Congregation

[kong-gri-gey-shuh n] /ˌkɒŋ grɪˈgeɪ ʃən/

noun
1.
an assembly of persons brought together for common religious worship.
2.
the act of congregating or the state of being congregated.
3.
a gathered or assembled body; assemblage.
4.
an organization formed for the purpose of providing for worship of God, for religious education, and for other church activities; a local church society.
5.
the people of Israel. Ex. 12:3,6; Lev. 4:13.
6.
New Testament. the Christian church in general.
7.
Roman Catholic Church.

8.
(at English universities) the general assembly of the doctors, fellows, etc.
9.
(in colonial North America) a parish, town, plantation, or other settlement.
/ˌkɒŋɡrɪˈɡeɪʃən/
noun
1.
a group of persons gathered for worship, prayer, etc, esp in a church or chapel
2.
the act of congregating or collecting together
3.
a group of people, objects, etc, collected together; assemblage
4.
the group of persons habitually attending a given church, chapel, etc
5.
(RC Church)

6.
(mainly Brit) an assembly of senior members of a university
n.

mid-14c., “a gathering, assembly,” from Old French congregacion (12c., Modern French congrégation), from Latin congregationem (nominative congregatio), noun of action from congregare (see congregate).

Used by Tyndale to translate Greek ekklesia in New Testament and by some Old Testament translators in place of synagoge. (Vulgate uses a variety of words in these cases, including congregatio but also ecclesia, vulgus, synagoga, populus.) Protestant reformers in 16c. used it in place of church; hence the word’s main modern sense of “local society of believers” (1520s).

(Heb. kahal), the Hebrew people collectively as a holy community (Num. 15:15). Every circumcised Hebrew from twenty years old and upward was a member of the congregation. Strangers resident in the land, if circumcised, were, with certain exceptions (Ex. 12:19; Num. 9:14; Deut. 23:1-3), admitted to the privileges of citizenship, and spoken of as members of the congregation (Ex. 12:19; Num. 9:14; 15:15). The congregation were summonded together by the sound of two silver trumpets, and they met at the door of the tabernacle (Num. 10:3). These assemblies were convened for the purpose of engaging in solemn religious services (Ex. 12:27; Num. 25:6; Joel 2:15), or of receiving new commandments (Ex. 19:7, 8). The elders, who were summonded by the sound of one trumpet (Num. 10:4), represented on various occasions the whole congregation (Ex. 3:16; 12:21; 17:5; 24:1). After the conquest of Canaan, the people were assembled only on occasions of the highest national importance (Judg. 20; 2 Chr. 30:5; 34:29; 1 Sam. 10:17; 2 Sam. 5:1-5; 1 Kings 12:20; 2 Kings 11:19; 21:24; 23:30). In subsequent times the congregation was represented by the Sanhedrim; and the name synagogue, applied in the Septuagint version exclusively to the congregation, came to be used to denote the places of worship established by the Jews. (See CHURCH.) In Acts 13:43, where alone it occurs in the New Testament, it is the same word as that rendered “synagogue” (q.v.) in ver. 42, and is so rendered in ver. 43 in R.V.