Synagogue

The synagogue in Scripture is at once an assembly of Jews and God-fearers, a building in which they meet, and the local court that disciplines its members. The Old Testament background lies in the post-exilic gathering at the water gate where Ezra reads and expounds the Law (Neh 8:1-8). By the time of the Gospels and the post-Pauline epistles the institution has settled into a weekly Sabbath rhythm of reading, teaching, prayer, and almsgiving, with rulers and elders empowered to expel members who cross its boundaries.

Reading and Expounding the Law

The pattern of the synagogue gathering is foreshadowed in Nehemiah. The people gather as one man, ask Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law, and stand while it is read from a wooden pulpit; the Levites then move through the assembly so that "they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading" (Neh 8:8). The next day the same congregation reads "in the Book of the Law of Yahweh their God a fourth part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshiped Yahweh their God" (Neh 9:3), with named Levites leading the call to "Stand up and bless Yahweh your⁺ God from everlasting to everlasting" (Neh 9:5).

The synoptic record shows Jesus stepping into that pattern. In Galilee "he went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out demons" (Mark 1:39). At Capernaum "right away on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught" (Mark 1:21). At Nazareth, where he had been brought up, "he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read" (Luke 4:16); the attendant hands him the scroll of Isaiah, "and he unrolled the book, and found the place where it was written" (Luke 4:17), reads the passage, "closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him" (Luke 4:20), and then expounds it. Luke summarizes the wider Galilean ministry the same way: "And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all" (Luke 4:15). Of his own ministry Jesus says, "I have spoken openly to the world; I ever taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and in secret I spoke nothing" (John 18:20). One of the synagogue scenes Jesus uses for teaching is at Capernaum: "These things he said in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum" (John 6:59).

Sabbath Healing

The same Sabbath teaching slot is the setting for synagogue healings. "And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. And look, a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years; and she was bowed together, and could in no way lift herself up. And when Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God" (Luke 13:10-13). The synagogue ruler intervenes: "And the ruler of the synagogue, being moved with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, answered and said to the multitude, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the day of the Sabbath" (Luke 13:14).

A Building Funded by the Town

The synagogue is also a physical building, locally funded. The Jewish elders sent to Jesus on behalf of the Capernaum centurion plead, "for he loves our nation, and himself built us our synagogue" (Luke 7:5). Town and benefactor share responsibility for the structure.

Court of the Assembly

Beyond reading and worship, the synagogue functions as the local court, with both criminal and religious jurisdiction. Jesus warns his disciples, "And when they bring you⁺ before the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, don't be anxious how or what you⁺ will answer, or what you⁺ will say" (Luke 12:11). The Fourth Gospel shows the religious power working in real time. The parents of the man born blind hold their tongue "because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man should confess him [to be] Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue" (John 9:22), and the man himself, when he answers back, is dealt with by the same authority: "They answered and said to him, You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us? And they cast him out" (John 9:34). The same threat silences the rulers: "Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess [it], lest they should be put out of the synagogue" (John 12:42). Jesus tells the disciples to expect the same treatment and worse: "They will put you⁺ out of the synagogues: yes, the hour comes, that whoever kills you⁺ will think that he offers service to God" (John 16:2).

The Assembly of the Faithful

James uses the word for the local Christian gathering itself: "For if there comes into your⁺ synagogue a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, and there comes in also a poor man in vile clothing" (Jas 2:2). Hebrews calls the faithful to keep that assembly going: "not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting [one another]; and so much the more, as you⁺ see the day drawing near" (Heb 10:25).

The Synagogue of Satan

In the letters to Smyrna and Philadelphia the term turns inside out. To Smyrna: "I know your tribulation, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan" (Rev 2:9). To Philadelphia: "Look, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie; look, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you" (Rev 3:9). The same name that elsewhere covers the assembly of the people of God is here applied, with the qualifier "of Satan," to those who claim that identity falsely.