What was the General Outline of a Sabbath Service?
During the Second Temple period, the Sabbath services began early Saturday morning. In Palestine, they lasted until around noon, when the service broke up and everyone went home for a mid-day meal. This may also have been the custom in the diaspora, though one of our sources, Philo, indicates that the services went into the afternoon. Our early sources give us only the barest outlines of a Sabbath service. Normally, portions of the Torah would be read, followed by a passage from the Prophets. In Palestine, the reading would typically have been in Hebrew, perhaps with an Aramaic translation. In the diaspora, the recitation would have been from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. While the reading was often done by one of the synagogue leaders, ordinary Jews could also be called upon to read. Following the recitations, either the reader or one of the other members of the synagogue would make an interpretive comment. Others in the congregation would then be free to
During the Second Temple period, the Sabbath services began early Saturday morning. In Palestine, they lasted until around noon, when the service broke up and everyone went home for a mid-day meal. This may also have been the custom in the diaspora, though one of our sources, Philo, indicates that the services went into the afternoon. Our early sources give us only the barest outlines of a Sabbath service. Normally, portions of the Torah would be read, followed by a passage from the Prophets. In Palestine, the reading would typically have been in Hebrew, perhaps with an Aramaic translation. In the diaspora, the recitation would have been from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. While the reading was often done by one of the synagogue leaders, ordinary Jews could also be called upon to read. Following the recitations, either the reader or one of the other members of the synagogue would make an interpretive comment. Others in the congregation would then be free to
