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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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CONGREGATION
kon-gre-ga'-shun (qahal, `edhah).
1. Terms Employed:
These two words rendered by "congregation" or "assembly" are used apparently without any difference of sense. They appear to include an assembly of the whole people or any section that might be present on a given occasion. Indeed, sometimes the idea appears to correspond closely to that conveyed by "horde," or even by "crowd." `Edhah is once used of bees (Jdg 14:8). It has been sought to distinguish the two words by means of Lev 4:13, "if the whole `edhah of Israel err, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the qahal." The qahal would then be the smaller body representing the whole `edhah, but the general usage is not favorable to this view (compare e.g. Ex 12:19, "cutting off from the `edhah of Israel," with Nu 19:20, "cutting off from the qahal"). The idea denoted by these words is said by Wellhausen to be "foreign to Hebrew antiquity," though it "runs through the Priestly Code from beginning to end" (Prolegomena 78). Yet it is Deuteronomy that presents us with laws excluding certain classes from the qahal, and the word is also found in Gen 49:6; Nu 22:4 (the Revised Version (British and American) "multitude"); Dt 5:22; 9:10; 31:30; Josh 8:35; 1 Sam 17:47; 1 Ki 8:14; Mic 2:5, and other early passages, while `edhah occurs in 1 Ki 12:20 (see further, Eerdmans, Das Buch Exodus, 80 f). On the other hand taste and euphony appear to be responsible for the choice of one or other of the words in many cases. Thus the Chronicler uses qahal frequently, but `edhah only once (2 Ch 5:6 = 1 Ki 8:5).
2. Legal Provisions:
Moses provided for the summoning of the congregation by trumpets (Nu 10:2-8). For the sin offering to be brought if the whole congregation erred, see Lev 4:13-21.
Dt 23:1-8 (in Heb 2 through 9) excludes bastards, Ammonites and Moabites from the assembly, even to the tenth generation, while Edomites and Egyptians were admitted in the third. Those who suffer from certain physical defects are also excluded.
3. Other Terms:
One other word must be noted, mo`edh. It occurs often in the phrase 'ohel mo`edh ("tent of meeting"; see TABERNACLE). But in Nu 16:2 we find it used of certain princes who were "men of renown called to the assembly."
For atsereth, rendered by the Revised Version (British and American) "solemn assembly", see FEASTS. On miqra', see CONVOCATION.
Harold M. Wiener Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Definition for 'congregation'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". bible-history.com - ISBE; 1915.
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