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synagogue THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 214
gogues. ' Thus there was one in Antioch in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 14), Iconium (ib. xiv. 1), Thessalonica (ib. xvii. 1), Berea (ib. xvii. 10), Athens (ib. xvii. 17), Corinth (ib. xviii. 4), Ephesus (ib. xviu. 19); there were several in Damascus (ib. ix. 2, 20), Salamis in Cyprus (ib. xiii. 5), Alexandria (Philo, Opera, ed. Mangey, ii. 565), Rome (ib. ii. 568-569), and certainly in Antioch in Syria, since the one which Josephus mentions (War, VII., iii. 3) was the chief synagogue. These were built within the cities, and so far as possible on the highest point and in such a way that the roof was above the roofs of the dwelling-houses; or it might happen that one was built upon the shore of a lake, the sea, or on the bank of a river. The Tosephta demands that the entrance be on the east side, after the pattern of the door of the Tabernacle; but this was not strictly carried out, and the matter was often determined by the varying circumstances. The individual turned himself for prayer toward the Holy of Holies, or, if he was not in Jerusalem, toward Jerusalem or toward Palestine. It was not prescribed that the synagogue should have a roof, and as late as the fifteenth century there were in the orient synagogues in which, as a rule, worship was conducted under the open sky. Of the internal arrangement only the following items are known. The holy ark or chest containing the holy books was opposite the entrance. The manuscripts of the law used in the reading, as also that of Esther used at the feast of Purim, had and still have the form of rolls, which was the customary form for books for the Jews from antiquity even down into the Christian era. The bema, or elevated platform in the midst of the synagogue from which the reading was conducted, is indeed not mentioned in the New Testament, but was doubtless already in use in the times of Christ (cf. Neh. viii. 4). The congregation sat (Matt. xxiii. 6; James ii. 3; Philo, ed. Mangey, ii. 458, 630), except during prayer (Matt. vi. 5; Mark xi. 25); he also sat who expounded the Scriptures (Luke iv. 20). But he who read the Scripture lesson stood, as did the one who rendered the passage into Aramaic. Neither Old Testament nor New nor earlier Jewish tradition knows of a separate part of the synagogue for women; the passage so often cited from Philo (ed. Mangey, ii. 476) is in the much later De vita contemplativd. The construction and care of the building were the affair of the congregation, though a private individual of wealth might assume the expense (cf. Luke vii. 5).
The administration was under the control of the religious community, which in Palestine coincided with the political body (non-Jews having no participation in either), and was under the control of elders. Officers named in the New Testament are: the ruler, Gk. archisynagogos (Luke
tures to the reader and replaced them in their receptacle, cared for the cleansing of the structure and its lighting, inflicted punishment by stripes (this taking place in the synagogue, Matt. x. 17, xxiii. 34; Mark xiii. 9), but it is not certain that he had the office of teacher of children. Alms were given at the door of the synagogue. Whether there was a special officer to care for this in the time of Christ is not known. The shaliah zibbur, " deputy," was probably not a special officer, but the duties were probably assumed at special times by such as would undertake them (cf. on the subject E. Sehiirer, Die Gemeindeverfassung der Juden in Rom in der Kaiserzeit, Leipsie, 1879).
II. The Service: In order that this should take the character of public worship, the attendance of not less than ten men was required, and from these one was chosen as leader. The charac-
r. Shema, ter of the service was that of common Benediction, prayer offered by a people deprived of
Shemoneh political-independence, but united upon 'Esreh, the Torah delivered . at Sinai and reo-
Prayers. ognizing as the one living God him who had given that Torah. The liturgical effect was that of an act of confession. For the form of prayer the Psalms were the pattern, though the verse form is often displaced by prose; by the Middle Ages a large number of what may be called " forms of prayer " had developed, yet it must not be supposed that in the ancient period anything like a set form had arisen, although the outline was settled. An important part of the service was the recitation of the shema' (so called from its initial word), which comprised three passages: Dent. vi. 4-9, xi. 13-21; Num. xv. 37-11. The first and sec ond of these are taken to enjoin the use of Tephillin (q.v.). The recitation of the shema, in which all joined, was preceded by two benedictions and fol lowed by a third. At the beginning of the second century the chief prayer of the synagogue was the Shemoneh `esreh, "eighteen (benedictions)," said to have come down from the time of Ezra and to have received their final redaction from Simeon ha-Pa koli e.110 A.D. In Babylonia nineteen benedictions were used, the nineteenth against the " heretics " attributed to Simeon the Little. The recitation of the Shemoneh `esreh was enjoined on all Israelites -women, children, and slaves-three times daily (after Dan. vi. 10), viz., in the morning, at the time of the afternoon offering (i.e., about three o'clock), and at evening. A fourth daily prayer, was directed for those days when the. law prescribed an offering additional (Hebr. musaph) to those usual. This ad dition was for the most part connected with the morning .service, while on the Day of Atonement (see ATONEMENT, DAY OF) and fast-days a fifth time of prayer was added. Great importance was at tached to the response to the benediction made by the people in the Amen (see LITURGICS, III., 1), by which they made the words of the leader their own. The priestly blessing was, according to Num. vi. 22-26, to be bestowed by the descendants of Aaron as often as an assemblage of Israelites for worship gave opportunity. For this purpose the priest took up his station between the bazzan (see above, I.,
