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“For
where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew
18:20)
The
word “Church” is a commonly used word among English-speaking
Believers (and non Believers). Let us have a look at what this word
really means and how we should translate it and use it among
Hebrew-speaking people.
The
word really originates from the Hebrew verbs kahal
(lhq), “to assemble” and
Kaanes (snk),
“to gather, congregate or meet”. Another common term used is edaah (hd[),
again meaning “assembly” or “gathering”. These terms are
extensively used in the Old Testament (see Genesis 49:6; Ezra 10:12;
Leviticus 8:3). Another phrase commonly used is Kahal
Israel or Edaat Bney-Israel
(larvy-ynb td[ - larvy lhq),
meaning “Assembly of Israel” or “Congregation of Israel”. (see 1
Kings 12:3; Leviticus 19:2). This term was normally used on special
occasions or when the people had to gather during the annual feasts.
The
English word “church” is actually derived from the Greek adjective kyriakos, as used in kyriakon
doma or kyriake oikia,
meaning the “Lord’s House” or “a place of public
worship”. In the New Testament however, the word “church” renders
the Greek ekklesia, which
mostly designates a local congregation of Believers and never a
building. Although we often use the word ekklesia
collectively (e.g. “the early church”) it is never used in this way
in the New Testament. It was mainly used for the public assembly of the
citizens duly summoned. This is the word which was used among the Jews
at the time to designate “the assembly of Israel”.
In modern Hebrew the word knesiya
(hysnk), which is derived form the word kaanes
(snk), literally means “gathering” and is commonly
used as the equivalent to the English word “church”.
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Unfortunately it is also used in the same way to
designate the building rather than the true Biblical meaning of “the
people assembled with Yeshua in the midst”
(it is important to remember that the “Church” is not synonymous
with “the people of God”, it is rather an activity
of “the people of God”).
The association of the word knesiya
in the minds of Israelis (secular and religious) is of crosses, priests,
large cathedrals, the Pope, crusades, the Inquisition, torture,
persecution and the Holocaust. This is not a positive image (to say the
least) and, as true followers of Yeshua, we should avoid this word like
the plague in any conversation with Hebrew speakers (especially in
Israel) if we want to stand any chance of having a productive
conversation, leading a person to the true Messiah of Israel.
Better
words to use are asefa (hpsa) meaning “meeting” (used in a similar way to
our English word “service”), or kehilla
(hlyhq), meaning “assembly”.
Finally,
sensitivity is of the utmost important to the Believer, as our words do
leave a lasting impact on our audience. It is important to understand
the cultural and historical association of different words and terms to
allow us to have a true anchor in the heart of a society which is still
in darkness. A lot of damage has been done over the last two thousand
years by those who claimed to follow Yeshua but did not express the love
and compassion that He had for His people. Therefore we have to be like
Saul: “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those
under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not
under the law), so as to win those under the law.” (1 Corinthians
9:20).
(Gil
Alon, BMJA member, Egham)
Contact Gil at : GilsMiniUlpan@bmja.net |
