The first is the relationship between ἐκκλησία and συναγωγή. ἐκκλησία is used to translate קָהָל, which is generally translated “convocation” or “assembly.”345 However, קָהָל is not only translated ἐκκλησία, but also συναγωγή.346 In particular in Genesis, Leviticus, and Numbers, קָהָל is translated by συναγωγή twenty-one times, and in Ezekiel and Jeremiah nineteen out of twenty times.347 This suggests a terminological overlap between ἐκκλησία and συναγωγή, and this has raised the question as to why Paul and other New Testament authors chose to use ἐκκλησία, when other terms, such as συναγωγή, were available. Schmidt348 argues that ἐκκλησία was a wider and more significant term than συναγωγή, while Giles349 argues that there is significant overlap between the two terms. It could also be argued that ἐκκλησία helps to draw a distinction between Jewish and Christian gatherings,350 or that the comparative neutrality of the term allowed the early Christians considerable scope to define what it meant for them. At this remove and without any explicit New Testament guidance, it is difficult if not impossible to answer this question with any certainty, and certainly any necessarily tentative conclusions regarding why ἐκκλησία was chosen should not direct how the term should be understood in its New Testament and, specifically here, Pauline context. It may well be as simple as the fact that συναγωγή was a word already in use by others.
Second, עֵדָה is also used to refer to the assembly or congregation, and is usually translated in the LXX συναγωγή, and never ἐκκλησία.351 A distinction in meaning is sometimes made between עֵדָה and קָהָל. So Ward argues that עֵדָה is used of the society itself, the people of God, whereas עֵדָה denotes the actual assembly,352 and Campbell argues that this can be seen in how five-sixths of the occurrences of עֵדָה are found in the books concerned with the journeying of Israel to the promised land: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Joshua.353 Coenen draws a distinction between עֵדָה as the summons to assembly, of the people or the עֵדָה,354 and עֵדָה as the community assembled, and the community as a people.355 He argues that עֵדָה is the word for “community,” and קָהָל the word for the ceremonial expression that results from the covenant.356 Giles argues for the assimilation of the עֵדָה idea of community to the קָהָל idea of assembly. Giles argues that there are places where קָהָל is used instead of עֵדָה such as in Deuteronomy,357 or where קָהָל replaces עֵדָה, such as in 2 Chronicles 23:1–3.358 Therefore, קָהָל can be used in much the same way as עֵדָה, for the community, whether gathered or not.359 Giles argues that the best translation for ἐκκλησία as it is used in the New Testament is “community,” noting the “pedigree” of this translation stretching back to Luther and Tyndale.360
However, I would argue that trying to find a clear distinction between the terms עֵדָה and קָהָל which can then inform the discussion of ἐκκλησία and συναγωγή, seeks to read too much into the evidence for two related reasons.
First, קָהָל can be translated by both ἐκκλησία and συναγωγή, and therefore there is an interchangeability of terms here, as the translation choice seems to depend on which biblical book is being considered.361 Similarly, עֵדָה and קָהָל’ overlap in meaning, for the assembly described as עֵדָה in Exodus is rendered by קָהָל in Deuteronomy. The interchangeability of terms is confirmed by the references to Numbers 13:26 in 1 Maccabees 2:56 and Sirach 46:7, which both use ἐκκλησία to describe an assembly originally rendered συναγωγή, as a translation of עֵדָה, and Philo refers to the Sinai gathering as ἐκκλησία, in passages where the Septuagint does not use ἐκκλησία.362
Second, the meaning of ἐκκλησία is not inherent to the word, but is determined by the context. My analysis of occurrences from both the Septuagint and Greek literature has shown that ἐκκλησία is an assembly, but what kind of assembly, or whether the assembly is representative, or whether it overlaps in meaning with other terms depends on the context of the usage. This is a similar observation to that made about the afore-mentioned ek-kaleo idea; the significance of being called out in the NT is determined contextually, not etymologically; the precise nuance of ἐκκλησία in any given author should also be determined from their contextual usage, where usage elsewhere is a guide but not determinative.
Conclusion
Three things should to be noted here from the use of ἐκκλησία in the Septuagint and Philo. First, I have argued above that there is considerable overlap between usage in the Septuagint and wider Greek literature, and that in both cases the meaning of the term is driven by the context. Therefore, the distinctions that are drawn between ‘Greek’ and ‘Jewish’ usage should not be drawn too sharply.363 The Septuagint represents a contextual nuancing of a term capable of a range of meanings in Greek literature.364
Second, several interesting contextual interpretations emerge from the Septuagint. There is the generalized idea of the assembly found in the Psalms and Sirach, where the precise composition is elusive. There is the representative assembly idea, which emerges particularly in the later historical books. Finally, the exclusions of Deuteronomy 23 and other strictures on attendance suggest that people are members of the assembly even when the assembly is not assembled. There are also some unique uses, such as for an assembly of heavenly beings or an assembly of gods, which indicate the flexibility in the possible application of ἐκκλησία.
Third, in my discussion of עֵדָה and קָהָל’ and ἐκκλησία and συναγωγή, I have emphasized the importance of the context, not a set of ideas considered inherent to the term, in determining meaning.
Ἐκκλησία in Greek Literature and the Septuagint
From this study on Greek literature, I noted the overwhelmingly political dimension of ἐκκλησία, and the primary usage as a local body which assembles to make decisions. I also noted some flexibility of usage depending on author, and some unusual uses. I concluded that Paul, writing in a different genre and with different concerns, could make use of the flexibility of the term in an analogous way to Polybius, Diodorus, and especially Dionysius, as they extend the Greek polis to include Roman assemblies of various kinds.
From my examination of the Septuagint, I noted the significant commonality between Septuagint and Greek literary usage, genre-related differences,