Greek Ekklesia – Hebrew qahal – English Church
Ecclesia, Greek Ekklēsia, (“gathering of those summoned”), in ancient Greece, was the assembly of citizens in a city-state. Its roots lay in the Homeric agora, the meeting of the people.
As an Italian proverb says, “To translate is to betray” (traduttore, traditore). This is even more true when translations become traditional, fixed, and sacred. People can think that a translation is the original, but a translation is never a substitute for the original. In modern English, the noun ‘church’ has a range of meanings. It primarily refers to a building for public worship, while at other times it is synonymous with Christianity, in the sense of the church universal. Finally, it can mean a denomination. Significantly, none of these meanings correspond to the Greek word ekklēsia, traditionally translated ‘church.’ In the Septuagint (or LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, the Greek ekklēsia translates the Hebrew קְהַ֖ל (qahal), which means ‘assembly’ or ‘gathering.’ See Judges 20:2 which best illustrates the meaning of the Hebrew word qahal.
The fifth century Cappadocian Christians called their communities Kyriakos oikos (the Lord’s house). The Goths or the Germanic tribe rendered Kyriakos oikos as “ciric”. In old English that became “kerk”, and then in modern English “church” or in German, “Kirche”. In the King James translation of the Old Testament, for the word qahal, the translators consistently employed the English word “assembly,” while in the New Testament they used “church.” Thus, they obscured the connection between qahal—ekklesia and the word’s Jewish roots. New Testament usage follows the Septuagint and, due to the convoluted explanation above, ekklesia came to be translated into English by the word “church”, not “gathering” or “assembly”.
Nature and dignity 