Words · Greek Words · Lesson 1, word 5 of 5
ἐκκλησίαekklesia
An assembly, the gathered people of God, the church.
Why this word is here. Our word 'church' in the Greek text; the Acts 19 passages where it means a town meeting are the best corrective in this whole section.
What it means
Abbott-Smith: properly, an assembly of citizens regularly convened; in the Greek Old Testament, the assembly, congregation or community of Israel; in the New Testament, an assembly or company of Christians, gatherings for worship, local communities ('the church in Jerusalem', house congregations), and the whole body of Christians (Matthew 16:18). Ekklesia is a gathering word before it is an institution word: the church is people assembled by God, locally and universally.
Where you meet it
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'On this rock I will build My church (ekklesia), and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.' The universal sense: Christ's own assembly, his building project.
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time of peace. It grew in strength and numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 9:31 (BSB)
'Then the church (ekklesia) throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time of peace.' One church, many places.
But if you are seeking anything beyond this, it must be settled in a legal assembly.
Acts 19:39 (BSB)
The Ephesus town clerk insists a matter 'must be settled in a legal assembly (ekklesia)'. Luke uses the same word for the civic body, and for the riot itself in 19:32. The word means assembly; 'church' is its Christian use, not a separate word.
Why it matters
Ekklesia keeps 'church' from meaning a building, a denomination's headquarters, or a service you attend. The New Testament word is a people gathered by God around Christ, and it can be said of a household's worth of believers and of every believer who ever lived. Both scales matter for how Christians treat their local congregation.
Watch out
The classic sermon etymology, 'ekklesia comes from ek, out, and kaleo, to call, so the church is the called-out ones', is the etymological fallacy in its most quoted form. The derivation is roughly true and the definition is wrong: Greeks used ekklesia for an assembly summoned to meet, including a riotous mob (Acts 19:32), and the word means the assembly, not the act of being called out. The church's called-out identity is real doctrine (1 Peter 2:9), but it is not what this word, by itself, says.
In this lesson
- logos (λόγος): A word, saying, message, and the Word made flesh.
- agape (ἀγάπη): Love: the bond of God and his people, in Christ.
- pistis (πίστις): Faith: trust, belief, and faithfulness in one word.
- metanoia (μετάνοια): Repentance: a change of mind that turns the life.
Sources
- Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (1889)
- STEP Bible lexicon data (Abbott-Smith)
- SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
Review status: in-theological-review. Every Contend page passes a human theological review against the Statement of Faith before it is published as approved teaching. This section is in that queue.