What did the Ancients call their Synagogues?
The two most common terms used in our sources are the Greek words synagg (pronounced: syn-a-go-GAY) and proseuch (pronounced: pro-seu-KAY). The first of these is the cognate to our English word synagogue. It simply means “place of the congregation.” The term appears to have been used most often in Palestine, perhaps as a translation of the Aramaic bet kenisah (“house of the gathering”) or even the Hebrew bet mo’ed (“house of the meeting”), which shows up in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Christians encounter the underlying Greek word in their reading of Jesus’ various visits to synagogues. The second word, proseuch, means “place of prayer.” It is most often attested outside of Palestine in the diaspora. The term may derive from Jews gathering on sacred cultic days (the Sabbath, Yom Kippur, etc.) in order to offer their prayers while sacrifices were being made in the Temple. It may also have resonances with passages in Isaiah (56:7, 60:7) which refer to the Temple as a “house of prayer.” Christi
