I read a little feud between bible and non-bible archaeologists some time back which basically was over the findings by the latter that there were no reliably identifiable "synagogues" in Galilee prior to the 2d century. The jesus freaks have a tendency to want to push everything into the first century but when C14 dating techniques are applied that no longer worked. As I recall in Greek the word merely suggests a place of assembly. The US senate could be a synagogue... instead of the cesspool it truly is.
Anyway, the point is that synagogues were a later addition to the mix. If there was any point at all to the OT it is that ALL religious activity was supposed to be centered in the temple IN Jerusalem. This was how the priests maintained their monopoly. A bunch of Jews "assembling" somewhere need not mean it was a religious thing. They could have been talking about what men usually talk about.
Pussy.
I always found it interesting that the Greek geographer, Pausanias, writing a century after the alleged "saul/paul" was in Corinth never found any hint that there were any jews or xtians in Corinth in the 2d century. Of course, we have later evidence of such synagogues but that really doesn't help them, does it?
Anyway, the point is that synagogues were a later addition to the mix. If there was any point at all to the OT it is that ALL religious activity was supposed to be centered in the temple IN Jerusalem. This was how the priests maintained their monopoly. A bunch of Jews "assembling" somewhere need not mean it was a religious thing. They could have been talking about what men usually talk about.
Pussy.
I always found it interesting that the Greek geographer, Pausanias, writing a century after the alleged "saul/paul" was in Corinth never found any hint that there were any jews or xtians in Corinth in the 2d century. Of course, we have later evidence of such synagogues but that really doesn't help them, does it?
