Is the word ekklesia ever used to describe unbelievers?

Question

Is the Greek word ekklesia ever used in scripture to denote unbelievers?

Answer 1

Short Answer: Yes.

While the root meaning of ekklesia does not inherently distinguish between believers and unbelievers, the New Testament writers primarily applied it to the community of those who follow Jesus Christ.

In the New Testament, the Greek word ekklesia is primarily used to refer to the assembly or gathering of believers, often translated as “church.” That being said, the term itself, derived from the Greek “called out ones,” does not specify the beliefs of the assembly members. However, its usage in the New Testament is almost exclusively in the context of the Christian community of faith.

Exceptions:

• Public assembly for deliberation: In Acts 19:39, ekklesia refers to a lawful assembly in the city of Ephesus where people gathered to deliberate. This was a secular use of the term, stemming from its classical Greek meaning.
• Assembly of Israelites: The Septuagint uses ekklesia to translate the Hebrew qahal, which can refer to the assembly of Israelites, as seen in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Acts 7:38 and Hebrews 2:12 reflect this usage, referring to the Israelites in the wilderness and in the Psalms, respectively.
• General gathering: In Acts 19:32 and 41, ekklesia is used to describe a confused gathering or mob, which was not an organized or lawful assembly.

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• Ekklesia means “called out” or an assembly.
• It is a neutral term without inherent spiritual or secular meaning.
• The context determines the specific nature of the assembly.
• Ekklesia can refer to any communal gathering.
• Types of assemblies can be social, political, religious, legal, or illegal.
• The reason for the assembly is not described by the term itself but by the context it’s used in.

Bible dictionaries, lexicons, and commentaries agree that ekklesia means "called out," and generally implies an assembly of people. It lacks qualitative implication to anything either carnal or spiritual. The context in which it appears must always supply the specific reason one is called out or assembled.

Again from the Interpreter's Dictionary: "Ekklesia was used primarily to designate a particular communal reality, not to describe its qualitative aspects" (ibid.). Ekklesia describes anything that might be happening within a community that requires an assembly. This assembly could be social, governmental, or religious. It could be legal or illegal. (From Forerunner Commentary)

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On a side note, the closest Hebrew equivalent to ekklesia in the Old Testament is qahal, which also means assembly or congregation. Similar to ekklesia, qahal can refer to any gathering of people, not necessarily believers or followers of God.

However, when the Old Testament was translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the word ekklesia was used to translate qahal. In this context, ekklesia could refer to the assembly of Israel, which included both believers and non-believers, as it denoted the entire community of the Israelites, not just those who were faithful to God.