TR: edah -> synagoge (Congregation/Synagogue)

The Chain

Hebrew OT              LXX (Greek OT)           Greek NT
──────────────         ────────────────          ──────────
עֵדָה (edah)        →  συναγωγή (synagoge)   →  συναγωγή (synagoge)
H5712, 140x in OT      LXX co-occ: 120x         57x in NT
"congregation"          "gathering/assembly"      "synagogue"

OT Usage (Hebrew)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H5712	עֵדָה (edah)	140	congregation, assembly, company

Edah denotes the covenant community of Israel as an organized body. Concentrated in Numbers (75x) and the Pentateuch overall (102x). Used for the entire assembly addressed by Moses, the body that judges legal cases (Num 35:24–25), and occasionally rebel factions (Korah's company, Num 16).

Key OT passages: - Exo 12:3 — "Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel" — first occurrence; Passover institution - Num 27:17 — "that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd" - Psa 74:2 — "Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old"

Library entry: H5712-edah.md

LXX Bridge

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
edah (H5712)	συναγωγή (G4864)	120	32.48	Primary — 86% of edah rendered as synagoge
qahal (H6951)	συναγωγή (G4864)	36	19.13	Secondary Hebrew source; qahal more often → ekklesia
qahal (H6951)	ἐκκλησία (G1577)	—	—	The parallel bridge; see TR-qahal-ekklesia

Semantic shift in translation: The LXX synagoge faithfully preserves edah's meaning of "gathered assembly/congregation." The Greek word literally means "a bringing together" (syn + ago). In the LXX period, synagoge carried the full weight of the covenant-community concept. The shift toward a building/institution meaning ("synagogue" as a place of worship) developed during the Second Temple period, after the LXX translation.

Reverse bridge — what Hebrew words feed into synagoge:

Hebrew	Co-occ	Score
H5712 edah	120	32.48
H6951 qahal	36	19.13
H6950 qahal (verb)	17	16.73

Edah is the dominant Hebrew source for synagoge (120 vs. 36 from qahal), whereas qahal is the dominant source for ekklesia. This created a meaningful LXX distinction: edah → synagoge (the existing community) vs. qahal → ekklesia (the called-out assembly). Both Hebrew words overlap in meaning, but the LXX translators consistently distinguished them.

NT Usage (Greek)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G4864	συναγωγή (synagoge)	57	synagogue (building/institution)

By NT times, synagoge has narrowed from "the assembled congregation" to primarily mean the Jewish synagogue as a place of worship. Of 57 NT uses, the vast majority refer to the physical synagogue building.

Key NT passages: - Mat 4:23 — "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues" - Jas 2:2 — "if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring" — rare NT use of synagoge for a Christian gathering - Rev 2:9 — "the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews... and are the synagogue of Satan" — pejorative use recalling the "evil congregation" of Numbers

Library entry: TODO(need G4864 study)

Continuity and Shifts

What stays the same across testaments: - The core meaning of a gathered group of people persists from edah through synagoge - The term retains its association with the covenant community and its identity markers - Judicial/deliberative function echoes in Acts synagogue scenes (Acts 6:9, 9:2)

What shifts: - OT edah = the whole people of Israel as an organized body, portable and mobile (wilderness), with no fixed building - LXX synagoge = faithful rendering of this communal sense, still primarily about the people - NT synagoge = the institution and its building; the community aspect narrows to a local gathering place - The NT church (ekklesia, from qahal) takes over the role edah once held — the covenant assembly of God's people - Rev 2:9 and 3:9 ("synagogue of Satan") echo the OT "evil congregation" language of Numbers 14:27, 35

The Edah-Qahal / Synagoge-Ekklesia Parallel

The two Hebrew "congregation" words followed divergent Greek paths:

Hebrew	Primary LXX	NT Term	NT Concept
edah (H5712)	synagoge (G4864)	synagogue	Jewish worship institution
qahal (H6951)	ekklesia (G1577)	church	Christian covenant assembly

See TR-qahal-ekklesia.md for the parallel trace.

---

Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup) Last updated: 2026-04-29