Synagogue - Etymology and Translations

Etymology and Translations

The use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, קהל kahal. In modern Hebrew a synagogue is called either a בית כנסת beyt knesset, meaning "house of assembly"; בית תפילה or beyt t'fila (also written as bet tepilla ), meaning "house of prayer", in Yiddish שול shul, from the German for "school," and in Ladino אסנוגה esnoga. In the Hebrew term bet tepilla Beth means "house" and tepilla (תפילה) means "prayer". "Beth Tepilla" is derived from the cognate verb, "hitpallel" (פּליל) which is also spelled as pa^li^yl (pronounced: paleel) which implies "estimate, judge, render a verdict" thus "hitpallel" means "to pray" or "to seek a judgment for oneself" or "to plead". Here the underlying meaning of "tepilla" or "prayer" is a conception of petitionary prayer that has a sense of judgment or a "plea" in the court of judgment. This reduces the word root to *P*L*L as "intervene, interpose" and the act of intervention is an act of *P'LiLah*. (Note: the first two letters of the word "plea" are also PL). The Hebrew cognate word "hitpallel" gives a rendering to Beth Tepilla or synagogue as a "house of prayer" or as a "house to plead".