.). Sometimes the word is applied to the tribunal which was connected with or sat in the synagogue in the narrower sense (Mat_10:17; Mat_23:34; Mar_13:9; Luk_21:12; Luk_12:11). Within the limits of the Jewish Church it perhaps kept its ground as denoting the place, of meeting of the Christian brethren (James 2, 2). It seems to have been claimed by some of thepseudo-Judaizing, half-Gnostic sects of the ‘Asiatic churches for their meetings (Revelation 2, 9). It was not altogether obsolete, as applied to Christian meetings, in the time of Ignatius (Fp. ad Trall. c.v; ad Polyc. c. 3). Even in Clement of Alexandria the two words appear united as they had done in the Sept. ( ἐðὶ ôὴí óõíáãùãὴí ἐêêëçóßáò , Strom. 6:633). Afterwards, when the chasm between Judaism and Christianity became wider, Christian writers were fond of dwelling on the meanings of the two words which practically represented them, and showing how far the synagogue was excelled by the ecclesia (August. Enarr. in Psalms 80; Trench, Synonyms of N.T. § 1). The cognate word, however, óýíáîéò , was formed or adopted in its place, and applied to the highest act of worship and communion for which Christians met (Suicer, Thesaur. s.v.).
More definite than the Greek term synagogue is the ancient Hebrew name, beth tephillah ( áֵּéú úְּôַìָּä , ôüðïò ðñïóåõ÷ῆò , or simply ðñïóåõ÷ή ) = house of prayer (Act_16:13, for which the Syriac rightly has áéä öìåúà ; Josephus, Life, 54), which is now obsolete, or beth hak-keneseth ( áֵּéú äִëְּðֵñֵú ) = house of assembly, which has superseded it. This definite local signification of the term synagogue among the Jews has necessitated the use of another expression for the members constituting the assembly, which is ëðéùúà or öáåø , to express our secondary sense of the word ἐêêëçóßá .
II. History of the Origin and Development of the Synagogue.
1. According to tradition, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob instituted the prayers three times a day (Berakoth, 26 b), and had places of worship (comp. the Chaldee paraphrases of Onkelos, Jonathan ben-Uzziel, and the Jerusalem Targum on Gen_24:62-63; Gen_25:27). We are informed that there were synagogues, in the time of the pious king Hezekiah (Sanhedrin, 94 b); that the great house ( áéú âãåì ) was a stupendous synagogue; that the many houses of Jerusalem ( áúé éøåùìéí ) which Nebuchadnezzar burned (2Ki_25:9) were the celebrated 480 synagogues that existed in Jerusalem (Jerusalem Megillah, 3, 1), and that in Babylon the synagogue was to be seen in which Daniel used to pray (Erubin, 21 a). We have thetestimony of Benjamin of Tudela, the celebrated traveler of the Middle Ages, that he himself saw-the synagogues built by Moses, David, Obadiah; Nahum, and Ezra (Itinerary, 1, 90, 91, 92, 106, 153, ed. Ascher [London, 1840]). It is in harmony with this tradition that James declares “Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day” (Act_15:21; comp. Philo, 2. 167, 630; Josephus, Apion, 2, 18; Baba Kama, 82 a; Jerusalem Megillah, 4,1). But these are simply traditions, which love to invest everything with the halo of the remotest antiquity.
2. In the Old Test. itself we find no trace of meetings for worship in synagogues. On the one hand, it is probable that if new moons and Sabbaths were observed at all, they must have been attended by some celebration apart from, as well as at, the tabernacle or the Temple (1Sa_20:5; 2Ki_4:23). On the other, so far as we find traces of such local worship, it seems to have fallen too readily into a fetich religion, sacrifices to ephods and teraphim (Jdg_8:27; Jdg_17:5) in groves and on high-places, offering nothing but a contrast to the “reasonable service,” the prayers, psalms, instruction in the law, of the later synagogue. The special mission of the priests and Levites under Jehoshaphat (2Ch_12:7-9) shows that there was no regular provision for reading the “book of the law of the Lord” to the people, and makes it probable that even the rule which prescribed that it should be read once every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles had fallen into disuse (Deu_31:10). With the rise of the prophetic order we trace a more distinct though still a partial approximation. Wherever there was a company of such prophets, there must have been a life analogous in many of its features to that of the later Essenes and Therapeutse, to that of the coenobia and monasteries of Christendom. In the abnormal state of the polity of Israel under Samuel, they appear to have aimed at purifying the worship of the high-places from idolatrous associations, and met on fixed days for sacrifice and psalmody (1Sa_9:12; 1Sa_10:5).
The scene in 1Sa_19:20-24 indicates that the meetings were open to any worshippers who might choose to come, as well as to “the sons of the prophet,” the brothers of the order themselves. The only pre-exilian instance which seems to indicate, that the devout in Israel were in the habit of resorting to pious leaders for blessings and instruction on stated occasions is to be found in 2Ki_4:23, where the Shunammite's husband asks, “Wherefore wilt thou go to him (Elisha) today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” Yet 2Ki_22:8, etc.; 2Ch_34:14, etc., testify undoubtedly against the existence of places of worship under the monarchy. The date of Psalms 24 is too uncertain for us to draw any inference as to the nature of the “synagogues of God” ( îåֹòֲãֵé àֵì , meeting-places of God), which the invaders are represented as destroying (Psa_24:8). It ‘may have belonged to the time of the Assyrian or Chaldaean invasion (Vitringa, De Synag, p. 396-405). It has been referred to that of the Maccabees (De Wette, Psalmen, ad loc.), or to an intermediate period when Jerusalem was taken and the land laid waste by the army of Bagoses, under Artaxerxes II (Ewald, Poet. Biich. 2, 358). The, “assembly of the elders,” in Psalms 107, 32, leaves us in like uncertainty.
3. During the Exile, in the abeyance of the Temple worship, the meetings of devout Jews probably became more systematic (Vitringa, De Synag. p. 413-429; Jost, Judenthum, 1, 168; Bornitius, De Synagog. in Ugolino, Thesaur. 21), and must have helped forward the change which appears so conspicuously at the time of the Return. The repeated mention of gatherings of the elders of Israel, sitting before the prophet Ezekiel and hearing his word (Eze_8:1; Eze_14:1; Eze_20:1; Eze_33:31), implies the transfer to the-land of the Captivity of the custom that had originated in the schools of the prophets. One remarkable passage may possibly contain a more distinct reference to them. Those who still remained in Jerusalem taunted the prophet and his companions with their exile, as outcasts from the blessings of the sanctuary. “Get ye far from the Lord; unto us is this land; given in a possession.” The prophet's answer is that it was not so. Jehovah was as truly with them in their “little sanctuary” as he had been in the Temple at Jerusalem. His presence, not the outward glory, was itself the sanctuary (11, 15, 16). The whole history of Ezra presupposes the habit of solemn, probably of periodic, meetings (Ezr_8:15, Neh_8:2; Neh_9:1; Zec_7:5). To that period, accordingly, we may attribute the revival, if not the institution, of synagogues, or at least of the systematic meetings on fasts for devotion and instruction (Zec_8:19). Religious meetings were also held on Sabbaths and fasts to instruct the exiles in the divine law, and to admonish them to obey the divine precepts (Ezr_10:1-9; Neh_8:1; Neh_8:3; Neh_9:1-3; Neh_13:1-3). These meetings, held near the Temple and in other localities, were the origin of the synagogue, and the place in which the people assembled was denominated äëðñú áéú , the house of assembly; hence, also, the synagogue in the Temple, itself. The elders of this synagogue handed the law to the high-priest (Mishna, Yoma, 7:1; Sotah, 7:7, 8), aided in the sacrifices (Tamid, 5, 5), took charge of the palms used at the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkah, 4:4), accompanied the pilgrims who brought their first-fruits (Tosiphta Bikkurim, 2), officiated as judges (Makkloth, 3, 12), and superintended the infantschools (Sabbath, 1, 3). Assuming Ewald's theory as to the date and occasion of Psalms 124, there must, at some subsequent period, have been a great destruction of the buildings, and a consequent suspension of the services. It is, at any rate, striking that they are not in any way prominent in the Maccabean history, either as objects of attack or rallying-points of defense, unless we are to see in the gathering of the persecuted Jews at Maspha (Mizpal), as at a “place where they prayed aforetime in Israel” (1Ma_3:46), not only a reminiscence of its old glory as a holy place, but the continuance of a more recent custom. When that struggle was over, there appears to have been a freer development of what may be called the synagogue parochial system among the Jews of Palestine and other countries. The influence of John Hyrcanus, the growing power of the Pharisees, the authority of the Scribes, the example, probably, of the Jews of the “dispersion” (Vitringa, De Synag. p. 426), would all tend in the same direction. Well-nigh every town or village had its one or more synagogues. Where the Jews were not in sufficient numbers to be able to erect and fill a building, there was the ðñïóåõ÷ή , or place of prayer, sometimes open, sometimes covered in, commonly by a running stream or on the sea-shore, in which devout Jews and proselytes met to worship, and, perhaps, to read (Act_16:13; Josephus, Ant. 14:10, 23; Juvenal, Sat. 3,. 296). Sometimes the term ðñïóåõ÷ή (= áֵּéú úְּôַìָּä ) was applied even to an actual synagogue (Josephus, Life, § 54). Eventually we find the Jews possessing synagogues in the different cities of Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Egypt, and wherever they resided. We hearof the apostles frequenting the synagogues in Damas-cus, Antioch, Iconium, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, etc. (Act_9:2; Act_9:20; Act_13:14; Act_14:1; Act_17:1; Act_10:17; Act_18:4; Act_18:19; Act_19:8). There were numerous synagogues in Palestine: in Nazareth (Mat_13:54, Mar_6:2; Luk_4:16), Capernaum (Mat_12:9; Mar_1:21; Luk_7:5; Joh_6:59), etc.; and in Jerusalem alone there were 480 (Jerusalem Megillah,. 3, 1; Jerusalem Kethuboth, 13) to accommodate the Jews from foreign lands who visited the Temple. There were synagogues of the Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians, and of the Asiatics (Act_6:9; comp. Tosiphta Megillah, 2; Babylon Megillah, 26 a). When it is remembered that more than 2,500,000 Jewscame together to the metropolis from all countries§ to celebrate the Passover (Josephus, Ant. 6:9, 3; Pesachim, 64 a), this number of synagogues in Jerusalem. will not appear at all exaggerated. An idea may be formed of the large number of Jews at the time of Christ, when it is borne in mind that in Egypt alone, from the Mediterranean to the border of Ethiopia, there resided nearly a million of Jews (Philo, Against Flaccus, 2, 523), and that in Syria, especially in the metropolis, Antioch, the Jews constituted a large portion of the population (Gratz [2nd ed.] 3, 282).
III. Site, Structure, Internal Arrangement, Use, and Sanctity of the Synagogue. —
1. Taking the Temple as the prototype, and following the traditional explanation of the passages in Pro_1:21 and Ezr_9:9, which were taken to mean that the voice of prayer is to be raised on heights ( áøàù ú÷øà ), and that the sanctuary was therefore erected on a summit ( áéú àìäéë ìøåîí àú ), the Jewish canons decreed that synagogues are to be built upon the most elevated ground in the neighborhood, and that no house is to be allowed to overtop them (Tosiphta Megillah,3; Maimonides, lad Ha-Chezaka Hilchoth Tephila, 11:2). So essential was this law deemed, and so strictly was it observed in Persia, even after the destruction of the Temple, that Rab (A.D. 165-247) prophesied a speedy ruin of those cities in which houses were permitted to tower above the synagogue, while rabbi Ashi declared that the protection of Sora was owing to the elevated site of its synagogues (Sabbath, 11 a). Lieut. Kitchener, however, states (Quar. Statement of the “Pal. Explor. Fund,” July, 1878, p. 123 sq.) that the ruins of the fourteen specimens of ancient synagogues extant in Palestine (all in Galilee) do not correspond to these Talamudical requirements as to location, nor yet to those below as to position; for they are frequently in rather a low site, and face the south if possible. Failing of a commanding site, a tall pole rose from the roof to render it conspicuous (Leyrer, in Herzog's Real-Encyklop. s.v.).
The riverside outside the city was also deemed a suitable spot for building the synagogue, because, being removed from the noise of the city, the people could worship God without distraction, and, at the same time, have the use of pure water for immersions and other religious exercises (Act_16:13; Josephus, Ant. 14:10, 23; Juvenal, Sat. 3, 12, etc.; see also the Chaldee versions on Gen_24:62). SEE PROSEUOHA.
The building was commonly erected at the cost of the district, whether by a church-rate levied for the purpose, or by free gifts, must remain uncertain (Vitringa, De Synagog. p. 229). Sometimes it was built by a rich Jew, or even, as in Luk_7:5; by a friendly proselyte. In the later stages of Eastern Judaism it was often erected, like the mosques of Mohammedans, in the tombs of famous rabbins or holy men.
2. The size of a synagogue, like that of a church or chapel, varied with the population. We have no reason for believing that there were any fixed laws of proportion for its dimensions, like those, which are traced in the tabernacle and the Temple. The building itself was generally in the form of a theatre; the door was usually on: the west, so that, on entering, the worshippers might at once face the front, which was turned towards Jerusalem, since the law is that “all the worshippers in Israel are to have their faces turned to that part of the world where Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Holy of Holies are” (Berakoth, 30 a). This law, which is deduced from 1Ki_8:29; Psa_28:2, and the allegorical interpretation of Son_4:4, also obtained among the early Christians (Origen, Hom. 5. 1 Nurn. in Opp. 2, 284) and the Mohammedans (Koran, c. 2). SEE KEBLAH.
Hence all the windows are said to have been generally in the eastern wall, so that the worshippers might look towards the holy city, in accordance with Dan_6:10. Like the Temple, the synagogue was frequently without a roof, as may be seen from the following remark of Epiphanius: “There were anciently places of prayer without the city, both among the Jews and the Samaritatas; there was a place of prayer at Sichem, now called Neapolis, without the city in the fields, in the form of a theater, open to the air, and without covering, built by the Samaritans, who in all things imitated the Jews” (Contr. Hceres. lib. 3, Haer. 80). It was this, coupled with the fact that the Jews had no images, which gave rise to the satirical remark of Juvenal —
“Nil prseter nubes et cceli nume adorant.” (Sat. 14:98.)
In some places there were temporary summer and winter synagogues; they were pulled down and re-erected at the beginning of each season, so that the style of building might be according to the period of the year (Baba Bathra, 3 b).
3. In. the internal arrangement of the synagogue we trace an obvious analogy, mutatis mutandis, to the type of the tabernacle. At the wall opposite the entrance, or at the Jerusalem end, stood the wooden chest or ark ( úֵּáָä ) containing the scrolls of the law. It stood on a raised base with. several steps ( áֵáְñֵì = subsellium, ãִּøְâָּà , Jerusalem Megillah, 3, 1), which the priests mounted when they pronounced the benediction (Num_6:24-26) upon the congregation. Hence the phrase òìä ìãåëï , which was retained after the destruction of the Temple to describe the act of giving the benediction to the people by the priests (Raosh Ha- Shandh, 31 b; Sabbath, 118 b). It is necessary to bear in mind that the ancient name for this ark is úֵּáָä (comp. Mishna, Berakoth, 5, 3, 4; Taanith, 2, 1, 2; Megillah, 4:4, etc.), the name afterwards given to it ( àָøåֹï ) being reserved for the ark-of-the-covenant table, which was wanting in the second Temple. There was a canopy ( ëַּéìָä ) spread over the ark, under which were kept the vestments used during the service (Jerusalem fegillah, 3). In some places the ark or chest had two compartments, the upper one containing the scrolls of the law, and the lower the synagogical garments of the officers of the community. The ark was not fastened to the wall, but was free so that it might easily be taken outside the door of the synagogue in case a death occurred in the place of worship, in order that the priests should be able to attend the service; or be removed into the streets when fasts and lays of humiliation were kept (Mishna, Taanith, 2, 1). SEE FAST.
In later times, however, a recess was made in the wall, and the ark was kept there. This recess was called the Sanctuary ( ÷ֹãùׁ äֵéëָì ). The same thought was sometimes developed still further in the name of Kophereth, or Mercy-seat, given to the lid or door of the chest, and in the veil which hung before it (Vitringa, p. 181). On certain occasions the ark was removed from the recess and placed on the rostrum ( áַּéîָä = âῆìá ) in the middle of the synagogue (Tosiphta MIegillah, 3; Mainsonides, lad Ha-Chezaka Hilchoth Lulab, 7:23). SEE TABERNACLES, FEAST OF. Within the ark, as above stated, were the rolls of the sacred books. The rollers round which they were wound were often elaborately decorated, the cases for them embroidered or enameled, according to their material. Such cases were customary offerings from the rich when they brought their infant children on the first anniversary of their birthday to be blessed by the rabbi of the synagogue.
In front of the ark was the desk of the leader of the divine worship; and as the place of the ark was amphitheatral, the desk was sometimes lower and sometimes higher than the level of the room. Hence the interchangeable phrases “he who descends before the ark” ( äéåøã ìôðé äúéáä ) and “he who ascends before the ark” ( äòåáø ìôðé äúéáä ) used to designate the leader of divine worship 3 the synagogue (Mishna, Taanith, 2, 2; Berakoth, 5, 4; Rosh Ha-Shanah, 4:7; Meaillah, 4:3, 5, 7, etc.).
The next important piece of furniture was the rostrum or platform ( îַâְãִּì òֵåֹ , áֵּéîָä = âῆìá , áּåּøְñְéָà ), capable of containing several persons (Neh_8:4; Neh_9:4; Josephus, Ait. 4:8,12)., On this platform the lessons from the law and the prophets were read, discourses delivered, etc. (Mishna, Sotah, 8:8; Babylon Sukkah, 51b; Megillah, 26 b). 8. EHAPHTARAH. There were no arrangements made at first for laying down the law while reading, and the one upon whom it devoted to read a portion of the pericope had to hold the roll in his hand till the second one came up to read, and relieved him of it. Afterwards, however, there was a reading-desk ( àֲðַìַéâָéï = ἀíáëïãåῖïí ) on this platform, and the roll of the law was laid down during pauses, or when the methurgeman ( îúåøâîï = bürterpreter) was reciting in the vernaciuiar of the country the portion read (Yoma, 68 b: Megillah, 26 b; Jerusalem Megillah, 3). The reading-desk was covered with a cloth ( ôַּøָñָà ), which varied in costliness ac-cording to the circumstances of the congregation (Megillah, 26 b). When the edifice was large this platform was generally in the center, as was the case in the synagogue at Alexandria (Sukkah, 51 b).
There were also arm chairs ( ÷ָúֵãðְøָàåֹú ÷ָúֵãַøַéï = êáèÝäñáé , ÷ְìַèּåֹøַï = êëéíôῆñåò ), or seats of honor ( ðñùôïêáèåäñßáé ), for the elders of the synagogue, the doctors of the law, etc. (Mat_23:2; Mat_23:6; Mar_12:39; Lukexi, 43; Sukkah, 51 b; Maimonides, Ill choth Tephila, 10, 4), to which the wealthy and honored worshipper was invited (Jam_2:2-3). They were placed in front of the ark containing the law, or at the Jerusalem end, in the uppermost part of the synagogue, and these distinguished persons ‘sat' with their faces to the people, while the congregation stood facing both these honorable ones and the ark (Tosiphta Megillah, 3). In the synagogue at Alexandria there were seventy-one golden chairs, according to the number of the members of the Great Sanhedrim (Sukkah, 51 b). SEE SANHEDRIM. In the synagogue of Bagdad “the ascent to the holy ark was composed of ten marble steps, on the upper-most of which were the stalls set apart for the prince of the Captivity and the other princes of the house of David” (Benjamin of Tudela, Itinerary, 1, 105, ed. Ascher, Lond. 1840).
There was, moreover, a perpetual light ( ðéø úîéã ), which was evidently in imitation of the Temple light (Exo_28:20). This sacred light was religiously fed by the people, and in case of any special mercy vouchsafed to an individual, or of threatening danger, a certain quantity of oil was vowed for the perpetual lamp. This light was the symbol of the human soul (Pro_20:27), of the divine law (Pro_6:23), and of the manifestation of God (Eze_43:2). It must, however, be remarked that though the perpetual lamp forms an essential part of the synagogical furniture to the present day, and has obtained among the Indians, Greeks, Romans, arid other nations of antiquity (Rosenmüller, Mogenland, 2, 156), yet there is no mention made of it in the Talmud. Other lamps, brought by devout worshippers, were lighted at the beginning of the Sabbath, i.e. on Friday evening (Vitringa, p. 198).
As part of the fittings, we have also to note
(1) another chest for the Haphtaroth, or rolls of the prophets;
(2) Alms-boxes at or near the door, after the pattern of those at the Temple, one for the poor of Jerusalem, the other for local charities;
(3) Notice-boards, on which, were written the names of offenders who had been “put out of the synagogue;”
(4) A chest for trumpets and other musical instruments, used at the New-Years, Sabbaths, and other festivals (Vitringa, Leyrer, loc. cit.).
The congregation was divided, men on one side, women on the other, a low partition, five or six feet high, running between them (Philo, De Vit. Contempl. 2, 476). The arrangements of modern synagogues, for many centuries, have made the separation more complete by placing the women in low side-galleries, screened off by lattice-work (Leo of Modena, in Picart, Cerem. Relig. 1).
4. Besides meetings for worship, the synagogues, or, snore properly, the rooms connected with them, were also used as courts of justice for the local Sanhedrim (Targum Jonathan on Amo_5:12; Amo_5:15; Jerusalem Sanhedrin, 1, 1; Jerusalem Baba Metsia, 2, 8; Babylon Kethuboth, 5 a; Sabbath, 150 a) and in it the beadle of the synagogue administered the forty stripes save one to those who were sentenced to be beaten (Mishna, Makkoth, 3, 12; comp. Mat_10:17; Mat_23:34). Travelers, too, found an asylum in the synagogue; meals were eaten in it (Pesachim, 101; Bereshith Rabba, 100. 45), and children were instructed therein (Kiddushin, 30 a; Baba Bathra, 21 a; Taanith, 24 b; Berakoth, 17 a; Yebamoth, 65 b). This, however, did not detract from its sanctity; for the synagogue once used for the divine worship was only allowed to be sold on certain conditions (Mishna, Megillah, 3, 1, 2). When the building was finished, it was set apart, as the Temple had been, by a special prayer of dedication. From that time it had a consecrated character. The common acts of life, such as reckoning up accounts, were forbidden in it. No one was to pass through it as a short cut. Even if it ceased to be used, the building was not to be applied to any base purpose — might not be turned, e.g., into a bath, a laundry, or a tannery. A scraper stood outside the door that men might rid themselves, before they entered, of anything that would be defiling (Leyrer, loc. cit., and Vitringa).
IV. The Officers and Government of the Synaggogue. The synagogues of the respective towns were governed by the elders ( æְ÷ָðַí , ðñåóâýôåñïé , Luk_7:3), who constituted the local Sanhedrim, consisting either of the twenty-three senators or the three senators assisted by four principal members of the congregation (fegillah, 27; Josephus, Ant. 4:8,14; War, 2, 20, 5; Act_7:5; Act_21:8), as this depended upon the, size and population of the place. SEE SANHEDRIM.
Hence these authorized administrators of the law were alternately denominated shepherds ( ôִּøְðְñַéí = ðïéìÝíåò , Jerusalem Peah, 8; Babylon Chagigah, 60; Sabbath, 17 a; Act_20:28; Eph_4:11), the rulers of the synagogue, and the chiefs ( øàֹùֵׁé äִëְּðֶñֶú = ἀñ÷éóõíÜãùãïé , ἄñ÷ïíôåò , Mat_9:18; Mat_9:23; Mar_5:22; Luk_8:41; Act_13:15) and overseers ( îîåðéí = ðñïåóôῶôåò , Mishna, Tamid, 5, 1).
The president of the Sanhedrim was ex officio the head or chief of the synagogue, and was therefore, êáô᾿ ἐîï÷ήí , the ruler of the synagogue (Mishna, Yoma, 7:1; Sofah, 7:7), while the other members of this body, according to their various gifts, discharged the different functions in the synagogue (1Ti_5:17), as will be seen from the following classification. SEE HIGH-PRIEST.
1. The Ruler of the Synagogue ( øàֹùׁ äִëְּðֶñֶú = ἀñ÷éóõíÜãùãïò ) and his two Associates. — Though the supreme official, like the two other members of the local court, had to be duly examined by delegates from the Great Sanhedrim, who certified that he possessed all the necessary qualifications for his office (Maimonides, lad Ha-Chezaka Hilchoth Sanhedrin, 2, 8), yet his election entirely depended upon the suffrages of the members of the synagogue. The Talmud distinctly declares that “no ruler ( ôִּøַðֵñ = ðïéìήí ) is appointed over a congregation, unless the congregation is consulted” (Berakoth, 55 a). But, once elected, the ruler was the third in order of precedence in the Temple synagogue i.e. first came the high-priest, then the chief of the priests ( ñָâָï ), and then the ruler of the synagogue (Mishna, Yoma, 7:1; Sotah, 7:7), while in the provincial synagogues the respective rulers were supreme, and had the principal voice in the decision and distribution of the other offices. His two judicial colleagues aided him in the administration of the law. SEE ARCH- SYNAGOGUES.
2. The Three Amoners ( âּáָּàé öַãðְ÷ָä = äéáêüíïé ; Php_1:1; 1Ti_3:8; 1Ti_3:12; 1Ti_4:6). The office of aflmoner was both very responsible and difficult; as the poor-taxes were of a double nature; and in periodically collecting and distributing the alms the almoner had to exercise great discretion from whom to demand them and to whom to give them. There were, first, the alms of the dish ( úִּîְçåּé ), consisting of articles of food which had to be collected by the officials daily, and distributed every evening, and to which every one had to contribute who resided thirty days in one place; and there were, secondly, the alms of the box ( ÷åּôָä ), consisting of money which was collected every Friday, was distributed weekly, and to which every one had to contribute who resided, ninety days in one place. Two authorized persons had to collect the former and three the latter. They were obliged to keep together, and were not allowed, to put into their pockets any money thus received, but were to throw it into the poor-box. The almoners had the power of exempting from these poor rates such people as they believed to be unable to pay, and to enforce the tax on such as pretended not to be in a position to contribute. They had also the power to refuse alms to any whom they deemed unworthy of them. All the three almoners had to be present at the distribution of the alms. The greatest care was taken by the rulers of the synagogue and the congregation that those elected to this office should be “men of honesty, wisdom, justice, and have the confidence of the people” (Baba Bathra, 8; Aboda Sara, 18; Taanith, 24; Maimonides, lad Ha-Chezaka Hilchoth Mathenath Anyim, 9). Brothers were ineligible to this office; the almoners ( ôøðñéï âëàé öã÷ä ) were not allowed to be near relations, and had to be elected by the unanimous voice of the people (Jerusalem Peah, 8).
3. The Legate of the Congregation, or the Leader of Divine Worship ( ùָׁìַéçִ öַáּåּø = ἄããåëïò ἐêêëçóßáò , ἀðüóôïëïò ). — To give unity and harmony to the worship, as well as to enable the congregation to take part in the responses, it was absolutely necessary to have one who should lead the worship. Hence, as soon as the legal number required for public worship had assembled ( îðéï ), the ruler of the synagogue ( ôøðñ = ðïéìήí ), or, in his absence, the elders ( æ÷ðéí = ðñåóâýôåñïé ), delegated one of the congregation to go up before the ark to conduct divine service. The function of the apostle of the ecclesia ( ùìéç öáåø ) was not permanently vested in any single individual ordained for this purpose, but was alternately conferred upon any lay member who was supposed to possess the qualifications necessary for offering up prayer in the name of the congregation.
This is evident from the reiterated declarations both in the Mishna and the Talmud. Thus we are told that any one who is not under thirteen years of age, and whose garments are not in rags, may officiate before the ark (Mishna, Megillah, 4:6); that “if one is before the ark = ministers for the congregation], and makes a mistake [in the prayer], another one is to minister in his stead, and he is not to decline it on such an occasion” (Mishna, Berakoth, 5, 3). “The sages have transmitted that he who is asked to conduct public worship is to delay a little at first, saying that he is unworthy of it; and if he does not delay, he is like unto a dish wherein is no salt; and if he delays more than is necessary, he is like unto a dish which the salt has spoiled. How is he to do it? The first time he is asked, he is to decline; the second time, he is to stir; and the third time, he is to move his legs and ascend before the ark” (Berakoth, 34 b). Even on the most solemn occasions, when the whole congregation fasted and assemble with the president and vice-president of the Siedrim for national humiliation and prayer, no stated minister is spoken of; but it is said that one of the aged men present is to deliver a penitential address, and another is to offer up the solemn prayers (Mishna, Taanith, 2, 1-4). SEE FAST.
On ordinary occasions, however, the rabbins, who were the rulers of the synagogue, asked their disciples to act as officiating ministers before the ark (Berakoth, 34 a). But since the sages declared that “if the legate of the congregation ( ùìéú öáåø = ἄããåëïò ἐêêëçóßáò , ἀðüóôïëïò ) commits a mistake while officiating, it is a bad omen for the congregation who delegated him, because a man's deputy is like the man himself” (Mishna, Berakoth, 5, 5); and, moreover, since it was felt that he who conducts public worship should both be able to sympathize with the wants of the people and possess all the moral qualifications befitting so holy a mission, it was afterwards ordained that “even if an elder ( æ÷ï = ðñåóâýôåñïò ) or sage is present in the congregation, he is not to be asked to officiate before the ark; but that man is to be delegated who is apt to officiate, who has children, whose family are free from vice, who has a proper beard, whose garments are decent, who is acceptable to the people, who has a good and amiable voice, who and understands how to read the law, the prophets, and the Hagiographa, who is versed in the homiletic, legal, and traditional exegesis, and who knows all the benedictions of the service” (Mishna., Taanith, 2, 2; Gemara, ibid. 16 a, b; Maimonides, fad Ha-Chezaka Hilchoth Tephila, 8:11, 12; comp. Timothy 3:1-7; Tit_1:1-9). As the legate of the people, the most sacred portions of the liturgy (e.g. òððå , áøëú ëäðéñ , ÷ãåùä , ÷ãéù ), which could only be offered up in the presence of the legal number, were assigned to him (Berakoth, 21 b, and Rashi, ad loc.), and he was not only the mouthpiece of those who were present in the congregation on the most solemn feasts, as on the Great Day of Atonement and New Year, but he was the surrogate of those who, by illness or otherwise, were prevented from attending the place of worship (Rosh Ha-Shanah, 35; Maimonides, lad Ha-Chezaka Hilchoth Tephila, 8:10).
4. The Interpreter, or Maethurgeman ( úּåּøְâְּîָï , îְúåּøְâַּîָï ). — After the Babylonian captivity, when the Hebrew language was rapidly disappearing from among the common people, it became the custom to have an interpreter at the reading-desk ( áéîä ) by the side of those who were alternately called up to read the several sections of the lessons from the law and the prophets. SEE HAPHTARAH.
This methurgeman had to interpret into Chaldee or into any other vernacular of the country a verse at a time when the lesson from the law was read, as the reader was obliged to pause as soon as he finished the reading of a verse in Hebrew, and was not allowed to begin the next verse till the methurgeman had translated it; while in the lesson from the prophets three verses were read and interpreted at a time (Mishna, Megillah, 4:4). The reader and the interpreter had to read in the same tone of voice, and the one was not allowed to be louder than the other (Berakoth, 45 a). The interpreter was not allowed to look at the law while interpreting, lest it should be thought that the paraphrase was written down. The office of interpreter, like that of conducting public worship, was not permanently vested in any single individual. Any one of the congregation who was capable of interpreting was asked to do so. Even a minor, i.e. one under thirteen years of age, or one whose garments were in such a ragged condition that he was disqualified for reading the lesson from the law, or a blind man, could be asked to go up to the reading-desk and explain the lesson (Mishna, Megillah, 4:5; Maimonides, lad HaChezaka Hilchoth Tephila, 12:10-14).
5. The Chazzan, or Attendant on the Synagogue ( çִæִּï äִëְּðֶñֶú = ὑðçñåôήò ), was the lowest servant, and was more like the sexton or the beadle in our churches. He had the care of the furniture, to open the doors, to clean the synagogue, to light the lamps, to get the building ready for service, to summon the people to worship, to call out ( éòîåã ) the names of such persons as were selected by the ruler of the synagogue to come up to the platform to read a section from the law and the prophets, to hand the law to ordinary readers, or to the ruler of the synagogue when it had to be given to the high-priest, in which case the ἀñ÷éóõíÜãùãïò took the law from the chazan, gave it to the chief priest, who handed it to the high- priest (Mishna, Yoma, 8:1; Sotah, 7:7); he had to take it back after reading (Luk_4:17-20), etc. Nothing, therefore, can be more clear than the position which this menial servant occupied in the synagogue in the time of Christ and a few centuries after. The Talmud distinctly declares that the chazan is the beadle or the sexton of the congregation, and not the legate or the angel of the church ( çæï äåà ùîù ùì ä÷äì åàéðå ùìéç öáåø ; comp. Tosiphta Yoma, 68 b; and Mishna, Berakoth, 7:1, for the meaning of ùîù ).
The notion that his office resembled that “of the Christian deacon,” as well as the assertion that, “like the legatus and the elders, he was appointed by the imposition of hands,” has evidently arisen from a confusion of the chazan in the days of. Christ with the chazan five centuries after Christ. Besides, not only was this menial servant not appointed by the imposition of hands, but the legatus himself, as we have seen, had no laying-on of hands. It was about A.D. 520, when the knowledge of the Hebrew language disappeared from among the people at large, that alterations had to be introduced into the synagogical service which involved a change in the office of the chazan. As the ancient practice of asking any member to step before the ark and conduct the divine service could not be continued, it was determined that the chazan, who was generally also the schoolmaster of the infant school, should be the regular reader of the liturgy, which he had to recite with intonation (Masecheth Sopherim, 10:7; 11:4; 14:9,14; Gratz, Gesch. der Juden, 5, 26). 6. The Ten Batlanin, or Men of Leisure ( áִּèְìָðַéï ).
No place was denominated a town, and hence no synagogue would legally be built in it, which had not ten independent men who could be permanently in the synagogue to constitute the legal congregation whenever [required (Mishna, Megillah, 1, 3; Maimonides, lad Bachezaka Hilchoth Tephila, 11:1). These men of leisure were either independent of business because they had private means, or were stipendiaries of the congregation, if the place had not ten men who could entirely devote themselves to this purpose (Rashi, On Megillah, 5 a). They; had to be men of piety and integrity (Baba Bathra, 28 a; Jerusalem Megillah, 1, 4). By some (Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. in Mat_4:23, and, in part, Vitringa, p. 532) they have been identified with the above officials, with the addition of the alms-collectors. Rhenferd, however (Ugolino, Thesaur. vol. 21), sees in them simply a body of men, permanently on duty, making up a congregation (ten being the minimum number), so that there might be no delay in beginning the service at the proper hours, and that no single worshipper might go away disappointed. The latter hypothesis is supported by the fact that there was a like body of men, the Stationarii or Viri Stationis of Jewish archaeologists, appointed to act as permanent representatives of the congregation in the services of the Temple (Jost, Gesch. des Judenth. 1, 168-172). It is of course possible that in many cases the same persons may have united both characters, and been, e.g., at once otiosi and alms-collectors. In the Middle Ages these ten Batlanin consisted of those who discharged the public duties of the synagogue, and were identical with the rulers of the synagogue described above. Thus Benjamin of Tudela tells us that the ten presidents of the ten colleges at Bagdad were called the Batlanin, the leisure men, because their occupation consisted in the discharge of public business. During every day of the week they, dispensed justice to all the Jewish inhabitants of the country, except on Monday, which was set aside for assemblies under the presidency of R. Samuel, master of the college denominated Gaon Jacob, who on that day dispensed justice to every applicant, and who was assisted therein by the said ten Batlanin, presidents of the colleges (Itinerary, 1, 101, ed. Ascher, Lond. 1840). This seems to favor the opinion of Herzfeld that the ten Batlanin are the same as the ten judges or rulers of the synagogue mentioned in Aboth, 3, 10, according to the reading of Bartenora (Haorayoth, 3 b, etc.; comp. Gesch. des Volkes Israel, 1, 392).
V. Worship. —
1. Its Time. — As the Bible prescribes no special hour for worship, but simply records that the Psalmist prayed three times a day (Psalm Iv, 18), and that: Daniel followed the same example (Dan_7:11), the men of the Great Synagogue decreed that the worship of the synagogue should correspond to that of the Temple. To this end they ordained that every Israelite is to offer either public or private worship to his Creator at stated hours three times a day (a) in the morning ( ùçøéú ) at the third hour = 9 A.M., being the time when the daily morning sacrifice was offered; (b) in the afternoon or evening ( îðçä ) at the ninth hour and a half = 3:30 P.M., when the daily evening sacrifice was offered; and (c) in the evening ( îòøéá ), or from the time that the pieces and the fat of the sacrifices, whose blood was sprinkled before sunset, began to be burned till this process of burning, was finished. As this process of burning, however, sometimes lasted nearly all night, the third prayer could be offered at any time between dark and dawn (Mishna, Berakoth, 4:1; Gemara, ibid. 26 b; Pesachim, 58 a; Jerusalem Berakioth, 4:1; Josephus, Ant. 14:4, 3).
It is this fixed time of worship which accounts for the disciples assembling together at the third hour of the day (i.e. 9 A.M.) for morning prayer ( ùçøéú ) on the Day of Pentecost (Act_2:1-15), and for Peter and John's going up to the Temple at the ninth hour (i.e. 3 P.M.) for ( îòøéá ) evening prayer (Act_3:1), as well as for Cornelius's prayer at the same hour (10:30). The statement in Act_10:9, that Peter went up upon the house-top to pray about the sixth hour (=12 M.), has led some of our best expositors to believe that the hour mentioned in Act_3:11; Act_10:30 is the time when the third prayer was offered. The two passages, however, and the two different hours refer to one and the same prayer, as may be seen from the following canon: “We have already stated that the time for the evening prayer ( îðçä ) was fixed according to that of the daily evening sacrifice, and since this daily evening sacrifice was offered at the ninth hour and a half (=3.30 P.M.), the time of prayer was also fixed for the ninth hour and a half (=3.30 P.M.), and this was called the Lesser Minchah ( ÷èðä îðçä ).
But as the daily evening sacrifice was offered on the fourteenth of Nisan ( òøá ôñç ) at the sixth hour and a half (=12.30 P.M.), when this day happened to be on a Friday ( òøá ùáú ), SEE PASSOVER, it was enacted that he who offers his evening prayer after the sixth hour and a half (=12.30 P.M.) discharges his duty properly. Hence, as soon as this hour arrives, the time of obligation has come, and it is called the Great Minchah: ( îðçä âãåìä ; Maimonides, lad HaChezaka Hilchoth Tephila, 3, 2; Berakoth, 26 b). This mistake is all the more to be regretted, since the accuracy in such minute- matters on the part of the sacred writers-shows how great is the trustworthiness of their records, and how closely and strictly the apostles conformed to the Jewish practices. The prayers three times a day were not absolutely required to be offered in public worship in the synagogue every day. The times of public worship were (a) Monday and Thursday, which were the two market-days in the week, when the villagers brought their produce into the neighboring town and their matters of dispute before the local Sanhedrim, which held its court in the synagogue (Jerusalem Megillaah, 5, 1, Baba Kama, 32 a), and on which the pious Jews fasted (Mar_2:18; Luk_5:33; Luk_18:12; Act_10:30); (b) the weekly Sabbath; and (c) feasts and fasts. But though not obligatory, yet it was deemed specially acceptable if the prayers were offered even privately in the synagogue, since it was inferred from Mal_3:16 that the Shechinah is present where two or three are gathered together.
2. The Legal Congregation. — Though it was the duty of every Israelite to pray privately three times a day, yet, as we have already seen, it was only on stated occasions that the people: