G1577 — ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G1577
Original: ἐκκλησία
Transliteration: ekklēsía
Pronunciation: ek-klay-see'-ah
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: ἐκ (G1537, out of) + derivative of καλέω (G2564, to call) — "a calling out"
Occurrences: 115 unique verses, 118 tokens, 19 books
First Occurrence: Mat 16:18 — "upon this rock I will build my church"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From a compound of G1537 (ek, "out of") and a derivative of G2564 (kaleō, "to call"); a calling out, i.e. a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue or Christian community of members on earth, saints in heaven, or both). KJV: assembly, church.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 011002 — Groups and Classes of Persons — Socio-Religious - 011003 — Groups and Classes of Persons — Socio-Political

Words in 011002: ἅγιος (G40), ἀδελφός (G80), ἀδελφότης (G81), αἵρεσις (G139), ἀποσυνάγωγος (G656), ἀπόστολος (G652)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [011] Groups and Classes of Persons and Members of Such Groups and Classes

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
church	57	49.6%
churches	34	29.6%
the church	12	10.4%
of the church	8	7.0%
assembly	3	2.6%
of the churches	1	0.9%
to the church	1	0.9%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
3 John	3	21.4
Ephesians	9	5.8
1 Corinthians	21	4.8
Revelation	19	4.7
2 Thessalonians	2	4.3
Colossians	4	4.2
Philemon	1	4.0
2 Corinthians	9	3.5
1 Timothy	3	2.7
Acts	24	2.4
1 Thessalonians	2	2.2
Titus	1	2.2
Galatians	3	2.0
Philippians	2	~1.3
Romans	6	1.4
2 Timothy	1	1.2
James	1	0.9
Hebrews	2	0.7
Matthew	2	0.2

Concentration is highest in Pauline epistles and Revelation. Acts has the most raw occurrences (24x) but lower density than the shorter letters. Matthew has only 2 occurrences (both in Jesus' direct speech). The word is entirely absent from Mark, Luke, John, 1–2 Peter, 1–2 John, and Jude.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Local Congregation / Particular Church¶

The most frequent use — a specific assembly of believers in a city or region. - Acts 5:11 — "And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things." - 1 Cor 1:2 — "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus." - Acts 14:23 — "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord." - Acts 9:31 — "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified."

2. Universal / Cosmic Church¶

Christ as head over the church as his body — the totality of believers transcending any local expression. - Eph 1:22 — "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church." - Eph 5:25 — "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." - Col 1:18 — "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead." - Eph 3:21 — "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end."

3. Household Church¶

A congregation meeting in a private home — the smallest unit of ekklesia in the NT. - Rom 16:5 — "Likewise greet the church that is in their house." - 1 Cor 16:19 — "Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house." - Col 4:15 — "Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house." - Phm 1:2 — "And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house."

4. Prophetic Address: Seven Churches¶

Revelation addresses ekklesia as distinct regional assemblies receiving divine evaluation and exhortation. - Rev 1:4 — "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace." - Rev 2:1 — "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write." - Rev 2:7 — "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." - Rev 2:23 — "And all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts."

5. Historical Assembly of Israel¶

The LXX rendered Hebrew qahal (assembly) as ekklesia — the NT applies this retroactively to Israel in the wilderness. - Acts 7:38 — "This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina." - Heb 2:12 — "Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." (citing Ps 22:22) - Heb 12:23 — "To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven."

6. Secular Civil Assembly¶

In Acts 19, ekklesia refers to the pagan Ephesian civic assembly — demonstrating the word's non-religious range in common Greek. - Acts 19:32 — "For the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together." - Acts 19:39 — "But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly." - Acts 19:41 — "And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theós)	G2316	31x (27%)	"the church of God" — ownership/identity
πᾶς (pâs)	G3956	23x (20%)	"all the churches" / "whole church" — collective scope
λέγω (légō)	G3004	19x (17%)	"write what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev)
ἔχω (ĕchō)	G2192	18x (16%)	"the care of all the churches" / having charge
Χριστός (Christós)	G5547	18x (16%)	"churches of Christ" / "head of the church"
πνεῦμα (pneûma)	G4151	14x (12%)	"what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev)
γράφω (gráphō)	G1125	13x (11%)	"write to the angel of the church in..." (Rev)
κύριος (kýrios)	G2962	13x (11%)	"churches of the Lord" / in greetings
ἀδελφός (adelphós)	G80	12x (10%)	brethren in the church / Paul's address
ἀκούω (akoúō)	G191	11x (10%)	"he that hath an ear... hear what the Spirit saith"
ἄγγελος (ággelos)	G32	10x (9%)	"the angel of the church" (Rev address formula)
ἅγιος (hágios)	G40	9x (8%)	"churches of the saints" / holy community

Word Family / Cognates¶

G1537 ἐκ (ek) — "out of" — preposition forming the first element
G2564 καλέω (kaleō) — "to call" — root verb
G2821 κλῆσις (klēsis) — "calling, vocation" — cognate noun (11x)
G2822 κλητός (klētos) — "called, invited" — cognate adjective (10x)

Synonyms¶

G4864 συναγωγή (synagōgē) — assembly, gathering; the nearest formal overlap returned by search_relationships.py, though NT usage keeps synagogue and church distinct

Antonyms¶

search_relationships.py surfaced σύλλογος as a contrasting non-Strong's assembly term, but it did not return a Strong's-mapped NT antonym for G1577.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
συναγωγή (synagōgḗ)	G4864	both "assembly"	synagoge = Jewish gathering/building; ekklesia = called-out assembly; NT consistently uses ekklesia for Christian gatherings, synagoge for Jewish ones (except Jas 2:2)
αἵρεσις (haíresis)	G139	—	a sect or division within/against the ekklesia; negative counterpart

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 011002 — Socio-Religious)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Verses	Primary KJV	Key Difference
G40	ἅγιος (hágios)	219	saints, holy	The members themselves; ekklesia is the gathered body
G80	ἀδελφός (adelphós)	319	brethren, brother	Relational/kinship term for members; ekklesia is the corporate body
G81	ἀδελφότης (adelphótēs)	2	brethren, brotherhood	The kinship community as abstract concept
G139	αἵρεσις (haíresis)	8	sect, heresies	Faction/division — opposite of unified ekklesia
G656	ἀποσυνάγωγος (aposynágōgos)	3	put out of the synagogue	Exclusion from Jewish assembly
G4864	συναγωγή (synagōgḗ)	57	synagogue	Jewish assembly/building; ekklesia's counterpart

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
קָהָל (qâhâl)	H6951	66	31.39	Primary — LXX used ekklesia for Israel's assembly
עָמַד (ʻâmad)	H5975	11	6.99	"stand in the assembly" contexts
בָּרַךְ (bârak)	H1288	8	6.82	"bless in the congregation"
הָלַל (hâlal)	H1984	5	6.26	"praise in the congregation" (Ps 22:22 → Heb 2:12)

The dominant Hebrew source is H6951 (qahal), the OT word for Israel's covenant assembly. The LXX translators chose ekklesia over synagoge for qahal in many contexts, establishing a conceptual bridge that NT writers consciously employed.