EKKLESIA = called out, called
Two other words in the ekklesia family are found in the Septuagint that are not in the New Testament: ekklesiazo the verb form “to call an ekklesia” and ekklesiastes the noun of agency “one who speaks to the ekklesia.”
ἐκκλησία G1577 in LXX#
Deuteronomy 4:10 - on the day of the ekklesia. On this occasion God commanded Moses to “gather [the verb form of ekklesia] the people before Me”
Deuteronomy 9:10 - on the day of the ekklesia
Deuteronomy 18:16 - on the day of the ekklesia
Deuteronomy 23:2 - One of illegitimate birth, and their offspring for ten generations could not
Deuteronomy 23:3 - Ammonites, Moabites and their descendents for ten generations could not
Deuteronomy 23:4
Deuteronomy 23:8 - and Edomites and their descendents for two generations could not
Deuteronomy 31:30 - At the close of the book of Deuteronomy, the song of Moses was recited “in the hearing of all of the ekklesia of Israel”
Joshua 8:35 - in the hearing of all of the ekklesia of Israel
Judges 20:2 - In the days of the Judges, when the concubine of the Levite was killed, all the leaders of the tribes came together and take their place “in the ekklesia of the people of God”
Judges 21:5 - Those who failed to come up to the ekklesia were to be put to death
Judges 21:8
1 Samuel 17:47
1 Samuel 19:20
1 Kings 8:14
1 Kings 8:22
1 Kings 8:55
1 Kings 8:65
1 Chronicles 13:2
1 Chronicles 13:4
1 Chronicles 28:2
1 Chronicles 28:8
1 Chronicles 29:1
1 Chronicles 29:10
1 Chronicles 29:20
2 Chronicles 1:3 - Solomon took the “all the ekklesia” to Gibeon where the ark was
2 Chronicles 1:5 - There the ekklesia inquired of the Lord
2 Chronicles 6:3 - Solomon blessed the ekklesia
2 Chronicles 6:12
2 Chronicles 6:13
2 Chronicles 7:8
2 Chronicles 10:3
2 Chronicles 20:5
2 Chronicles 20:14
2 Chronicles 23:3
2 Chronicles 28:14
2 Chronicles 29:23
2 Chronicles 29:28
2 Chronicles 29:31
2 Chronicles 29:32
2 Chronicles 30:2
2 Chronicles 30:4
2 Chronicles 30:13
2 Chronicles 30:17
2 Chronicles 30:23
2 Chronicles 30:24
2 Chronicles 30:25
Ezra 2:64
Ezra 10:1 - When the exiles return, as Ezra prays a “a very large ekklesia of men, women and children from Israel gathered to him”
Ezra 10:8
Ezra 10:12
Ezra 10:14
Nehemiah 5:7
Nehemiah 5:13
Nehemiah 7:66
Nehemiah 8:2
Nehemiah 8:17
Nehemiah 13:1
Job 30:28
Psalm 21:23
Psalm 21:26
Psalm 25:5
Psalm 34:18
Psalm 39:10
Psalm 67:27
Psalm 88:6
Psalm 106:32
Psalm 149:1
Proverbs 5:14
Lamentations 1:10
Joel 2:16
Micah 2:5
Conclusion
It is evident from the use of ekklesia in the Lxx that the word held a deep significance for Greek-speaking Jews. Although an ekklesia could be merely a crowd of people (I Samuel 17:47 [Lxx I Kings 17:47]) or an assembly of “evil-doers” (Psalm 26:5 [Lxx 25:5]), the “ekklesia of the LORD” was the covenantal assmbly of Israel (Deuteronomy 4:10).
This body, when assembled, worshipped God (II Chronicles 29:28,31,32), appealed to God (II Chronicles 20:5), repented to God (Joel 2:16), and made choices for the nation as whole (I Chronicles 13:2,4; Ezra 10:12 [Lxx II Esdras 10:12]).
To stand “in the midst of the ekklesia” was a significant responsibility (I Chronicles 28:2; II Chronicles 20:5).
To face shame before the ekklesia was to be avoided (Proverbs 5:14).
Not all who dwelt among the Israelites could enter the ekklesia (Deuteronomy 23:1-3, 8).
To fail to come together in the ekklesia was a serious breech of duty (Judges 21:5; Ezra 10:8 [Lxx II Esdras 10:8]). Although the ekklesia could include men, women and children (Ezra 10:1 [Lxx II Esdras 10:1]), there is no example of a woman addressing what the Lxx calls the ekklesia.
EKKLESIA in the NT
Acts 19:32 - Así que unos gritaban una cosa y otros otra, porque había confusión en la asamblea, y la mayoría no sabía por qué razón se habían reunido.
Acts 19:41 - Y habiendo dicho esto, despidió la asamblea.
Por lo tanto se ve que en el uso corriente de la palabra era aplicada a cualquier cuerpo de gente reunida con algún propósito.
The word “ekklesia” is applied to God’s people in the New Testament because it accurately describes them.
They have been “called”
from sin to holy living,
from darkness to light,
from the world into the kingdom of God.
They are not called from the world in a physical sense, but in a moral and spiritual sense. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19).
The called are God’s people, whether physically assembled or not. This called body of people has a continuing existence.
The jailer’s household was his family (Acts 16:34),
and God’s household is God’s family (1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:19).
It would be absurd to think that God has a family in any given place only when Christians are assembled for worship.
ALERT:::: (some teach this error)
THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD “CHURCH”
With the trend toward the construction of buildings for the worship of God, it is not surprising that the translators of the English King James Bible chose to translate the Greek word “ekklesia” using the English word “church.” A deep look at the etymology of the word “church” can be quite revealing.
Going back in time, the English word “church” was derived from the Old English word cirice, related to the Norwegian/Scandinavian word kirkja. This, in turn, came from the Germanic word kirka; which was derived from the Greek word Kyrite; and this, in turn, was derived from the Greek word kurio, meaning “governor,” “lord,” “master.” In Greek, Kuriake oika means “the house of the lord.”
Thus, the word church came to mean “a building set apart or consecrated for public worship” {1}
Although the English word “church” does not have its root in the Greek term ekklesia, it is used to translate ekklesia. Ekklesia is a composition of two Greek words: ek, meaning “out of,” and kaleo, meaning “to call.” Combined, the word literally means “to call out.” Ekklesia was commonly used among the Greeks in reference to a body of citizens who “gathered” to discuss the affairs of state {1}. A correct and quite appropriate translation of ekklesia is “the called out ones,” although there are times when the context demands that “assembly” or “gathering of the called out ones” be other expressions used. The word has to do with a people who are “called out of” to congregate.