Word study
Assembly
6 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: assembly, assemblies. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “assembly” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- קָהָל qâhâlassembly, convocation, congregationtranslated this way 97 times of its 119 uses · Strong’s H6951Noun · Translated: assembly 94, company 7, horde 3, mob 3Full study and all 116 verses →
Genesis 49:6 May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.
Exodus 12:6 You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
- מִקְרָא miqrâconvocation; convoking, readingtranslated this way 19 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H4744Noun · Translated: assembly 15, assemblies 4, calling 1, read 1Full study and all 21 verses →
Exodus 12:16 On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals — that is all you may do.
Leviticus 23:2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
- עֵדָה êdâhcongregationtranslated this way 15 times of its 145 uses · Strong’s H5712Noun · Translated: congregation 112, assembly 15, followers 8, company 2Full study and all 137 verses →
Leviticus 8:4 So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Numbers 16:19 When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation.
- עֲצָרָה ătsârâhassemblytranslated this way 10 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H6116Noun · Translated: solemn assembly 6, hold a solemn assembly 1, held an assembly 1, crowd 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you are to present a food offering to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.
Numbers 29:35 On the eighth day you are to hold a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.
- מוֹעֵד môêdappointed time, place, meetingtranslated this way 2 times of its 223 uses · Strong’s H4150Noun · Translated: Meeting 146, appointed feasts 20, appointed time 14, time 9Full study and all 213 verses →
- קְהִלָּה qehillâhassembly, congregationtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H6952Noun · Translated: assembly 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Deuteronomy 33:4 the law that Moses gave us, the possession of the assembly of Jacob.
Nehemiah 5:7 and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐκκλησία ekklēsíaan assembly, congregation, churchtranslated this way 5 times of its 114 uses · Strong’s G1577Noun · Translated: church 73, churches 34, assembly 5, congregation 1Full study and all 111 verses →
Acts 7:38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.
Hebrews 2:12 He says: “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing Your praises in the assembly.”
- πλῆθος plēthosa multitudetranslated this way 2 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s G4128Noun · Translated: number 5, crowd 4, multitude 4, congregation 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Acts 15:12 The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
Acts 23:7 As soon as he had said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.