G1577 Assembly Called Out Ones 115c118
Ekklēsia (G1577), assembly, called out ones
Matthew 16:18
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Church is from the Greek word Ekklēsia (G1577). It is in the Bible 118 times. It is translated church 115 times and assembly 3 times. It means a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place. In a Christian sense, it is a gathering of Christians. Although Ekklēsia (G1577) is often translated church. The word church is of Celtic or Germanic origin. It means a circle.
In the First Century, the early believers were going to synagogues. This is why James stated in Acts 15:21.
21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Every Sabbath day, believers were to go to the Synagogue. There really was no other place to go. When Paul would go to a new city, one of the first place he would go was to a synagogue, Acts 18:18-20.
18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. 19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
However, today a synagogue is much different than it was in the First Century. There are many Jewish traditions that exist today that were not in place in the First Century. This is true of many Christian churches today. The worship of today is a conglomeration of men’s traditions. Many synagogues and churches have a similar formats that would be foreign to First Century believers. To translate Ekklēsia (G1577) church or synagogue would be improper. It is an assembly of believers. As such, Matthew 16:18 and every place the New Testament writers used Ekklēsia (G1577), a better translation would have been assembly or called out ones.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my assembly; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
This variant effects another 115 verses. These verses are not listed on this page. They can be easily identified, because these verses incorrectly uses the English word church in some form. In these verses, church should be replaced with some form of assembly or another similar word.
Note that there is 1 verse in scriptures where church is in italics. This means that the translator added the word, 1 Peter 5:13.
13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
The translation should have been:
13 The assembly that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
There is one addition place where the word church is used as part of a Greek compound word, Acts 19:37.
37 For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.
This is discussed in G2417 Sacrilege the Temple 1c1 and changes translation to:
37 For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither Sacrilege the Temple, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.
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