5:11 the whole church. This is the first of more than twenty occurrences in Acts of the Greek word ekklesia, usually translated “church.” Stephen uses this word for the Old Testament “congregation” of the people (7:38). In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), the worshiping assembly of God’s people is often designated with this word. In ancient Greece, the ekklesia was the political “assembly” of citizens (19:32). The New Testament uses the word initially to refer to an organized body of believers (8:1; 11:22; 13:1).