SYNAGOGUE, THE GREAT (r61-on nolo; Aramaic, Nnon Nntm ; cuvay,,,y37 Aie-ydX7i, Syna gog-a illa„gna), the Great Assembly, or the Great .Synod, accordin,g to Jewish history, denotes the council first appointed by Nehemiah after the re turn of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity to reorganise the religious life of the people.
1. N'ame and its Signification. —Though the verb DJ:, to gather, to assemble, occurs in the O. T. (Esth. iv. 16 ; Chron. xxii. 2 ; Ezek. xxii. 2r ; xxxix. 28 ; Ps. cxlvii. 2), yet the noun non; as sembly, synagogue, does not occur in Biblical He brew. In the Hebrew Scriptures the terms 14np, r.ip and rIDION are used for congregation, assem bly [EccLEsrAsTEs], and there can be but little doubt that the non-biblical non is designedly em ployed to distinguish this assembly from all other gatherings. This is also the reason why the article is prefixed to the adjective alone, and not also to the noun—viz. ;11.%;! non, the Great Synaiogue —inasmuch as this singles it out from the other 11141:07, synagogues, provincial or local, both great and small, which obtained at the same time, and which were designed for different objects. When Ewald asserts that in the Mishna language tbe substantive and the adjective never have the article together' (Lehrbuch, sec. 293 a, note), we can only refer to Sabbath, xvii. 4 ; yoma, iv. 3 ; Taanith, iii. 7 ; Kethuboth, vi. 7 ; .A'edarim,iii. ; Nazir, viii. ; Baba Bathra, iv. 3, and to innumerable other passages in refutation of this assertion. Ac cording to the most ancient tradition, this assem bly or synagogue was styled great because of the great work it effected in restoring the divine law to its former greatness, and because of the great authority and reputation which it enjoyed gern• salem iii. 7 ; Babylon Alegilla, 13 b ; Yona, 69 b ; Embin, 13 b ; Sebachin, 102 ; San hedrin, 14 a). The enactments of the Great Syna gogue are often quoted in the name of %n??• ;61-on nt,n, the men of the Great Assembly, ot those who successively constituted its members during the long period of its existence. The abbre viated forms of these two names to be met with in Jewish literature are rrz=r6lin riti= and arroN, Yno= nrian non sometimes this assembly is also designated thc 120 elders (rIND crypt n4-03n, Megilla, 17 h, 131)).
2. Number of Members and their Classification. —We are told that Nehemiah organised the Great Synagogue (comp. Nell. x. 1-to with Midrash Ruth, cap. iii. ; 9erusalem Shelnith, v. 1), and that it consisted of 120 members gerusalem Bera choth, 4; 7,rnsalem i.; Babylon Me gilla, 17 b). In looking at the register of tbe Great Assembly recorded in Nehemiah (x. I-8), it will be seen that—i. Only 16 out of the 24 chig's the priests (1 Chron. xxiv. are enumerated, and that for the 8 that are wanting 4 private persons are given—viz. Zidkijah, Daniel, Baruch, and Meshullam. ii. Of the 6 or 7 chief Levites—viz.
Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, IIodijah, Sherebiah, Ha shabniah—who returned with Zerubbabel and Ezra (Nell. ix. 4, 5 ; Ezra v. 18, 19, 24), Bani is omitted, and 12 private individuals are mentioned who were undoubtedly the a'octors of the Lazy (n+),:n ; Neh. viii. 7 ; ix. 3). iii. Of the 45 chiefs of the people (CW1 t'll•t1) only half are known as heads of families, and the rest are again dis tinguished private individuals. Here the families of David and Joab (comp. Ezra viii. 2, 9) are missing. And iv. Of Me representatives of the cities there are only two mentioned—viz. Anathoth and Nebo—which plainly shows that others are omitted, since these two places did not at all distinguish themselves to be thus singled out. Now, in look ing at the peculiar position in whith they are placed among the heads of the people in the register of the exiles, it will be seen that the family of Hariph (Joseh) stand first ; then follow the names of thir teen cities (viz. Gibeon, Bethlehem, Netophah, Anathoth, Beth-azmaveth, Kirjath-jearim, Chephi rah, Beeroth, Ramah, Gaba, Michmas, Beth-el, and Ai) ; Nebo concludes the catalogue of the cities, and the family of Magbish follows upon it (Ezra ii. 18-3o ; Neh. vii. 24-33), which exactly corresponds with the order in the register of the Great Synagogue ; Hariph begins, then come cities, 4 e. Anathoth ; Nebai comes last, and then again Magbish (Neh. x. 19, 2o). There can, therefore, be no doubt that the above-named cities are to be inserted between Hariph and Anathoth. If we add to these 15 cities the other five specified in the register (viz. Lod, Hadid, Ono, Jericho, and Tekoa—Neh. vii. 36, 37), which were represented by this synod, we have in all twenty cities. We thus see that eight divisions of the priests are want ing—the fa.mily of Bani is missing from the Levites, seven families of the heads of the people have dis appeared—and that thirteen of the representatives of the cities have dropped out. Now, if we sup ply those which have manifestly been dropped, and add them up with the private individuals men tioned in the register, we obtain the following re presentatives in the Great Synagogue :--28 priests, consisting of the twenty-four divisions and the four private individuals ; 19 Levites, being the seven families and the twelve private persons ; so Israelites, twenty-nine being chiefs of the people and twenty-one private persons—making in all 97, with Nehemiah 98, whilst the remaining 22 are the deputations of the cities. We thus obtain the 120 members of the Great Synagog,ue mentioned by the unanimous voice of tradition. It will also be seen from the above that these 120 members re presented five classes, viz.-4 The chiefs of the priestly divisions (ZN n4z 4nn) ; The chiefs of the Levitical Families (n+4n 4;:mi) ; The.