Sabbath and Synagogue: The Question of Sabbath Worship in Ancient Judaism

Abstract

Sabbath worship as a communal event does not feature in the Hebrew Bible. In the context of the first century AD, according to Philo and Josephus, the sabbath gatherings took place only for the purpose of studying the law, and not for the liturgical recital of psalms or prayer. Classical authors depict Jews spending the sabbath at home. Jewish inscriptions provide no evidence of sabbath-worship in prayer-houses (proseuchai), while the Mishnah prescribes no special communal sabbath activities. The usual picture of Jews going on the sabbath to the to worship thus appears to be without foundation. It is even doubtful that there were buildings, for synagogue normally meant community. The conclusion of this study, that there is no evidence that the sabbath was a day of communal Jewish worship before 200 AD, has far-reaching consequences for our understanding of early Jewish-Christian relationships.