מִקְרָא קֹדֶשׁ miqra qodesh (H4744 + H6944) is most often translated as “holy convocation” or “holy meeting.” However, מִקְרָא miqra comes from the word קְרָא qara (H7121) which means to proclaim, call out, recite, or read. The word miqra has also been translated to mean “a public reading of Scripture.” This is demonstrated in Nehemiah 8:8; “They read in the book, in the Torah of Elohim, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood in the reading (miqra)” and Joshua 8:34-35, “Afterward he read (qara) all the words of the Torah, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the Torah. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua didn’t read (qara) before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the sojourners who were among them.”
“…in the Palestinian ritual מקרא קדש (miqra qodesh) in qedushath ha-yom appears as יום מקרא קדש (yom miqra qodesh) or in the sense of “a day whose sanctity is to be proclaimed” or “a day for the reading from the Sacred Scriptures.” – Liebreich, Leon J. “The Term Miqra’qodesh in the Synagogue Liturgy.” The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 57, 1967, pp. 381–397. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1453504. Accessed 1 Aug. 2021.
During the 1st Century, teaching and the public reading of Scripture in synagogues on the Sabbath, introduced by Ezra, and detailed in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, was commonplace (cf. Mark 1:21; Mark 6:2; Luke 6:6 compare to Leviticus 23:3 and Nehemiah 8:1-4). The synagogue structure was created to fulfill the commandment to have a “holy convocation,” which is more than “going to church,” and was understood to mean “a public reading of Scripture” which had always been understood to mean the Torah and Prophets as demonstrated in Acts 13:15; After the reading of the Torah and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak.”
Luke 4:16 (Yeshua) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Acts 13:42-44 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath…The next Sabbath, almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God.
Acts 18:4 (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
The Septuagint translates מִקְרָא miqra in Leviticus 23:2 as κλητός klētos (G2822) which means to be invited or summoned as a guest to a banquet (cf. 1 Kings 1:41; Zephaniah 1:7) or to be invited, summoned, or called by or of Yeshua the Messiah (cf. Matthew 20:16; Matthew 22:14; Romans 1:1; Romans 1:6-7; Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Jude 1:1; Revelation 17:14). κλητός klētos is not to be confused with “chosen” which is the word or ἐκλεκτός eklektos (G1588) which means to be elected, picked out, or chosen. Klētos comes from the same root as the word καλέω kaleō (G2564) which means to call or invite (cf. Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 14:7-24; John 2:1-11; Revelation 19:9).
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