Adjacent Words

Congregation definitions

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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. Numbers 35.
5. An assembly of ecclesiastics or cardinals appointed by the pope; as the congregation of the holy office, etc. Also, a company or society of religious cantoned out of an order.
6. An academical assembly for transacting business of the university.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church [syn: congregation, fold, faithful]
2: an assemblage of people or animals or things collected together; "a congregation of children pleaded for his autograph"; "a great congregation of birds flew over"
3: the act of congregating [syn: congregation, congregating]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century 1. a. an assembly of persons ; gathering; especially an assembly of persons met for worship and religious instruction b. a religious community: as (1) an organized body of believers in a particular locality (2) a Roman Catholic religious institute with only simple vows (3) a group of monasteries forming an independent subdivision of an order 2. the act or an instance of congregating or bringing together ; the state of being congregated 3. a body of cardinals and officials forming an administrative division of the papal curia

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the process of congregating; collection into a crowd or mass. 2 a crowd or mass gathered together. 3 a a body assembled for religious worship. b a body of persons regularly attending a particular church etc. c RC Ch. a body of persons obeying a common religious rule. d RC Ch. any of several permanent committees of the Roman Catholic College of Cardinals. 4 (Congregation) Brit. (in some universities) a general assembly of resident senior members. Etymology: ME f. OF congregation or L congregatio (as congregate)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Congregation Con`gre*ga"tion, n. [L. congregatio: cf. F. congr['e]gation.] 1. The act of congregating, or bringing together, or of collecting into one aggregate or mass. The means of reduction in the fire is but by the congregation of homogeneal parts. --Bacon. 2. A collection or mass of separate things. A foul and pestilent congregation of vapors. --Shak. 3. An assembly of persons; a gathering; esp. an assembly of persons met for the worship of God, and for religious instruction; a body of people who habitually so meet. He [Bunyan] rode every year to London, and preached there to large and attentive congregations. --Macaulay. 4. (Anc. Jewish Hist.) The whole body of the Jewish people; -- called also Congregation of the Lord. It is a sin offering for the congregation. --Lev. iv. 21. 5. (R. C. Ch.) (a) A body of cardinals or other ecclesiastics to whom as intrusted some department of the church business; as, the Congregation of the Propaganda, which has charge of the missions of the Roman Catholic Church. (b) A company of religious persons forming a subdivision of a monastic order. 6. The assemblage of Masters and Doctors at Oxford or Cambrige University, mainly for the granting of degrees. [Eng.] 7. (Scotch Church Hist.) the name assumed by the Protestant party under John Knox. The leaders called themselves (1557) Lords of the Congregation.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(congregations) The people who are attending a church service or who regularly attend a church service are referred to as the congregation. Most members of the congregation begin arriving a few minutes before services. N-COUNT-COLL

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 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.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Assembly, meeting, collection.