Assembly

"assembly; company." Cognates derived from this Hebrew noun appear in late Aramaic and Syriac. Qahal occurs 123 times and in all periods of biblical Hebrew.

In many contexts, the word means an assembly gathered to plan or execute war. One of the first of these is Gen 49:6. in 1Ki 12:3 (rsv), "all the assembly of Israel" asked Rehoboam to ease the tax burden imposed by Solomon. When Rehoboam refused, they withdrew from him and rejected their feudal (military) allegiance to him. For the application of qahal to an army, see Ezek 17:17: "Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war…." Quite often, qahal is used to denote a gathering to judge or deliberate. This emphasis first appears in Ezek 23:45-47, where the "company" judges and executes judgment. In many passages, the word signifies an assembly representing a larger group: "David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader. And David said to all the assembly of Israel…" (1Chron 13:1-2, rsv). Here, "the whole assembly" of Israel refers to the assembled leaders (cf. 2Chron 1:2). Thus, in Lev 4:13 we find that the sin of the whole congregation of Israel can escape the notice of the "assembly" (the judges or elders who represent the congregation).

Sometimes qahal represents all the males of Israel who were eligible to bring sacrifices to the Lord: "He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the Lord" (Deut 23:1, rsv). The only eligible members of the assembly were men who were religiously bound together under the covenant, who were neither strangers (living in Israel temporarily) nor sojourners (permanent non-Hebrew residents) (Num 15:15). In Num 16:3 and Num 33, it is clear that the "assembly" was the worshiping, voting community (cf. Num 18:4).

Elsewhere, the word qahal is used to signify all the people of Israel. The whole congregation of the sons of Israel complained that Moses had brought them forth into the wilderness to kill the whole assembly with hunger (Exod 16:3). The first occurrence of the word also bears the connotation of a large group: "And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude [qahal] of people…" (Gen 28:3).

"to gather." The verb qahal, which occurs 39 times, is derived from the noun qahal. Like the noun, this verb appears in all periods of biblical Hebrew. It means "to gather" as a qahal for conflict or war, for religious purposes, and for judgment: "Then Solomon assembled the elders [qahal] of Israel…" (1Kings 8:1).

from ek, "out of," and klesis, "a calling" (kaleo, "to call"), was used among the Greeks of a body of citizens "gathered" to discuss the affairs of state, Act 19:39. In the Sept. it is used to designate the "gathering" of Israel, summoned for any definite purpose, or a "gathering" regarded as representative of the whole nation. In Act 7:38 it is used of Israel; in Act 19:32, Act 19:41, of a riotous mob. It has two applications to companies of Christians, (a) to the whole company of the redeemed throughout the present era, the company of which Christ said, "I will build My Church," Mat 16:18, and which is further described as "the Church which is His Body," Eph 1:22, Eph 5:23, (b) in the singular number (e.g., Mat 18:17, RV marg., "congregation"), to a company consisting of professed believers, e.g., Act 20:28, 1Co 1:2, Gal 1:13, 1Th 1:1, 2Th 1:1, 1Ti 3:5, and in the plural, with reference to churches in a district.

There is an apparent exception in the RV of Act 9:31, where, while the AV has "churches," the singular seems to point to a district; but the reference is clearly to the church as it was in Jerusalem, from which it had just been scattered, Act 8:1. Again, in Rom 16:23, that Gaius was the host of "the whole church," simply suggests that the "assembly" in Corinth had been accustomed to meet in his house, where also Paul was entertained. See CHURCH.

from pan, "all," and agora, "any kind of assembly," denoted, among the Greeks, an assembly of the people in contrast to the council of national leaders, or a "gathering" of the people in honor of a god, or for some public festival, such as the Olympic games. The word is used in Heb 12:23, coupled with the word "church," as applied to all believers who form the body of Christ.

"a multitude, the whole number," is translated "assembly" in Act 23:7, RV. See BUNDLE, COMPANY, MULTITUDE.

Note: For sunagoge, see ASSEMBLE, Note (2).