not predate the Pauline corpus. For a comment on his use of ἐκκλησία, see Du Toit, “Paulus Oecumenicus,” 134n68.
271. Schmidt, “ἐκκλησία,” 514. He notes how ἐκκλησία became a technical term transliterated into Latin, and how the church avoided describing itself as a cultic society, despite the popularity of the term. See also Trebilco, Self-designations, 166–67. See also Du Toit, “Paulus Oecumenicus.”
272. Robinson, Selected Works, 231. See also Knox, Sent by Jesus, 55.
273. O’Brien, “Church,” 90. For the same argument, see O’Brien, Colossians, 57–58. So also, Knox, Selected Works, 24, who argues that the key text is Deuteronomy 4:10. He also links the rock in Matthew 16:18 to Deuteronomy and Numbers 20:10.
274. O’Brien, “Church,” 90, argues that the whole nation is involved in Deuteronomy 4:10; 9:10; 18:16; 31:30; Judges 20:2, but that chief representatives are present in 1 Kings 8:14, 22, 55.
275. Lev 8:3, 4; Num 20:8, 10; Josh 18:1; Judg 20:1. Note that in all these cases it is a gathering of the συναγωγή. See also Jeremiah 33:9; 43:9; 1 Maccabees 6:19 (assembling the people) and 1 Maccabees 12:35 (assembling the elders).
276. Deut 31:12; 1 Chr 13:5; 15:3; 2 Chr 15:9; 24:6.
277. Deut 31:28; 1 Kgs 8:1; 1 Chr 28:1; 2 Chr 5:2, 3.
278. 2 Sam 20:14, 1 Kgs 12:21, 2 Chr 11:1.
279. Esth 4:16. See Schmidt, “ἐκκλησία,” 527–28.
280. 1 Sam 19:20.
281. 1 Sam 17:47. See O’Brien, “Church,” 89, the gathering of an army in preparation for war.
282. 2 Chr 28:14. See O’Brien, “Church,” 89, who includes this reference with 1 Samuel 17:47, although the assembly here happens after returning from battle.
283. Neh 5:7, 13; see also Mic 2:5. Giles sees Nehemiah 5:13 as a reference to Israel as “a religio-political entity” (Giles, What on Earth, 234). However, an actual assembly is summoned in 5:12. It may then be a representative assembly.
284. Summers, “Nehemiah 5:1–13,” 184–85, notes the town-meeting elements of the passage, and how this is a political gathering because it is concerned with the affairs of the polis, the city or community.
285. On covenant renewal see, for example, Levering, Ezra and Nehemiah, 158.
286. Eng: 26.
287. Ps 25:5 (Eng: 26:5). “The ‘coming together’ of an unruly and potentially dangerous crowd” (O’Brien, “Church,” 89–90). As Gray, I & II Kings, 206–7 notes, also citing Qumran, the use of ἐκκλησία in this way shows that the word does not have specifically religious connotations.
288. Craigie, Psalms 1–50, 226, notes the implicit contrast with wicked assembly in v. 5.
289. Ps 88:6 (Eng: 89:7).
290. Tate, Psalms 51–100, 409, 420.
291. Wills, “Book of Judith,” 1075, dates Judith to around 100 BC, which would fit with a widespread understanding of the Greek polis, and its extensive application outside Greece, for which see Diodorus and Dionysius.
292. Jdt 6:16, 21; 7:29; 14:6.
293. Jdt 6:16; 7:29; and 14:6 respectively.
294. Jdt 7:29; 6:21.
295. Note here use of ἐκκλησία for the assembly, and συναγωγἡ, in Numbers 13:26, further indication of overlap of terminology.
296. 1 Macc 3:13.
297. 1 Macc 4:59. See Doran, “First Book of Maccabees,” 72, noting a number of links between this passage and earlier sacred assemblies. For later associations of the festival here, see Bartlett, 1 Maccabees, 74.
298. 1 Macc 5:16. Doran, “First Book of Maccabees,” 77, notes how the Maccabees are constantly portrayed as consulting the people.
299. 1 Macc 14:19.
300. Sir 15:5.
301. Sir 31:11. For similar uses of the assembly in general, see Sir 21:17; 39:10; 44:15. A similar generalized reference can be found in Psalms of Solomon 10:6.
302. Sir 23:34.
303. Sir 38:33, and see the passage in general, Sir 38:24–34. See also Skehan and Di Lella, Wisdom of Ben Sira, 451, who underline this by noting that the craftsmen lack qualifications for the assembly.
304. Sir 33:19.
305. Sir 26:5.
306. Du Toit, “Paulus Oecumenicus,” 135–36
307. Du Toit, “Paulus Oecumenicus,” 136, does recognize this cultic occasion. Marcos, Septuagint in Context, 316, notes the Greek panegyric tradition here, but how this is still an assembly of all Israel. This underlines the mixed nature of Sirach, and the need to avoid sharp division between