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
