Assemble

Assemble - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

ASSEM'BLE, v.t. [L. simul.]

To collect a number of individuals or particulars into one place, or body; to bring or call togethe; to convene; to congregate.

ASSEM'BLE, v.i. To meet or come together; to convene, as a number of individuals.

Assembly - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

ASSEM'BLY, n.

1. A company or collection of individuals, in the same place; usually for the same purpose.

2. A congregation or religious society convened.

3. In some of the United States, the legislature, consisting of different houses or branches, whether in session or not. In some states, the popular branch or House of Representatives is denominated an assembly. [See the constitutions of the several states.]

4. a collection of persons for amusement; as a dancing assembly.

5. A convocation, convention or council of ministers and ruling elders delegated from each presbytery; as the General Assembly of Scotland or of the United States.

6. In armies, the second beating of the drum before a march, when the soldiers strike their tents.

7. An assemblage. [Not in use.]

Congregation - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

(Heb. kahal), the Hebrew people collectively as a holy community (Num. 15:15). Every circumcised Hebrew from twenty years old and upward was a member of the congregation. Strangers resident in the land, if circumcised, were, with certain exceptions (Ex. 12:19; Num. 9:14; Deut. 23:1-3), admitted to the privileges of citizenship, and spoken of as members of the congregation (Ex. 12:19; Num. 9:14; 15:15). The congregation were summonded together by the sound of two silver trumpets, and they met at the door of the tabernacle (Num. 10:3). These assemblies were convened for the purpose of engaging in solemn religious services (Ex. 12:27; Num. 25:6; Joel 2:15), or of receiving new commandments (Ex. 19:7, 8). The elders, who were summonded by the sound of one trumpet (Num. 10:4), represented on various occasions the whole congregation (Ex. 3:16; 12:21; 17:5; 24:1).

After the conquest of Canaan, the people were assembled only on occasions of the highest national importance (Judg. 20; 2 Chr. 30:5; 34:29; 1 Sam. 10:17; 2 Sam. 5:1-5; 1 Kings 12:20; 2 Kings 11:19; 21:24; 23:30). In subsequent times the congregation was represented by the Sanhedrim; and the name synagogue, applied in the Septuagint version exclusively to the congregation, came to be used to denote the places of worship established by the Jews. (See [124]CHURCH.)

In Acts 13:43, where alone it occurs in the New Testament, it is the same word as that rendered "synagogue" (q.v.) in ver. 42, and is so rendered in ver. 43 in R.V.

Congregation - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

CONGREGATION, n.

1. The act of bringing together, or assembling.

2. A collection or assemblage of separate things; as a congregation of vapors.

3. More generally, an assembly or persons; and appropriately, an assembly of persons met for the worship of God, and for religious instruction.

4. An assembly of rulers. Num 35.

5. An assembly of ecclesiastics or cardinals appointed by the pope; as the congregation of the holy office, _c. Also, a company or society of religious cantoned out of an order.

6. An academical assembly for transacting business of the university.

Gather - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

GATH'ER, v.t.

1. To bring together; to collect a number of separate things into one place or into one aggregate body.

Gather stones; and they took stones,and made a heap. Gen 31.

2. To get in harvest; to reap or cut and bring into barns or stores. Lev 25:20.

3. To pick up; to glean; to get in small parcels and bring together.

Gather out the stones. Isa 62.

He must gather up money by degrees.

4. To pluck; to collect by cropping, picking or plucking.

Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Mat 7.

5. To assemble; to congregate; to bring persons into one place. Ezek 22:19.

6. To collect in abundance; to accumulate; to amass.

I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings. Eccl 2.

7. To select and take; to separate from others and bring together.

Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen. Psa 106.

8. To sweep together.

The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind. Mat 13.

9. To bring into one body or interest.

Yet will I gather others to him. Isa 56.

10. To draw together from a state of expansion or diffusion; to contract.

Gathering his flowing robe he seemed to stand,

In act to speak, and graceful stretch'd his hand.

11. To gain.

He gathers ground upon her in the chase.

12. To pucker; to plait.

13. To deduce by inference; to collect or learn by reasoning. From what I hear I gather that he was present.

After he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Acts 16.

14. To coil as a serpent.

To gather breath, to have respite.

GATH'ER, v.i. To collect; to unite; to increase; to be condensed. The clouds gather in the west.

1. To increase; to grow larger by accretion of like matter.

Their snow ball did not gather as it went.

2. To assemble. The people gather fast.

3. To generate pus or matter. [See Gathering.]

Meeting - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

MEE'TING, ppr. Coming together; encountering; joining; assembling.

MEE'TING, n. A coming together; an interview; as a happy meeting of friends.

1. An assembly; a congregation; a collection of people; a convention. The meeting was numerous; the meeting was clamorous; the meeting was dissolved at sunset.

2. A conflux, as of rivers; a joining, as of lines.

a-sem'-bli (qahal; ekklesia): The common term for a meeting of the people called together by a crier. It has reference therefore to any gathering of the people called for any purpose whatsoever (Ex 12:6; Ps 22:16 the King James Version; Ps 89:7 the King James Version; Ac 19:32,41). The solemn assemblies of the Jews were their feasts or religious gatherings of any kind (Isa 1:13). The word paneguris, "a general festal assembly" (Heb 12:23), is transferred from the congregation of the people of Israel to the Christian church of which the congregation of Israel was a figure. In the same passage, ekklesia has the sense of calling, summoning. In classical Greek ekklesia was the name for the body of free citizens summoned by a herald. In this sense the church calls all the world to become identified with it. It denotes the whole body of believers, all who are called. Or it may refer to a particular congregation or local church (sunagoge, "synagogue" Jas 2:2 the Revised Version, margin). See CALLING; CHURCH; CONGREGATION.

Jacob W. Kapp

kon-gre-ga'-shun (qahal, `edhah).

1. Terms Employed:

These two words rendered by "congregation" or "assembly" are used apparently without any difference of sense. They appear to include an assembly of the whole people or any section that might be present on a given occasion. Indeed, sometimes the idea appears to correspond closely to that conveyed by "horde," or even by "crowd." `Edhah is once used of bees (Jud 14:8). It has been sought to distinguish the two words by means of Le 4:13, "if the whole `edhah of Israel err, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the qahal." The qahal would then be the smaller body representing the whole `edhah, but the general usage is not favorable to this view (compare e.g. Ex 12:19, "cutting off from the `edhah of Israel," with Nu 19:20, "cutting off from the qahal"). The idea denoted by these words is said by Wellhausen to be "foreign to Hebrew antiquity," though it "runs through the Priestly Code from beginning to end" (Prolegomena 78). Yet it is Deuteronomy that presents us with laws excluding certain classes from the qahal, and the word is also found in Ge 49:6; Nu 22:4 (the Revised Version (British and American) "multitude"); De 5:22; 9:10; 31:30; Jos 8:35; 1Sa 17:47; 1Ki 8:14; Mic 2:5, and other early passages, while `edhah occurs in 1Ki 12:20 (see further, Eerdmans, Das Buch Exodus, 80 f). On the other hand taste and euphony appear to be responsible for the choice of one or other of the words in many cases. Thus the Chronicler uses qahal frequently, but `edhah only once (2Ch 5:6 = 1Ki 8:5).

2. Legal Provisions:

Moses provided for the summoning of the congregation by trumpets (Nu 10:2-8). For the sin offering to be brought if the whole congregation erred, see Le 4:13-21.

De 23:1-8 (in Heb 2-9) excludes bastards, Ammonites and Moabites from the assembly, even to the tenth generation, while Edomites and Egyptians were admitted in the third. Those who suffer from certain physical defects are also excluded.

3. Other Terms:

One other word must be noted, mo`edh. It occurs often in the phrase 'ohel mo`edh ("tent of meeting"; see TABERNACLE). But in Nu 16:2 we find it used of certain princes who were "men of renown called to the assembly."

For atsereth, rendered by the Revised Version (British and American) "solemn assembly", see FEASTS. On miqra', see CONVOCATION.

Harold M. Wiener

gath'-er ('acaph, qabhats; sullego, sunago):

"Gather," transitive "to bring together," "collect," etc., and intransitive "to come together," "assemble," etc., occurs frequently and represents many Hebrew and Greek words. It is the translation of 'acaph, "to bring together," in Jos 6:9, the King James Version margin "gathering host"; Ps 27:10, the King James Version margin "The Lord will gather me"; compare Nu 12:14,15; Isa 52:12 King James Version margin. The phrases "gather thee unto thy fathers," "gathered unto his fathers," "gathered into the grave," etc., are frequently used for "to die" and "death" (Ge 25:8,17; 49:29,33; De 32:50; 2Ki 22:20; 2Ch 34:28; Job 27:19; compare Jer 8:2), etc.; qabhats, "to take or grasp with the hand," is frequently used of the Divine "gathering" or restoration of Israel (De 30:3,1; Ne 1:9; Ps 106:47; Isa 43:5, etc.; Eze 20:34, etc.; Ho 8:10; Mic 2:12; Ze 3:19,20; Zec 10:8,10); figuratively, Isa 40:11, "He shall gather the lambs with (the Revised Version (British and American) "in") his arm" (compare Ps 27:10 King James Version margin); sometimes it denotes bringing together for punishment or destruction (Mic 4:12), "He hath gathered them as the sheaves to the threshing-floor."

In the New Testament we have sullego, "to lay together," "to collect" (Mt 13:28,29,30,40,41,48); sunago "to lead or bring together," "to gather," "to collect" (Mt 25:26, "seek returns"; Joh 4:36, "fruit unto life eternal"); episunago, "to lead or bring together" (Mt 23:37, "even as a hen gathereth her chickens"); anakephalaioomai, "to sum up under one head," "to recapitulate" (Eph 1:10, "that he might gather together in one all things in Christ," the Revised Version (British and American) "to sum up all things in Christ"; compare Eph 2:14; in Ro 13:9 the passive is translated "be briefly comprehended," the Revised Version (British and American) "summed up").

"To gather," in the sense of "to infer," occurs in Ac 16:10 as the translation of sumbibazo, "to bring together" (here, in mind), "assuredly gathering," the Revised Version (British and American) "concluding" (compare 9:22, "proving").

Gatherer occurs in Am 7:14 as the translation of bolec, from balac, to cultivate figs or sycamores, "a gatherer of sycamore fruit," the Revised Version (British and American) "a dresser of sycomore-trees" ("a nipper of sycomore figs, i.e. helping to cultivate a sort of figs or mulberries produced by the real sycamore tree" (used only by the poorest), which requires nipping in the cultivation, perhaps an occupation of shepherds; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) vellicans sycamnia).

Gathering is the translation of episunagoge, "leading together unto" (2Th 2:1), "our gathering together unto him"; in 1Co 16:2 we have "gathering" (logia from lego) in the sense of a collection of many, the Revised Version (British and American) "collection," as the King James Version in 1Co 16:1.

"Gather," etc., occurs frequently in Apocrypha, e.g. "will gather us out of all the nations," sunago (Tobit 13:5); "gather them together" (1 Macc 9:7; 10:8); "Gather together our dispersion," episunagage ten diasporan hemon (2 Macc 1:27); "gathered to his fathers" prosetethe pros ton laon autou, the Revised Version (British and American) "people" (Judith 16:22; Bel and the Dragon verse 1, tous pateras; 1 Macc 2:69); "gathering up briefly," the Revised Version (British and American) "gather," suntemno (2 Macc 10:10); "gathering" in the sense of a collection of money (2 Macc 12:43), the Revised Version (British and American) "collection."

Among the changes in the Revised Version (British and American) we have "hold firm" for "gather" (Jer 51:11); "Gather thee together" for "Go one way or other" (Eze 21:16 margin, "Make thyself one"); for "gather blackness" (Na 2:10), "are waxed pale "; for "or gather together" (Job 11:10), "and call unto judgment," margin Hebrew "call an assembly"; for "even as a hen doth gather her brood" (Lu 13:34) "gathereth her own brood"; for "as the partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not," the American Standard Revised Version has "that sitteth on eggs which she hath not laid," margin "gathereth young which she hath not brought forth," text of the English Revised Version and the King James Version margin (Jer 17:11).

W. L. Walker

Definition

The term “assembly” usually refers to a group of people who come together for some reason, often to discuss problems, give advice, or make decisions. An assembly can be a group that is organized in an official and somewhat permanent way, or it can be a group of people who come together temporarily for a specific purpose or occasion.

Old Testament

• In the Old Testament there was a special kind of assembly called a “sacred assembly” in which the people of Israel would gather to worship Yahweh.
• Sometimes the term “assembly” referred to the Israelites in general, as a group.

New Testament

• In the New Testament, an assembly of 70 Jewish leaders in major cities such as Jerusalem would meet to judge legal matters and to settle disputes between people. This assembly was known as the “Sanhedrin” or the “Council.”

Translation Suggestions

• Depending on the context, “assembly” could also be translated as “special gathering” or “congregation” or “council” or “army” or “large group.”
• When the term “assembly” refers generally to the Israelites as a whole, it could also be translated as “community” or “people of Israel.”
• The phrase, “all the assembly” could be translated as “all the people” or “the whole group of Israelites” or “everyone.” (See: hyperbole)
• A large gathering of enemy soldiers was sometimes also referred to as an “assembly.” This could be translated as “army.”

(See also: council)

Bible References

• 1 Kings 8:14
• Acts 7:38
• Ezra 10:12-13
• Hebrews 12:22-24
• Leviticus 4:20-21
• Nehemiah 8:1-3

Word Data

• Strong’s: H0622, H1481, H2199, H3259, H4150, H4186, H4744, H5475, H5712, H6116, H6908, H6950, H6951, H6952, G15770, G38310, G48630, G48640, G48710, G49050