Synagogue

A place where Jewish people meet together to read the Old Testament and worship God. Synagogue can refer to the building in which they meet and to the people who meet there. Many historians believe that synagogues began after the Jewish people were taken into exile in Babylonia in 597 BC. Since they had no temple, they began to gather together on the Sabbath to read and worship. By New Testament times, synagogues were common throughout the Mediterranean area, wherever there were ten or more Jewish families in a city. Most synagogues were simple buildings, unlike the temple in Jerusalem. Each synagogue had a wooden chest in which the Old Testament scrolls were kept wrapped in a linen cloth. Those who read from the scrolls stood on some kind of platform. Jesus and Paul regularly attended synagogue.

The people usually sat on benches along the walls. Sometimes there was a gallery or balcony where the women sat. Some scholars think that in some synagogues women were seated on one side and men on the other, or women were seated in a separate room. In some areas, women may not have been permitted in the synagogue.