Were
there synagogues during the time of Jesus? (Pictured: so-called first century synagogue at Gamla)
It seems a silly
question. The New Testament (NT) refers to synagogues 56 times. The ruins of
first century synagogues have been excavated and identified by archaeologists.
Nevertheless,
some scholars today answer the silly question with a resounding No. Their arguments are two.
1) An argument from archaeology: Over one hundred synagogues have reportedly been
excavated in Palestine, for example, but almost all of them are from later
periods. Archaeologists have identified a maximum of nine synagogue structures dating
roughly to the time of Jesus.[i] But
some scholars argue that there is nothing about the orientation,
design, or ornamentation of these nine first century halls that merits
identification specifically as synagogues.
2) An argument from biblical
exegesis: Some scholars also refute that synagogue halls are referenced
in Bible. Noting rightly that the word synagogue (sunagwgh,) means “assembly,” they argue that the NT term
referred to a local gathering of the faithful, not a building. They contend that in every case the
word synagogue is referring to an assembly of congregants only, and never to a physical assembly hall.
Putting it
together, if no first century hall can be proved to have been a synagogue, and
if the NT word synagogue(s) refers in every case to an assembly of believers
rather than to a building, then there is zero evidence for the existence of
synagogue halls in the first century. Is this possible?
My experience with exegesis is broader and deeper than my expertise in
archaeology and architecture, so I will skip for now an analysis of the latter.
With the Greek Testament at my fingertips, I looked carefully at the 56
times that the word synagogue(s) occurs in scripture. What I was looking for
were verses that are written about a synagogue (whether it is said to have been
located in Capernaum or Corinth) in such a way that it clearly indicates a physical
structure, specifically a Hebrew assembly hall. The results?
- a) I found that most of these 56 occurrence are not definitive. That is, the way the word synagogue(s) is used in the NT could be referring to the assembly of the people, the building in which they assembled, or both.
- b) I found only one instance of a synagogue as a building that I feel is indisputable.
- c) I found another seven instances that strongly indicate that there were first century assembly halls called synagogues.
Here are the eight verses in which the word synagogue indicates a
physical assembly hall, beginning with the strongest.
1. Acts
18:7 Then he left the synagogue and went to the
house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue.
h` oivki,a h=n sunomorou/sa th/| sunagwgh/| - his house was next door to the synagogue
Note that Luke did
not write that the synagogue met next door. He wrote that the synagogue was
next door. If the synagogue here in Acts 18:7 refers to an assembly, crowd,
congregation, or gathering only, and
not to a building, then even if the assembly regularly gathered in a vacant lot
next door to Titius Justus’ house, when they disbanded and went home, the synagogue
became then no longer next door to Justus’ house.
It makes more sense
that Luke is describing two adjacent locations visited by Paul. The sentence
makes clear sense only when the parallels are sensical, equivalent, and
balanced. He writes that Paul is at one place and, leaving that place, he goes
to another place. That is a balanced parallel. Adding additional information,
Luke says that these two places are next door to each other. So both are physical
places, and the places are adjacent to each other physically.
Also it should be
noted that Luke is keen to document Paul’s itinerary in the Book of Acts, and
this scene is no different. Paul was here,
then Paul went there, and the
locations were right next door to each other. Paul left “the assembly house”
and went to “the residential house” next door—a simple, clear itinerary.
Only if there existed
a physical synagogue building would Luke have written that the Titius Justus’ house
was next door to it. Is that not the simplest and clearest meaning?
2. Luke
7:5 for he loves
our people, and it is he
who built our synagogue for us."
th.n sunagwgh.n auvto.j wv|kodo,mhsen h`mi/nÅ - the synagogue
he did build to us
Some elders reported to Jesus that the centurion built (past tense) for us (for our assembly) our synagogue (assembly hall).
If by synagogue they meant an assembly of people
and not an assembly hall, we can try to express this meaning. The difficulty is
in keeping it in the past tense, as
the elders speaking to Jesus did:
·
“The
centurion used to uplift our assembly
for us.”
·
“For us, the
centurion used to provide up-building.”
·
“In the past,
the assembly was uplifted by the centurion.”
Note in the original verse the verbs “loves” and
“built.” Why did the report of the elders change tenses? They claimed that the
centurion loves the Hebrew people (present
tense), but then they claimed that the centurion built the Capernaum synagogue (past tense)? If “synagogue” indicates
no building/structure, this is what the man’s argument sounds like:
“Yes, he
loves us, Jesus, and the centurion used to be supportive, too, but that’s all
past. There was a time when he did uplift/inspire our assembly for us, but he stopped
blessing the assembly some time ago. No more does he uplift us like he used
to.”
This is not a very flattering report to share if
one’s intent is to convince Jesus that the centurion is worthy of his time and
attention. Jesus might have wondered: What up-building things did the centurion
used to do for the assembly, when did he stop doing it, and why?
If the elders were trying to convince Jesus that
the centurion is worthy of his attention, why would they say, “Yeah, he still loves
us, though he is no longer locally supportive”? Is that really the plain
meaning of this text? Does it not sound more convincing for them to say, “The
centurion loves us, and as evidence, he even built our assembly hall for us.”
The simplest and clearest meaning of the elders’
report to Jesus is that 1) The centurion loves (present tense) the Hebrew
people, 2) and as evidence he built (past tense) for our local assembly a
synagogue.
Something similar was done by a centurion for the
excavated “church” next to Megiddo. It is dated to the third or fourth century,
making it perhaps the oldest church ever found. An inscription there
credits a centurion with commissioning its
mosaic:
“Gaianus, also called Porphyrius, centurion, our
brother, has made the pavement at his own expense as an act of liberality.
Brutius carried out the work.”
3. Acts
24:12 They did not find me disputing with anyone in the temple
or stirring up a crowd either in the synagogues or
throughout the city.
In the
temple, in the synagogues, throughout the city: For the prepositional
parallels to work, i.e. make sense, they must be referring to a place, a place,
and then a place---all of them places that people can enter, all of them places
where crowds might assemble.
Furthermore, Paul
spoke of “stirring up a crowd in a synagogue.” If synagogue means only an
assembly of people and not a building, then Paul is speaking of “stirring up an
assembly within an assembly, a crowd within a crowd.” That is nonsensical.
If, however, a crowd
can be stirred up in a city or in a temple, then Paul must also mean that a
crowd can be stirred up in a synagogue. He is clearly talking about three
places: 1) in the temple, 2) in the assembly halls, 3) in the city. All three
are examples of places where Paul
might have allegedly disputed with or stirred up those assembled there.
4. Acts 17:17 So he argued in the synagogue
with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace every day
with those who happened to be there.
evn th/| sunagwgh/| - in the synagogue
kai. - and
evn th/| avgora/| - in the agora
(marketplace)
If marketing takes place in a marketplace, then, for the
parallel to work, assembling must take place in an assembly hall.
If synagogues are not buildings, why did not Luke simply
write that “Paul argued with
the synagogue (the assembly)”? Instead, Luke wrote that Paul argued in the synagogue (the assembly
hall) with Judeans and devout
persons (persons comprising the assembly).
If synagogues are not
buildings, then Luke wrote, “Paul argued in the assembly with the assembly,” a meaning
that no one would vote for. But it makes perfect sense to write, “Paul argued with
the assembly (Judeans and devout persons) in (inside of) the synagogue
(assembly hall).”
If a synagogue cannot
be an assembly hall, then perhaps an agora (marketplace) cannot be a physical
marketplace, but merely a term referring to the assemblage of buyers and sellers
wherever they may be found. But this is self-evidently not so, as agorae
(marketplaces) exist.
5. John 18:20 Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly
to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the
temple, where all the Judeans come together.”
It would be both
redundant and strange to say, “I have always taught in assemblies where people
assemble.” Both the synagogues and the temple are paralleled here as places one
enters and as places where people assemble. For Jesus’ statement to be true,
both must be places where worshipping Judeans assemble. If people assemble in
the temple, then people must also assemble in the synagogues
6. Luke 21:12 "But before all this occurs, they
will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues
and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because
of my name.
·
Arrest and
persecute: Both are activities
done by authorities to “lawbreakers.”
·
Kings and
governors: Both are persons
with power over “lawbreakers.”
·
Prisons and
synagogues: Both are places
where “lawbreakers” are dealt with.
These parallels do not
work unless both prisons and synagogues are physical buildings.
7. Luke
11:43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with
respect in the marketplaces.
Luke
20:46 "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in
long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to
have the best seats in the
synagogues and places of honor
at banquets.
If marketing takes
place in a marketplace, and if banqueting takes place in a banquet hall, then
for all three of Jesus’ case-study examples to work, to be equivalent
comparisons, and to be balanced examples, must not assembling take place in an
assembly hall (synagogue), too?
Jesus contends that a
market is a popular location where people gather to shop and be recognized.
Likewise, a banquet takes place in a dining hall, a popular location where
people gather looking for the more honored seats at the table. It follows then
that a synagogue also must be a popular place where people assemble looking for
a better seat than others for prayer. For Jesus’ one-two-three critique to
work, all three must be physical locales where people gather to seek public prestige.
People can only jockey for prestige in places of public assembly, and the three
places named by Jesus were apparently among the most common and popular in his
environs: the marketplace, the banquet hall, and the assembly hall (synagogue).
8. Matthew
13:54 He came to his hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so
that they were astounded and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and
these deeds of power?
auvtou/ evdi,dasken auvtou.j- - he began to
teach them (the assembly)
evn th/| sunagwgh/| - in their synagogue (their assembly hall)
Could Matthew have
mean that “Jesus began to teach
his hometown assembly in the assembly”? This is what we are stuck with if
there are no actual Hebrew halls of assembly for scripture and prayer in the 1st
century
The clearest and
simplest meaning, however, is that on the Sabbath Jesus began to teach them (teach
the assembly) in their synagogue (in their assembly hall)
·
“them” – refers to
Jesus’ hometown assembly for Sabbath scripture and prayer.
·
“synagogue” – refers
to the facility where those hometown assemblers met for Sabbath scripture and
prayer.
My conclusion: Those who deny the existence of synagogue structures in the NT period based on exegesis are
incorrect. Eight of the 56 instances of the word synagogue in the NT are almost
certainly references to assembly halls that they called synagogues.
[i] Gamla, Herodium, and Masada are the most familiar, but others
include Modiin (near Latrun), Wadi Qelt (near Jericho), and Naburiya (near
Safed). Some argue that structures (or at least the foundations of them) in Capernaum,
Migdal, and Qumran are synagogues dated to the first century.
