syn·a·gogue /ˈsɪnəˌgɑg/
 猶太人集會,猶太教會堂


 Syn·a·gogue n.
 1. A congregation or assembly of Jews met for the purpose of worship, or the performance of religious rites.
 2. The building or place appropriated to the religious worship of the Jews.
 3. The council of, probably, 120 members among the Jews, first appointed after the return from the Babylonish captivity; -- called also the Great Synagogue, and sometimes, though erroneously, the Sanhedrin.
 4. A congregation in the early Christian church.
    My brethren, . . . if there come into your synagogue a man with a gold ring.   --James ii. 1,2 (Rev. Ver.).
 5. Any assembly of men. [Obs. or R.]

 ◄ ►


 synagogue
      n : (Judaism) the place of worship for a Jewish congregation
          [syn: temple, tabernacle]


 Synagogue
    (Gr. sunagoge, i.e., "an assembly"), found only once in the
    Authorized Version of Ps. 74:8, where the margin of Revised
    Version has "places of assembly," which is probably correct; for
    while the origin of synagogues is unknown, it may well be
    supposed that buildings or tents for the accommodation of
    worshippers may have existed in the land from an early time, and
    thus the system of synagogues would be gradually developed.

      Some, however, are of opinion that it was specially during the
    Babylonian captivity that the system of synagogue worship, if
    not actually introduced, was at least reorganized on a
    systematic plan (Ezek. 8:1; 14:1). The exiles gathered together
    for the reading of the law and the prophets as they had
    opportunity, and after their return synagogues were established
    all over the land (Ezra 8:15; Neh. 8:2). In after years, when
    the Jews were dispersed abroad, wherever they went they erected
    synagogues and kept up the stated services of worship (Acts
    9:20; 13:5; 17:1; 17:17; 18:4). The form and internal
    arrangements of the synagogue would greatly depend on the wealth
    of the Jews who erected it, and on the place where it was built.
    "Yet there are certain traditional pecularities which have
    doubtless united together by a common resemblance the Jewish
    synagogues of all ages and countries. The arrangements for the
    women's place in a separate gallery or behind a partition of
    lattice-work; the desk in the centre, where the reader, like
    Ezra in ancient days, from his 'pulpit of wood,' may 'open the
    book in the sight of all of people and read in the book of the
    law of God distinctly, and give the sense, and cause them to
    understand the reading' (Neh. 8:4, 8); the carefully closed ark
    on the side of the building nearest to Jerusalem, for the
    preservation of the rolls or manuscripts of the law; the seats
    all round the building, whence 'the eyes of all them that are in
    the synagogue' may 'be fastened' on him who speaks (Luke 4:20);
    the 'chief seats' (Matt. 23:6) which were appropriated to the
    'ruler' or 'rulers' of the synagogue, according as its
    organization may have been more or less complete;", these were
    features common to all the synagogues.

      Where perfected into a system, the services of the synagogue,
    which were at the same hours as those of the temple, consisted,
    (1) of prayer, which formed a kind of liturgy, there were in all
    eighteen prayers; (2) the reading of the Scriptures in certain
    definite portions; and (3) the exposition of the portions read.
    (See Luke 4:15, 22; Acts 13:14.)

      The synagogue was also sometimes used as a court of
    judicature, in which the rulers presided (Matt. 10:17; Mark
    5:22; Luke 12:11; 21:12; Acts 13:15; 22:19); also as public
    schools.

      The establishment of synagogues wherever the Jews were found
    in sufficient numbers helped greatly to keep alive Israel's hope
    of the coming of the Messiah, and to prepare the way for the
    spread of the gospel in other lands. The worship of the
    Christian Church was afterwards modelled after that of the
    synagogue.

      Christ and his disciples frequently taught in the synagogues
    (Matt. 13:54; Mark 6:2; John 18:20; Acts 13:5, 15, 44; 14:1;
    17:2-4, 10, 17; 18:4, 26; 19:8).

      To be "put out of the synagogue," a phrase used by John (9:22;
    12:42; 16:2), means to be excommunicated.