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Bible Dictionaries
Congregation
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or ‛Êdâh (עֵדָה, Strong's #5712), “congregation.” This word may have etymologically signified a “company assembled together” for a certain purpose, similar to the Greek words sunagoge and ekklesia, from which our words “synagogue” and “church” are derived. In ordinary usage, ‛êdâh refers to a “group of people.” It occurs 149 times in the Old Testament, most frequently in the Book of Numbers. The first occurrence is in Exod. 12:3, where the word is a synonym for qahal “assembly.”The most general meaning of ‛êdâh is “group,” whether of animals—such as a swarm of bees (Judg. 14:8), a herd of bulls (Ps. 68:30), and the flocking together of birds (Hos. 7:12)— or of people, such as the righteous (Ps. 1:5), the evildoers (Ps. 22:16), and the nations (Ps. 7:7).
The most frequent reference is to the “congregation of Israel” (9 times), “the congregation of the sons of Israel” (26 times), “the congregation” (24 times), or “all of the congregation” (30 times). Elders (Lev. 4:15), family heads (Num. 31:26), and princes (Num. 16:2; 31:13; 32:2) were placed in charge of the “congregation” in order to assist Moses in a just rule.
The Septuagint translation is sunagoge (“place of assembly”). The KJV has these translations: “congregation; company; assembly.”
Mô‛êd (מוֹעָדָה, 4150), “appointed place of meeting; meeting.” The noun mô‛êd appears in the Old Testament 223 times, of which 160 times are in the Pentateuch. The historical books are next in the frequency of usage (27 times).
The word mô‛êd keeps its basic meaning of “appointed,” but varies as to what is agreed upon or appointed according to the context: the time, the place, or the meeting itself. The usage of the verb in Amos 3:3 is illuminating: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Whether they have agreed on a time or a place of meeting, or on the meeting itself, is ambiguous.
The meaning of mô‛êd is fixed within the context of Israel’s religion. First, the festivals came to be known as the “appointed times” or the set feasts. These festivals were clearly prescribed in the Pentateuch. The word refers to any “festival” or “pilgrimage festival,” such as Passover (Lev. 23:15ff.), the feast of first fruits (Lev. 23:15ff.), the feast of tabernacles (Lev. 23:33ff.), or the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:27). God condemned the people for observing the mô‛êd ritualistically: “Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth …” (Isa. 1:14).
The word mô‛êd also signifies a “fixed place.” This usage is not frequent: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation [mô‛êd], in the sides of the north …” (Isa. 14:13). “For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living” (Job 30:23).
In both meanings of mô‛êd—“fixed time” and “fixed place”—a common denominator is the “meeting” of two or more parties at a certain place and time—hence the usage of mô‛êd as “meeting.” However, in view of the similarity in meaning between “appointed place” or “appointed time” and “meeting,” translators have a real difficulty in giving a proper translation in each context. For instance, “He hath called an assembly [mô‛êd] against me” (Lam. 1:15) could be read: “He has called an appointed time against me” (NASB) or “He summoned an army against me” (NIV).
The phrase, “tabernacle of the congregation,” is a translation of the Hebrew ‘ohel mô‛êd (“tent of meeting”). The phrase occurs 139 times— mainly in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, rarely in Deuteronomy. It signifies that the Lord has an “appointed place” by which His presence is represented and through which Israel was assured that their God was with them. The fact that the tent was called the “tent of meeting” signifies that Israel’s God was among His people and that He was to be approached at a certain time and place that were “fixed” (ya’ad) in the Pentateuch. In the KJV, this phrase is translated as “tabernacle of the congregation” (Exod. 28:43) because translators realized that the noun mô‛êd (“congregation”) is derived from the same root as mô‛êd. The translators of the Septuagint had a similar difficulty. They noticed the relation of mô‛êd to the root ‘ud (“to testify”) and translated the phrase ’ohel hamo’ed as “tabernacle of the testimony.” This phrase was picked up by the New Testament: “And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened …” (Rev. 15:5).
Of the three meanings, the appointed “time” is most basic. The phrase “tent of meeting” lays stress on the “place of meeting.” The “meeting” itself is generally associated with “time” or “place.”
The Septuagint has the following translations of mô‛êd: kairos (timew), eortel (“feast; festival”). The English translators give these senses: “congregation” (KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV); “appointed time” (NASB); “appointed feast” (RSV, NASB); “set time” (RSV, NASB, NIV).
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Congregation'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/c/congregation.html. 1940.
