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[Moses] required [theJews] to assemble in the same place on these seventh days,
and sitting together in a respectful and orderly manner hear the laws read so that none
should be ignorant of them. And indeed they always assemble and sit together, most of them
in silence except when it is the practice to add something to signify approval of what is
read. But some priest who is present or one of the elders reads the
holy laws to them and expounds them point by point till about the late afternoon,
when they depart having gained both expert knowledge of the holy laws and considerable
advance in piety (Philo, Hypoth. 7.1213).
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In this passage, Philo presents the priests and elders as commonly serving as teachers
within the weekly synagogue services. This passage, coupled with the famous Theodotus inscription--which mentions three generations of
priests as the archisynagôgoi of a synagogue in Jerusalem--suggests that priests
frequently functioned as synagogue leaders during the Second Temple period.
Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus
came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, "My little
daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made
well, and live."
. . . While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader's
house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?"
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of
the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe." He allowed no one to
follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue,
he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to
them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but
sleeping." And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the
child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He
took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little
girl, get up!" And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was
twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them
that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat (Mark 5:22-23,
35-43).
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The underlying Greek word in each of the offset phrases is archisynagôgos (-oi)
or "leader of the synagogue," a title also attested in the Theodotus inscription from Jerusalem.
On the sabbath day [Paul and his entourage] went into the synagogue and sat down.
After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the
synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of
exhortation for the people, give it." So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to
speak: "You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen (Acts 13:14b-16).
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In this passage, several archisynagôgoi are depicted at the head of a
synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. Note that they seem to direct the flow of the synagogue
service.
Every sabbath [Paul] would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews
and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with
proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. When they opposed
and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them,
"Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the
Gentiles." Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius
Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord,
together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became
believers and were baptized (Acts 18:4-8).
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Then all of them seized Sosthenes, the official of the
synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to
any of these things (Acts 18:17).
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In the above two passages, Crispus and Sosthenes are mentioned as archisynagôgoi
of a synagogue in Corinth. Both may be the same men mentioned as Christian converts in
Paul's correspondence with the Corinthian church (Sosthenes, 1 Cor 1:1; Crispus, 1 Cor
1:14). If so, Paul does not allude to their former titles. |