No. 31
Home Page
Synagogues: Their Origin,
Structure, and Outward Arrangements
Part 2
(To read the first part of this text,
go to the Home Page above and then to the Archives Page).
For many
years, the site of the Ancient Capernaum has been unknown. Now the modern Tell Hum is so satisfactory that few would question
it as being the right site for the ancient city. Even more important is the fact that
the ruins of this synagogue that the centurion of Matthew 9:1 spoke of
has been brought to light. To make doubting even more impossible,
its architecture is without a doubt that of the Herodian period.
The Bible talks about how Jesus fed the 5,000 people who were hungry,
having 12 baskets left over. That same night the disciples were
crossing the lake when a horrible storm blew in from the mountains.
Jesus came to them walking across the lake and calmed the fierce waters.
When the next
morning arrived, the people realized that Jesus was gone, so they
crossed the lake looking for Him in Capernaum. Since no ordinary
home would have held the many people, they made their way to the
synagogue. John 6: 59 tells us "These things said He in the
synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum." The remarkable
thing is that the lintel of this very synagogue has been found.
The saying written there bears an extreme close reference to the question
which the Jews put to Jesus as they entered the synagogue and said:
"Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them
bread from heaven to eat" (John 6:31).
The lintel
that archaeologists found at the synagogue in Capernaum had a pot of
manna carved on it. It was also ornamented with a flowing
pattern of vine leaves and clusters of grapes, of which Jesus told so
many parables about as He taught in the synagogue. This same
synagogue was also filled with rich and elaborate carvings of cornices,
columns and capitals, and niches.
From the
Bible, it is known that the ruler of this same synagogue was Jairus.
His cry of anguish and faith brought Jesus to his house to speak the
life-giving "Talitha cumi" over his daughter who lay dead in the
chamber, while the crowd was still outside along with the hired
mourners. They were crying and mourning as Jesus was inside
bringing the girl back to life.
Their internal
arrangement seems to have been built upon the plan of the original
Temple, or even the Tabernacle. The oldest known still standing
synagogue is that of the Cyrenian Jews in the island of Gerbe.
According to a missionary there called Dr. Ewald, that synagogue is
modeled in three parts: after the model of the Court, the Holy,
and the Most Holy Place. In all synagogues there is the body of
the building itself, with the space around it set apart for the women,
which represents the Court of Women of the old Temple. Then the
innermost and highest place contains the rolls of the Law, which
represents the Sanctuary itself. The synagogue also seems to have
been adopted as the model for the very earliest Christian churches,
hence the name "basilica". Also, the very term "bema" is
incorporated in Rabbinical language. This is only what might have
been expected, since the earliest Christians were Jews by nationality.
Heathenism could have offered no type of facilities, so it had to have
been based on Jewish heritage.
It
was deemed for a person as wrong to pray behind a synagogue without
turning their
face toward it. In antiquity there is told a story of Elijah
appearing in the form of an Arab merchant and punishing a person who
was guilty of doing this. It is said that he told the man - "Thou standest before thy Master as if there were two Powers (or Gods), and he
drew his sword and killed him."
It was also
thought that a person must advance inside the synagogue the length of at
least "two doors" before he could settle down to prayer. This was
justified by a reference to Proverbs 8: 34 - "Blessed is the man
that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my
doors." This inference is somewhat peculiar as taken from the above
verse, but is certainly not more strange than many other sayings in the
Talmud itself. On a preceding page it discusses the precise
duration of the wrath of the Almighty, and concludes that Balaam had
been the only person who knew it exactly, since it is written of him in
Numbers 24: 16 that he "knew the thoughts of the Most High!"
Another thing
written in the Talmud was that one should leave the synagogue with slow
steps, but to go towards it as fast as possible. The Rabbis took
the latter attitude from Hosea 6:3 - "Let us pursue to know the Lord."
Rabbi Seira wrote that at one time he had been scandalized by seeing the
Rabbis running on the Sabbath to attend a sermon, because the Sabbath
was a day of rest. Then he wrote that when he understood how Hosea
11:10 applied to the teaching of the Halachah, he himself joined in
their race. The Rabbi concluded: "The reward of a discourse
is the haste" with which people run to it - no matter, it would appear,
whether they get in to hear it, or whether there is anything in the
discourse worth the hearing.
Most of the
time, the synagogues were built at the expense of the congregation, with
some contributing more than others. Sometimes they were even
erected at the cost of private individuals, which was supposed to
involve special merit. Most of the time, though, when there was
only a small number, they met in a large room at a private house that
was set apart for the purpose. This must be where the phrase
"Church in the house" comes from in the New Testament. It would
definitely imply that a room in a private house had been set aside
specifically for the purpose of Christians joining together in worship.
Rules of
decorum in the synagogues were the same as those that been enforced in
the Temple, and were applied to everyone who attended. Decency and
cleanliness in dress, and quietness and reverence in demeanor were
prescribed in the most minute of details and distinctions. Money
collections were only to be made for the poor or for the redemption of
captives. If the building had deteriorated to a dangerous
condition, it could be torn down provided that another one was built as
rapidly as possible in its place.
Even if the
building was torn down, though, the sanctity of it remained and it could
not be converted into a mourning place, used as a thoroughfare, ropes
could not be hung up in it, nets could not be spread, nor fruits laid
out for drying. It also could not be used for anything else that
would not be considered as sanctified in its purposes.
Money collected for building a synagogue could be used for another
purpose unless
absolutely necessary, but if they had already bought beams, stones,
etc., these could not be resold because they were regarded as dedicated.
A town synagogue absolutely could not be disposed of, but those in
villages could be disposed of under the direction of the local
Sanhedrim. This was done provided that it was not afterwards to be
used as a public bath, a wash-house, a tannery, or a pool. The
money received from the sale was to be devoted to something more sacred
than the mere stone and mortar of a synagogue - say, the ark in which
the copies of the law were kept. The "oratories", or "Places where
prayer was wont to be made" talked about in Acts 16:13, were not the
same thing as the synagogues. They were generally placed outside
the towns in the vicinity of running water or the sea. This was
because of the customs they had that were connected with prayer.
The separation
of the sexes was observed even in the Temple at the time of Christ.
It was strictly carried out in the synagogues with a petition that was
boarded off and provided with doors to which there was separate access.
This practice seems to be just more in alignment with Eastern manners
and modes of thinking. The Rabbis, though, had to have some kind
of Scripture authority for everything that they did, however trivial a
trail it might be. In this case they found a few small crumbs in
Zechariah 12: 11-14 where the "wives" are no less than five times spoken
of as "apart", while engaged in their prayerful mourning.
The synagogue
was so placed that when the worshippers entered it they were facing
Jerusalem. At one end of it rose a platform for the Rabbi or
teacher to speak from. Those who were called up to it for reading
ascended by the side nearest, and descended by that most remote from
their seats in the synagogue. On this platform, or "bima", stood
the pulpit, or lectern. From here the prescribed portions of the
law and prophets were read, and messages delivered. The reader
stood and the preacher sat. Thus we find in Luke 4:20 that after
Jesus read a portion from the prophet Isaiah, He "closed the book, and
He gave it again to the minister, and sat down", before delivering His
discourse in the synagogue of Nazareth.
Prayer was
also offered standing, unless they were in the Temple itself.
There they prayed while prostrating themselves. Just as we have
already talked about the synagogue being built on the model of the
tabernacle and temple, the "bima" was placed in front of "the
ark". In reality the "ark" consisted of a press or chest, in which
the rolls of the law were deposited and kept for safety. It was
made so that it could be moved, and was brought out of the synagogue on
occasions of public fasting and prayer, in order to have it placed in
the street or market-place where the people gathered. Sometimes
there was also a second chest for the rolls of the prophets, in which
the disused or damaged rolls of the law were likewise deposited.
In front of the "ark" hung the "vilon", or veil, that was placed in
imitation of that before the Holy Place.
Above all this
was suspended the ever-burning lamp, "ner olam", and near to that stood
the eight-branched candlestick. It was lit during the eight days
of the feast of the dedication of the Temple. It is thought that
at the time of Jesus, the candlestick was only used for special
occasions and not kept continuously lit as it had been in the
Tabernacle.
There is also
no way that we can know the various processes they went through to copy
out the synagogue-rolls that embodied the five books of Moses, or what
details would be in them that would render them useless. There are
twenty different things that are mentioned by the Rabbis.
At the present
time, the vellum on which the Pentateuch is written is affixed to two
rollers. As each portion of the law is read, it is unrolled from
the right and rolled on to the left roller. The roll itself is
fastened together by linen wrappers or cloths and then placed in a
case.
It should also
be noted that at first the people probably stood in the synagogues or
sat on the ground. As the services became more popular, though,
they provided sitting accommodations. The congregation sat facing
the ark. The Rabbis, distinguished Pharisees, and others who
sought the honor of men, claimed the "chief seats", which were placed
with their backs to the ark and faced the worshippers. These seats
bear the same name as in the New Testament and were made objects of
special ambition. Rank, dignity, or seniority entitled a Rabbi or
other influential man to bump others out so that he could sit there.
Jesus referred
expressly to this in Matthew 23:6 as one of the characteristic
manifestations of Pharisee pride. Some of this same spirit and
practice had also crept into some of the early churches, as James warned
the people against an un-Christ-like "respect of persons", which would
assign a place high up in synagogues of Christians to the mere
possession of "goodly apparel" or the wearing of the "gold ring."
In the above
text we have described the outward arrangements of synagogues. The
next text will cover the Worship of the Synagogue.
For more
information from this book, go to the Archives Page at my site
www.cathydeaton.com
There are other articles of interest there also.
This text is
taken from the book Sketches of Jewish Social Life written by Alfred
Edersheim. This book has been used by permission.