Synagogues were built so that the worshippers would face the right direction during

prayers. This was, as has been seen, toward Jerusalem. The Temple, however, was so

built that the worshippers faced west, with the rising sun at their backs (see Ezek.viii.16),

and it seems that some synagogues were patterned on this.

Inside the synagogue, and generally in the middle, was the bema (probably "Moses

seat" in Matt. 23: 2), an elevated platform from which was read the Law in a standing

position, whilst the address was delivered seated (Luke 4: 16, 20).

Also in the synagogue was the "Ark", a moveable box containing the Scriptures, and

in front of this the "chief seats" on which sat the elders and notables facing the

congregation. These seats were coveted by the "hypocrites" of Matt. 23: 6.

The veiled women were separated from the men, being accommodated in a gallery,

although some authorities claim that the men and women sat in opposite aisles, separated

by a low wall or lattice.

The alms chests, in which were made collections for the relief of the poor of the

district, were probably near the entrance, and it was into these that the "hypocrites" cast

their gifts with great ostentation (Matt. 6: 2).

Ten persons were required to form "a congregation" and so constitute an assembly

recognized by God, and at a later date in some larger cities, ten persons were paid so as to

be free from secular employment and always ready to form a congregation. Thus was the

"presence of God" assured. In contrast to this the reader might note the word of the Lord

to His disciples that "where two or three are gathered together (sunago) in My name,

there am I in the midst of them".

It seems strange to modern church-goers that a place of worship was used to deal with

certain offences, and that the council of elders could discipline their flock in the

synagogue, and yet it was so. The Lord warned His disciples that scourgings in the

synagogues awaited them (Matt. 10: 17), and the Apostle Paul, before his conversion, beat

believers in the synagogues where he found them (Acts 22: 19), as well as later

suffering the same himself at the hands of his own people (II Cor. 11: 24). Forty stripes

were allowed (Deut. 25: 3), but the Jews, always careful not to exceed this, reduced it to

thirty nine.

There were also degrees of excommunication which might be inflicted according to

the nature of the offence. These ranged from the lightest, which forbad intercourse with

others during a period of thirty days, after which, upon the repentance of the guilty

person, restoration was made, to the most serious, which cut the person off from all the

privileges of being an Israelite, and in effect handed them over to the judgment of God.