The most famous of all the buildings erected by Sol'o-mon, though by no
means the largest, was the temple. It is so frequently mentioned in the
Bible, and was so closely connected with the religious and secular
history, both in the Old Testament and the New, that a detailed study of
it is needed.
I. =The Three Temples.= All these stood in succession upon the same
site, and were arranged upon the same general plan.
1. _Sol'o-mon's Temple._ Built about B. C. 970, and standing until B. C.
587, when it was destroyed by the Bab-y-lo'ni-ans (2 Kings 25. 8, 9).
2. _Ze-rub'ba-bel's Temple._ After lying desolate more than fifty years
the second temple was begun about B. C. 534, under Ze-rub'ba-bel, the
ruler of the exiles returned from Bab'y-lon (Ezra 3. 8). This temple was
far inferior in splendor to the first, but soon became the object of
pilgrimage to Jews from all lands and the center of Jew'ish national and
religious life.
3. _Her'od's Temple._ The second temple having become dilapidated,
Her'od the Great undertook its restoration on a magnificent scale. The
work was begun about B. C. 20 and was not completed until A. D. 64. In
the lifetime of Je'sus it was not yet finished (John 2. 20). This temple
was destroyed by the Ro'mans under Ti'tus, A. D. 70. Its site is now
occupied partially by the Dome of the Rock, miscalled the Mosque of
O'mar, in Je-ru'sa-lem.
[Illustration]
II. =The Situation.= The city of Je-ru'sa-lem stood upon hills separated
by three valleys radiating in a fanlike order, from a point at the
southeast. Northward runs the valley of the Kid'ron; northwest the
valley of the Ty-ro'poe-on, now almost obliterated; almost westward,
with a curve northward, the valley of Hin'nom. Between the valley of the
Kid'ron and the valley of the Ty-ro'poe-on were two hills--on the north
Mount Mo-ri'ah, and a little to the south a spur of lower elevation
known as O'phel. On Mount Mo-ri'ah stood the temple, on O'phel the
buildings of Sol'o-mon's palace. Later the temple area was enlarged to
include both these hills. West of Mo-ri'ah, across the Ty-ro'poe-on
valley, was Mount Zi'on, upon which the principal part of the city
stood.
III. =The House of the Lord.= This was a building not large, but
magnificent and costly; made of stone and cedar, and decorated lavishly
with gold and precious stones. It consisted of four parts:
1. _The Porch_, a lofty tower facing the east. Two pillars, either in
the tower at the entrance or standing apart before it, are named (1
Kings 7. 21). The interior dimensions of the porch were about 30 feet
from north to south, and 15 feet east and west[14] (1 Kings 6. 3).
2. _The Holy Place_ was west of the porch, and was a chamber 60 feet
long by 30 wide, and perhaps 30 feet high. In it stood, on the north,
the table for "the showbread"--that is, the twelve loaves shown before
the Lord; on the south, the golden candlestick, or lampstand[15]; and at
the western end the golden altar of incense.
3. _The Holy of Holies_, or "the oracle" (1 Kings 6. 19, 20), was a
cube, each dimension being 30 feet. It had no windows, but received a
dim light through the veil which separated it from the adjoining room.
This place was entered by the high priest only, and on but one day in
the year, the day of atonement. The only article of furniture in the
room was the Ark of the Covenant, containing the two stone tables of the
law. The Ark doubtless was destroyed with the first temple, and in the
second and third temples its place was indicated by a marble block, upon
which the blood was sprinkled.
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE]
4. _The Chambers_ were rooms for the priests, situated around the house,
with entrance from without. They were in three stories, and were set
apart for the residence of the priests while employed in the services of
the temple. Each priest served two weeks in the year; not, however, two
weeks in succession, but six months apart, and lived at his home for the
rest of the time. In similar chambers around the old tabernacle E'li and
Sam'u-el slept (1 Sam. 3. 2, 3).
IV. The =Court of the Priests= was an open, unroofed quadrangle
surrounding the House of the Lord, but mainly in front, toward the east.
It was about 200 feet wide, north and south, by 275 feet long, east and
west, a few feet lower in elevation than the floor of the temple proper.
Here stood the great _Altar of Burnt Offering_, upon which the daily
sacrifice was offered, its site now shown under the Dome of the Rock;
and near the door to the house _the Laver_ for washing the sacrifices.
Sol'o-mon built also a great "_Sea_," or reservoir of water, standing on
the backs of twelve oxen, all of "brass," probably copper (1 Kings 7.
23-26). This was broken up by the Bab-y-lo'ni-ans, B. C. 587 (2 Kings
25. 13), and was not replaced in the later temples.
V. Around the Court of the Priests was another and larger corridor, the
=Court of Is'ra-el=, or "the men's court." In the later temples this was
320 by 240 feet in dimensions, 26 feet wide on the north and south, 24
feet wide on the east and west. The size of this court in Sol'o-mon's
temple is not given, but was probably the same as in later times. This
was the standing place of the worshipers (exclusively men) as they
witnessed the service.
VI. These were the only courts around the first temple, as the space to
the south of the last-named court was occupied by Sol'o-mon's palaces,
from which a magnificent flight of steps ascended to the temple area (1
Kings 10. 5). After these buildings were destroyed the latest temple,
that of Her'od, included their site in additional courts and buildings
for the worship. East of the Court of Is'ra-el, and a little lower,
stood the =Court of the Women=, 200 feet square, having a lattice
gallery on the western side, from which the women could look on the
services of the altar. This court was also called "the Treasury" (John
8. 20) from the gift boxes fastened upon the wall (Mark 12. 41, 42). In
each corner of this court was a room said to be 60 feet square, with an
open roof.
VII. Around all these buildings and courts, with Her'od's temple, but
not with Sol'o-mon's, was the =Court of the Gen'tiles=, an irregular
quadrangle of about 1,000 feet on each side (north 990, east 1,000,
south 960, west 1,060). The wall on the east was surmounted by a double
row of columns, and called Sol'o-mon's Porch (John 10. 23; Acts 3. 12).
The "Beautiful Gate" was from the Court of the Gen'tiles to the eastern
side of the Court of the Women (Acts 3. 1), through which the people
passed on their way to the public worship. The narrow corridor
extending entirely around the Court of the Women and the Court of
Is'ra-el was called "Chel"--that is, the sacred inclosure--and no one
except an Is'ra-el-ite was permitted to enter it. The Court of the
Gen'tiles was not regarded by the Jews as sacred, since foreigners were
allowed within it, and in its area had grown up a market for the sale of
animals for sacrifice and tables for the exchanging of foreign money.
Twice this court was purged of these desecrations by Je'sus (John 2.
13-17; Matt. 21. 12, 13).
The principal access to the temple in the time of Christ was a bridge
over the Ty-ro'poe-on valley from Mount Zi'on. Of this bridge a fragment
of one arch still remains, known as "Rob'in-son's Arch."
The immediate surroundings of the temple, in the New Testament period,
were the following: 1. On the north stood the Castle or Tower of
An-to'ni-a, erected by the Ro'mans for the control of the temple area.
2. On the east was the valley of the Kid'ron. 3. On the south and west
lay the curving valley of the Ty-ro'poe-on.