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Ekklesia
When preparing to write this article, I did a search from my own search page for the word “Ekklesia” (ἐκκλησία) and Microsoft Copilot returned the following:
Ekklesia is a Greek word that can refer to different things:
- In ancient Athens it referred to the assembly of male citizens who would gather to speak their minds and exercise their votes regarding the government of their city.
- In the ancient Greek world, it often referred to a public assembly, whether large or small, formal or informal, which would come together for any purpose, including entertainment or discussion of a shared interest.
- In the New Testament, it is used to refer to the assembly of Israel before Yahweh for worship in front of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. [my emphasis]
- In ordinary Greek, it most often refers to the citizens of a city gathering to decide political issues and less frequently to an assembly of the devotees of a god.[1]
In this article[2] Dr. B. Brandon Scott asks, “Should ‘Ekklēsia’ Really Be Translated as ‘Church’ in the Bible?” He then delves into the translation of the Greek word “ekklēsia” traditionally rendered as “church” in the Bible. He cogently argues that the modern understanding of “church” as a building, universal Christianity, or a denomination doesn’t align with the original Greek meaning, which referred to an assembly or gathering. He traces the historical journey of the translation, highlighting how the shift from “gathering” to “church” occurred due to influences like anti-Semitism and the institutionalization of Christianity.
The piece encourages rethinking the term, suggesting that the earliest gatherings of Yeshua/Jesus’s followers were small, personal, and more akin to house meetings rather than formal worship. It challenges readers to see “church” through the lens of its New Testament usage — as a localized, tangible assembly — rather than as a religious institution. The author advocates for restoring the relational essence of these early gatherings.
In my article “Where Did the Word ‘Church’ Come From?” (which see) I argue that the word should not be used to describe the “religion” of Yeshua/Jesus-followers at all. But because organized Christianity has devolved so greatly from the faith and practice of the first-century Jewish sect of Yeshua-followers know as “The Way,” and because they refer to themselves as “the Church,” I use the term only to refer to Gentile Christians.
In the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the Tanakh (Hebrew “Bible”), the Greek word ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) refers to an assembly or gathering of people, specifically Israel, often in a civic or religious context. It is frequently used to translate the Hebrew words qahal (קָהָל) and עֵדָה ('edah), both of which which refer to congregation or assembly, particularly of the Israelites. This word occurs in contexts such as the gathering of Israel for worship, decision-making, or receiving God's law. Thus, the word ekklesia, in context, refers to the people of Israel.
For the first 14 years after the Resurrection of Yeshua the people of Israel who believed in Him were referred to as the ekklesia (in the Apostolic Writings, or “New Testament”) into which the believing Gentiles were later grafted (Romans 11:17-24). Thus, believing Gentiles, instead of being “the Church,” are rather grafted into — and part of — the Commonwealth of Israel. At no place in Scripture is it ever taught that believing Jews (the faithful remnant of Israel) are only a part of the ekklesia. Rather, conversely, the Scriptures teach that the ekklesia is the body of Yeshua-believing Israelites into which believing Gentiles are grafted (Romans 11:17-24).
For further discussion of the term “ekklesia” please see my article “The Holy Community (Miqra, Qahal, Edah, Ekklesia).”
1.
https://earlychristiantexts.com/should-ekklesia-really-be-translated-as-church/
https://www.disciplesglobal.org/2021/10/ekklesia-assembly.html
https://asweetsavor.org/church-3-ekklesia-in-greek-culture/
https://chs.harvard.edu/discussion-series-athenian-law-lectures-8/
[BACK]
2. Dr. B. Brandon Scott, “Should ‘Ekklēsia’ Really Be Translated as ‘Church’ in the Bible?” https://earlychristiantexts.com/ accessed April 4, 2025. [BACK]
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