Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 74:8

"They said in their heart, Let us make havoc of them altogether: They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land." — Psalms 74:8 (ASV)

They said in their hearts - They purposed; they designed it.

Let us destroy them together - Let us destroy all these buildings, temples, towers, and walls at the same time; let us make an entire destruction of them all.

They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land - The phrase “they have burned up” must refer to the places or edifices where assemblies for public worship were held, since it cannot be supposed that the idea is that they had burned up the assemblies of worshippers themselves. The word rendered “synagogues” is the same in Hebrew as that used in Psalm 74:4, where it is rendered “congregations.” It means “assemblies,” persons collected together for public worship. See the notes at that verse.

This word is not used in the Bible to denote “places” for the meetings of such assemblies, nor is it elsewhere rendered “synagogues.” It is translated as “seasons” (Genesis 1:14; Exodus 13:10, and others); “set time” (Genesis 17:21; Exodus 9:5, and others); “time appointed” (Exodus 23:15; 2 Samuel 24:15, and others); “congregation” (Leviticus 1:1, 1:3, 1:5; Leviticus 3:2, 3:8, 3:13, and very often); “feasts” (Leviticus 23:2, 23:4, 23:37, and others); and “solemnity” (Deuteronomy 31:10; Isaiah 33:20). It is also rendered as set feasts, solemn feasts, appointed feasts, and so on.

But in no instance does it necessarily refer to an edifice, unless it is in the present passage. There is no reason, however, for doubting that, out of necessity, other places for assembling for the worship of God besides the temple would eventually arise.

In different cities, villages, towns, and neighborhoods, people would gather for some form of social religious service. Buildings or tents would be necessary to accommodate such gatherings. Over time, this practice might have developed into a system, leading to the establishment of “synagogues” throughout the land.

The exact origin of synagogues is not precisely known. Jahn (‘Biblical Archaeology,’ Section 344) supposes that they arose during the Babylonian captivity. He suggests their origin lies in the fact that the people, when deprived of their usual religious practices, would gather around a prophet or other devout man.

This person would teach them and their children the duties of religion, encourage them in good conduct, and read to them from the sacred books.

Compare Ezekiel 14:1; Ezekiel 20:1; Daniel 6:11; Nehemiah 8:18. There seems, however, no good reason to doubt that synagogues may have existed before the time of the captivity.

They may have arisen in the manner suggested above from the people's needs, probably at first without any fixed rule or law on the subject, but as convenience dictated. Eventually, by custom and law, they may have developed into the regular form they took as a part of the national worship. (Compare Kitto’s Encyclopedia, article ‘synagogue.’)

Therefore, I see no improbability in supposing that the word here may refer to such edifices at the time this psalm was composed. If they existed, the Chaldeans would naturally have destroyed them, as well as the temple itself.