From class notes and lectures of Dr. Everett Ferguson
Lane
WHAT DOES THE WORD EKKLESIA MEAN?
ἐκκλησίαι
“ When you come together as a church.”
( I Cor. 11:18)
The English word “church” derives from the Greek adjective “the Lord’s” (kyriakos)1 The word entered northern European languages from the Goths, who heard this Greek word applied to church buildings (the Lord’s house) and appropriated the word into their language. In Germany kirche and in Scotland “Kirk” are the parallel words. The use of the word “church” for a building is proper in English but this is not true in Greek.
The Greek word translated “church” is ekklesia. Its basic meaning was “assembly” referring to what was done and not where it was done. The popular use of the word deriving from “called out” is not supported by the actual usage of the word. The emphasis was on the concrete act of assembly, not the separation from others. The New Testament reflects the important stages in history of the word’s usage as well as the distinctive content of the word.
Ekklesia was used of any assembly, but its primary use in classical Greek was for the assemblies of the citizens of a Greek city. In the direct democracy of the Greek-city-states, many decisions that in modern representative democracies are made by elected legislative and judicial bodies were made in meetings of all the citizens, who comprised only a small percentage of the inhabitants of a city. The secular Greek usage is employed by Luke in his account of the riot at Ephesus in Acts 19. The mob gathered in the theater is called an ekklesia (Acts 19:32, 40). The city clerk contrasted that irregular gathering with the “regular assembly,” the lawful, duly called meeting of the citizens (Acts 19:39).
The Jews adopted this Greek word to describe the assemblies of Israel, including those at some of the great moments of salvation history (Deut. 9:10; 23: 2-4, 9; 31:30; Josh. 8:35; I Kings 8:14; I Chron 28:8; Neh. 8:2). The people are sometimes called “the assembly of the Lord” (Neh. 13:1), “assembly of the people of the Lord” (Judg. 20:2), “ assembly of the people” (Ps. 107:32), or “assembly of the holy ones” (Ps. 149:1). Ekklesia was used exclusively to translate the Hebrew equivalent qahal, but was not the only word used to render that Hebrew root. Another word used to translate the Hebrew word qahal was synagogue, most often used to translate the Hebrew word for “congregation,” edhah. In the separate development of Judaism and Christianity synagogue became the Jewish word and ekklesia the Christian word for gathered people, but in an early Jewish Christian context both words could be used without difference of meaning (James 2:2 synagogue and James 5:14 ekklesia). It is disputed whether the references to the assemblies of Israel give to ekklesia the connotation of “people of God” in Jewish usage. An actual assembly seems all that can be certainly inferred from the usage, even in later Jewish times. So it would seem that the word did not have a technical sense for the “people of God,” and the most that can be said is that it may have acquired this connotation through association. Nonetheless, ekklesia is reflected in Luke in his reference in Stephen’s speech to Moses “in the congregation [assembly] in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38).
Paul on occasion used ekklesia in its concrete sense of an actual assembly to refer to the meetings of Christians. This usage is particularly clear in his references to the assemblies of Christians at Corinth — “when you come together as a church” (I Cor. 11:18, the ekklesia or formal assembly). The same usage can be found “in church I would rather speak five words with my mind” (I Cor. 14:19), and “women should be silent in the churches” (Ist Cor. 14:34; cf. 14:35, that is in the formal assembly). At other times, he refers to those people who assemble, whether the whole church, as at Corinth ( 1 Cor. 14:23), or a smaller group, as in a house church (Rom. 16:5; Philem. 2). From this, it is natural to use ekklesia for the people, whether assembled or not. The great majority of instances of the word are in reference to a local church, hence the use of the plural for churches in a given region (I Cor. 16:1,9 ; Gal. 1:2, 22; Acts 15:41; 16: 4-5). The use of the word for people who customarily assemble but whether assembled or not shows that it had become a technical term. Connotations from the Jewish background in reference to God’s people prepared for this usage if it (the usage) did not already anticipate it.
Less frequently, ekklesia is used in a universal sense for all believers (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 1:22: Con. 1:18). The universal sense is in keeping with the Old Testament usage, which most often referred to the meetings of the whole nation of Israel. Whether the local or universal sense came first is in some respects a false alternative. Although Paul’s usage for the local assemblies occurs first in our surviving literature, the Jerusalem church presumably referred to itself as ekklesia, so from the beginning the first local church was itself a universal church. The idea of assembly is not lost even in the extension of the word to the universal people of God, for in the background is the assembly of all the saved, which is described by different but kindred expressions (2 Thess. 2:1; Matt. 24:31). We even have the final assembly or gathering mentioned in Heb. 12:23. There will be a time when the universal church is in assembly (all the saved), when the Lord comes again.
Since the word “assembly” in itself says nothing about the nature of the assembly, often descriptive phrases are added to the word in order to characterize the Christian assembly. These phrases do not give names to the church in an official sense but are descriptions of the nature of the church. Sometimes the qualifying phrases refer to the Christians who compose the church. This may be a geographical location: “ the church of the Thessalonians,” then further identified as “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus” (I Thess. 1:1 2 Thess. 1:1). Or the geographical location may be in the secondary position: “the church of Judea” (I Thess. 2:14). Or description may have to do with the nature of the people who make up the assembly: “all the churches of the Gentiles: (Rom. 16:4); “ the assembly of the firstborn ones who are enrolled in heaven” (Heb. 10:23).
More often the qualifying phrase used with ekklesia relates to the church of God or to Christ: “the church of God” (I Cor. 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; Gal. 1:13; I Tim. 3:5, 15), “ churches of God” (I Cor. 11:16; 2 Thess. 1:4); “ churches of Christ” (Rom. 16:16); “ churches of Christ” (Gal. 1:22).
The character of the Christian assembly is defined by its relation to the deity.
The designation ekklesia calls attention to the importance of meeting together for the nature of the church. By way of anticipation, it may be affirmed now that the church, by definition, is an assembly. It is the people who meet together on a regular basis. The word ἐκκλησίαι identifies the people of God as assembled. When it comes together, the church exemplifies that it is indeed the church, an assembly ( I Cor. 11:8). There are to be times in a given locality that the “whole church comes together” ( I Cor. 14:23).
The meeting of the church occurs in the name of Jesus Christ. The church meets because it is called together in Christ. The church derives its being and essence from Christ. This is so because God has acted definitively for human salvation in His death and resurrection. The Old Testament expectations centered on covenant, kingdom, and Messiah involved in a forgiven people who received the Holy Spirit. It is the community of the saved when they gather or assemble.
The k sound became ch, and the vowels were run together.