Monday, January 23, 2006

When Did the Synagogues Begin?


Dr. Couch, in Psalm 74:8 there is a mention of the synagogue. I thought the synagogue did not begin until the period between the Testaments. How do we answer? 
 
    ANSWER:  Many Bible versions translate the word in this verse as “the meeting place.” It is the Hebrew word Mo’av. The Rabbis point out in my Jewish commentaries that this psalm was probably written during the Babylonian captivity when the Temple had been destroyed. They say, “It is preferable to find the setting of the psalm in the onslaught in the sixth century which destroyed the Southern Kingdom and the Temple, and inaugurated the Babylonian captivity.” Thus, more than likely, the Jews in captivity began meeting in small groups that later developed into synagogues in Babylon, and of course in the land, when they returned from the exile. 

    The Holman Dictionary has another take on the passage and writes: “Worship centered around the Temple in Jerusalem. Psalm 74:8, written late in Old Testament times, seems to refer to local places of worship destroyed when the Temple was destroyed.” Unger agrees in his OT Commentary I had re-published. He believes these were “meeting places,” houses of sacred worship where the Law was read even while the Temple was standing. He prefers to call them “houses of sacred meetings.” 

   Thanks for asking,

  Dr. Mal Couch