The "Church" of the Old Testament

When did the church begin?  Maybe a better question, is "What is church?"  What is the history of this word?

What can we find out with a little research?  Let's start by looking for the word in the Bible.  The BibleGateway site is useful as a source of many Bible translations.  I used BibleGateway to search for the word "church" in several different translations.  Here is what I found.

• New International Version -- 112 references, found in the NT only
• New American Standard Bible -- 112 references, found in the NT only
• Amplified Bible -- 131 references, found in the NT only
• New Living Translation -- 148 references, found in the NT only
• King James Version -- 111 references, found in the NT only
• English Standard Version -- 113 references, found in the NT only
• Contemporary English Version -- 131 references, found in the NT only
• New King James Version -- 120 references, found in the NT only
• Holman Christian Standard Version -- 114 references, found in the NT only
  

So far, there there is some variation, but the one consistency is that church is an exclusively New Testament word.  Now for the surprises....

• Young's Literal Translation -- No Results Found
  
• Darby Translation -- No Results Found
• William Tyndale's Translation -- No Results Found (Using Accordance Software)
  
• World English Bible -- No Results Found  (I used Unbound Bible for this one.)
  
• Douay-Rheims -- 138 references, 29 in the OT/Apocrypha and 109 in the NT (From another site.)

Four of these translations don't use the word church at all and the Douay-Rheims uses it 29 times in the Old Testament and Apocrypha. What explains these surprising differences?  Unbound Bible's Advanced Parallel Search is especially helpful for looking at this problem.  We can search for church in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and compare it with Young's Literal Translation (YLT), Darby Version (DV) and World English Bible (WEB).  A few examples will illustrate, starting with some texts from the New Testament.

Matthew 16:18

• NASB - upon this rock I will build My church
• DV - on this rock I will build my assembly 
• WEB - on this rock I will build my assembly
• YLT - upon this rock I will build my assembly
• Tyndale - apon this rocke I wyll bylde my congregacion
  

Galatians 1:22

• NASB - the churches of Judea which were in Christ
• DV - the assemblies of Judaea which are in Christ
• WEB - the assemblies of Judea which were in Christ
• YLT - the assemblies of Judea, that are in Christ
• Tyndale - ye cogregacios of Iewrye which were in Christ

(Why the distinction "in Christ?"  Were there assemblies in Judea that are not "in Christ" and that needed to be distinguished from the assemblies that Paul is talking about?  Probably yes.  Where there "Christian churches" in Judea that were not in Christ?  That is probably not what Paul meant.) 

1 Thessalonians 2:14

• NASB - the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea
• DV - the assemblies of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus
• WEB - the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus
• YLT - the assemblies of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus
• Tyndale - the congregacions of god which in Iewry are in Christ Iesu

(The same question can be asked of 1 Thessalonians 2:14 as Galations 1:22.  Why is "in Christ Jesus" used in the sentence?  Were there "assemblies of God" that were not "in Christ Jesus?")

Hebrews 12:23

• NASB - to the general assembly and church of the firstborn
• KJV - the general assembly and church of the firstborn
  
• NIV - to the church of the firstborn
• ESV - and to the assembly of the firstborn
• HCSV - to the assembly of the firstborn
• RSV - and to the assembly of the first-born 
• NRSV - and to the assembly of the firstborn
• Reina Valera (Spanish) - a la congregación de los primogénitos
• Nueva Versión Internacional (Spanish) - a la iglesia de los primogénitos
• Segradas Escrituras 1569 (Spanish) - y a la Congregación de la Iglesia de los Primogénitos
• DV - the universal gathering; and to the assembly of the firstborn
• WEB - to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn
• YLT - to the company and assembly of the first-born
• Tyndale - and vnto the congregacion of ye fyrst borne
  

In some of the previous examples, we might dismiss the differences as a theological bias in an unconventional translation.  Hebrews 12:23 is an interesting text because many of the common translations have chosen not to use the word church.  (The RSV and NRSV are generally not considered fringe or marginal.)  Clearly, many translators felt that the word church, as they understood it, was not appropriate to the context of this example even though the Greek word (ekklesia) is the same as in the previous examples. 

The word church is used in different senses in English.  Wikipedia has a disambiguation page for church, with the following entries:

• Christian Church, the worldwide body of Christians
• Local church, the body made up of a congregation, its members and clergy
• State church, a religious body or creed officially endorsed by government
• Church service, a formalized period of communal worship
• Christian clergy, formal Christian religious leadership
• Roman Catholic Church, sometimes called "the Church"
• Church (building), a physical structure used for religious activities

The Wikipedia entry for the Greek word ekklesia is similarly ambiguous and includes these two meaings among several others.

• the Christian Church
• The Qahal, an organisational structure mentioned in the masoretic text of the Bible, which the Septuagint refers to as the Ekklesia.

The second Wikipedia entry, Qahal, is the clue that leads us to an explanation for why the Douay-Rheims Bible uses the word church in the Old Testament.  Here are a few example verses from the Old Testament.

Numbers 20:4

• NASB - Why then have you brought the LORD'S assembly into this wilderness
• KJV - And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness
  
• Douay-Rheims - Why have you brought out the church of the Lord into the wilderness
• Septuagint (Greek) - και ινα τι ανηγαγετε την συναγωγην κυριου εις την ερημον ταυτην 
• Septuagint (transliterated Greek) - kai ina ti anēgagete tēn sunagōgēn kuriou eis tēn erēmon tautēn
• Vulgate (Latin) - Cur eduxistis ecclesiam Domini in solitudinem 
• Masoretic Text (Hebrew) - ולמה הבאתם את־קהל יהוה אל־המדבר

Numbers 20:4 is an interesting example because the Hebrew word qahal (קהל) is translated in the Greek Septuagint as synagogue and in the Latin Vulgate as ecclesiam. 

Deuteronomy 23:8

• NASB - The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.
• KJV - The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation. 
• Douay-Rheims - They that are born of them, in the third generation shall enter into the church of the Lord. 
• Septuagint (Greek) - υιοι εαν γενηθωσιν αυτοις γενεα τριτη εισελευσονται εις εκκλησιαν κυριου
• Septuagint (transliterated Greek) - uioi ean genēthōsin autois genea tritē eiseleusontai eis ekklēsian kuriou
• Vulgate (Latin) - Qui nati fuerint ex eis, tertia generatione intrabunt in ecclesiam Domini. 
• Masoretic Text (Hebrew) - בנים אשר־יולדו להם דור שלישי יבא להם בקהל יהוה

In Deuteronomy 23:8, the Hebrew word qahal is translated as ekklēsian in the Septuagint and as ecclesiam in the Vulgate.  The Douay-Rheims is translated consistently with the Vulgate.


Proverbs 5:14

• NASB - I was almost in utter ruin in the midst of the assembly and congregation.
• KJV - I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
• Douay-Rheims - I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of the congregation. 
• Septuagint (Greek) - παρ' ολιγον εγενομην εν παντι κακω εν μεσω εκκλησιας και συναγωγης
• Septuagint (transliterated Greek) - par' oligon egenomēn en panti kakō en mesō ekklēsias kai sunagōgēs
• Vulgate (Latin) - Paene fui in omni malo, in medio ecclesiae et synagogae.
• Masoretic Text (Hebrew) - כמעט הייתי בכל־רע בתוך קהל ועדה
• Masoretic Text (transliterated Hebrew) - kimat hayiti b'kol-ra b'tokh qahal v'eda
  

Proverbs 5:14 is interesting because both the Septuagint and Vulgate translate qahal as ekklesia/ecclesae (church) and they also translate the Hebrew word edah as synagoge (synagogue) and the text is using both words in parallel as synonymns.

The word qahal is translated in the KJV with the following words (and counts): congregation 86, assembly 17, company 17, multitude 3.  The word edah is translated in the KJV with the following words (and counts): congregation 124, company 13, assembly 9, multitude 1, people 1, swarm 1.  The set of words that the KJV uses to translate qahal is a subset of the words used to translate edah; these words are used as synonyms in the KJV translations.

There are two other verses that further illustrate the connections between qahal/edah and ekklesia/synagoge.

Leviticus 8:3

• NASB - and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting
• Septuagint (Greek) - και πασαν την συναγωγην εκκλησιασον επι την θυραν της σκηνης του μαρτυριου
• Septuagint (transliterated Greek) - kai pasan tēn sunagōgēn ekklēsiason epi tēn thuran tēs skēnēs tou marturiou
• Masoretic Text (Hebrew) - ואת כל־העדה הקהל אל־פתח אהל מועד
• Masoretic Text (transliterated Hebrew) - v'et kol-ha'edah haqhel el-petah ohel mo'ed

In Leviticus 8:3, the word edah is used as in the previous text, but haqhel (הקהל) is a verb derived from the same root as qahal (קהל) and it means "to assemble".  The Greek text is similar; synagoge is followed by a verb ekklesiason that means "to hold an assembly". 

Numbers 20:8

• NASB - Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes
•  Septuagint (Greek) - λαβε την ραβδον και εκκλησιασον την συναγωγην συ και ααρων ο αδελφος σου και λαλησατε προς την πετραν εναντι αυτων
• Septuagint (transliterated Greek) - labe tēn rabdon kai ekklēsiason tēn sunagōgēn su kai aarōn o adelphos sou kai lalēsate pros tēn petran enanti autōn
• Masoretic Text (Hebrew) - קח את־המטה והקהל את־העדה אתה ואהרן אחיך ודברתם אל־הסלע לעיניהם ונתן מימיו 
• Masoretic Text (transliterated Hebrew) - qah et-hammatteh v'haqhel et-ha'edah atta v'ah'ron ahıkha v'dibbartem el-hassela l'enehem v'natan memayv 

Numbers 20:8 is written in Hebrew and Greek using language similar to Leviticus 8:3; synagoge translates edah and a verb form of ekklesia translates a verb form of qahal.

So, when we see the word church (ekklesia) in the New Testament, how are we to interpret it?  Obviously ekklesia did not mean "the Christian church" when it was used in the Septuagint.  When we use the word church today, we generally do mean "the Christian church", or a congregation, or a denomination or a building.  When did church aquire these additional meanings and how are we to determine whether any of them apply in a New Testament context?

The words united and confederate may serve as a useful analogy.  A definition for united is "joined together politically, for a common purpose" and a definition for confederate is "joined by an agreement or treaty."  In the context of the United States prior to the Civil War, these two words might have been used synonymously.  Now, after the Civil War, it is more difficult to use united and confederate as synonyms because history has given them additional meanings.  However,  it would be misleading to project the later meanings back on these words when used in documents written before the Civil War.  The same principle applies to the words church and synagogue.  These words have meanings (and differences in meaning) today that are unavoidable, but we need to be careful that we don't project those meanings back on the New Testament texts without additional supporting evidence.

Yes, there was an ekklesia in the Old Testament--- a congregation or assembly.  Is the New Testament talking about the same ekklesia?

The Wikipedia article on the Tyndale Bible has an interesting discussion on the use of the word congregation rather than church to translate ekklesia.