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"What is a great city? That in which were ten men of leisure. If there be less than this
number, behold, it is a village."
These men of leisure, Batlanin, were so described from their being unencumbered
with worldly things. They "were at leisure only to take care of the affairs of the
synagogue". Of these men, three bore the magistracy and were called "The Bench of
Three". These were called "Rulers of the Synagogue". Then there was the Chazan, or
Bishop, of the congregation: "He oversees how the reader reads (cf. Paul's concern `give
attention to the reading,') and whom he may call out to read the law." This office is the
origin of the "Overseer", Episkopos, or Bishop, of the early church. There were also
three Deacons, or Almoners, on whom rested the care of the poor, and who were called
Parrasin, or Pastors. The reader will see how natural it was for the apostles to appoint
the seven deacons in Acts 6:
Another officer was the "Interpreter", for the law was still read in the Hebrew even
though none of the congregation understood it. Beside the Sabbath meetings, meetings
were held on the second and fifth days of the week. To this the words of Acts 13: 42
may refer, for "the next sabbath" is to metaxu sabbaton, and metaxu means "between"
and so might refer to these weekly meetings that came between the Sabbath days. It is
however only just to say that Josephus uses the word in the sense of "after" (Bel. 5: 42).
The Companions Bible reads "one of the weekly gatherings".
Entering the synagogue we should find ourselves in a building unadorned, and
differing from the heathen temples around them by the complete absence of any
sculptured figure. On one side, behind a lattice window, sit the women. In the centre is
the reader's desk, and toward the side facing Jerusalem, is the Ark which contained the
sacred scrolls. All round the building are seats so that "the eyes of all that are in the
synagogue" can be "fastened" on the speaker. The chief seats are reserved for the rulers
of the synagogue.
The service being begun, the minister calls out seven to read the law. First a priest,
then a Levite, if present, then five Israelites. Thus in some editions of the Hebrew Bible
one can still see, marked in the margin of the Law, 1st Priest, 2nd Levite, 3rd, 4th, 5th,
6th, 7th. The first lesson is then read. This is called the Parashah. Read in Hebrew, it is
translated verse by verse by the Interpreter. After the Parashah, a short portion from the
Haphtorah, which is a selection from the prophets, is read, the translation this time being
at the end of every three verses. Then comes the Midrash, or sermon. This is not
delivered by one set minister, but any qualified stranger or visitor could be invited by the
ruler of the synagogue to give a word of exhortation.
This is just what happened at Antioch, where Paul readily and eagerly responded to
the invitation of the rulers of the synagogue. The modern conception of a sermon, where
a text is made the basis of an address more or less remotely connected with it, is not the
Midrash of the synagogue. The Midrash arose naturally out of the reading of the law and
the prophets.