unintelligible without an acquaintance with ancient customs. “This
passage,” says Burder, “seems to intimate that the custom of putting
tears into the ampullæ, or urnal lachrymales, so well known among the
Romans, was more anciently in use among the eastern nations, and
particularly the Hebrews. These urns were of different materials, some
of glass, some of earth; as may be seen in the work of Montfaucon, where
also may be seen the various forms or shapes of them. These urns were
placed on the sepulchres of the deceased, as a memorial of the distress
and affection of their surviving relations and friends. It will be
difficult to account for this expression of the psalmist, but upon this
supposition. If this be allowed, the meaning will be, ‘Let my distress,
and the tears I shed in consequence of it, be ever before thee, excite
thy kind remembrance of me, and plead with thee to grant the relief I
stand in need of.’”
TEMPLE, the house of God; properly the temple of Solomon. David first
conceived the design of building a house somewhat worthy of the divine
majesty, and opened his mind to the Prophet Nathan, 2 Sam. vii; 1 Chron.
xvii; xxii, 8, &c. God accepted of his good intentions, but refused him
the honour. Solomon laid the foundation of the temple, A. M. 2992,
completed it in 3000, and dedicated it in 3001, 1 Kings viii, 2; 2
Chron. v, vi, vii. According to the opinion of some writers, there were
three temples, namely, the first, erected by Solomon; the second, by
Zerubbabel, and Joshua the high priest; and the third, by Herod, a few
years before the birth of Christ. But this opinion is, very properly,
rejected by the Jews; who do not allow the third to be a new temple, but
only the second temple repaired and beautified: and this opinion
corresponds with the prophecy of Haggai, ii, 9, “that the glory of this
latter house,” the temple built by Zerubbabel, “should be greater than
that of the former;” which prediction was uttered with reference to the
Messiah’s honouring it with his presence and ministry. The first temple
is that which usually bears the name of Solomon; the materials for which
were provided by David before his death, though the edifice was raised
by his son. It stood on Mount Moriah, an eminence of the mountainous
ridge in the Scriptures termed Mount Zion, Psalm cxxxii, 13, 14, which
had been purchased by Araunah, or Ornan, the Jebusite, 2 Sam. xxiv, 23,
24; 1 Chron. xxi, 25. The plan, and the whole model of this superb
structure, were formed after that of the tabernacle, but of much larger
dimensions. It was surrounded, except at the front or east end, by three
stories of chambers, each five cubits square, which reached to half the
height of the temple; and the front was ornamented with a magnificent
portico, which rose to the height of one hundred and twenty cubits: so
that the form of the whole edifice was not unlike that of some ancient
churches, which have a lofty tower in the front, and a low aisle running
along each side of the building. The utensils for the sacred service
were the same; excepting that several of them, as the altar,
candlestick, &c, were larger, in proportion to the more spacious edifice
to which they belonged. Seven years and six months were occupied in the
erection of the superb and magnificent temple of Solomon, by whom it was
dedicated, A. M. 3001, B. C. 999, with peculiar solemnity, to the
worship of the Most High; who on this occasion vouchsafed to honour it
with the Shechinah, or visible manifestation of his presence. Various
attempts have been made to describe the proportions and several parts of
this structure; but as scarcely any two writers agree on this subject, a
minute description of it is designedly omitted. It retained its pristine
splendour only thirty-three or thirty-four years, when Shishak, king of
Egypt, took Jerusalem, and carried away the treasures of the temple; and
after undergoing subsequent profanations and pillages, this stupendous
building was finally plundered and burnt by the Chaldeans under
Nebuchadnezzar, A. M. 3416, or B. C. 584, 2 Kings xxv, 13–15; 2 Chron.
xxxvi, 17–20.
After the captivity, the temple emerged from its ruins being rebuilt by
Zerubbabel, but with vastly inferior and diminished glory; as appears
from the tears of the aged men who had beheld the former structure in
all its grandeur, Ezra iii, 12. The second temple was profaned by order
of Antiochus Epiphanes, A. M. 3837, B. C. 163, who caused the daily
sacrifices to be discontinued, and erected the image of Jupiter Olympus
on the altar of burnt-offering. In this condition it continued three
years, 1 Mac. iv, 42, when Judas Maccabæus purified and repaired it, and
restored the sacrifices and true worship of Jehovah. Some years before
the birth of our Saviour, the repairing and beautifying of this second
temple, which had become decayed in the lapse of five centuries, was
undertaken by Herod the Great, who for nine years employed eighty
thousand workmen upon it, and spared no expense to render it equal, if
not superior, in magnitude, splendour, and beauty, to any thing among
mankind. Josephus calls it a work the most admirable of any that had
ever been seen or heard of, both for its curious structure and its
magnitude, and also for the vast wealth expended upon it, as well as for
the universal reputation of its sanctity. But though Herod accomplished
his original design in the time above specified, yet the Jews continued
to ornament and enlarge it, expending the sacred treasure in annexing
additional buildings to it; so that they might with great propriety
assert, that their temple had been forty and six years in building, John
ii, 20.
Before we proceed to describe this venerable edifice, it may be proper
to remark, that by the temple is to be understood not only the fabric or
house itself, which by way of eminence is called the temple, namely, the
holy of holies, the sanctuary, and the several courts both of the
priests and Israelites, but also all the numerous chambers and rooms
which this prodigious edifice comprehended; and each of which had its
respective degree of holiness, increasing in proportion to its
contiguity to the holy of holies. This remark it will be necessary to
bear in mind, lest the reader of Scripture should be led to suppose,
that whatever is there said to be transacted in the temple was actually
done in the interior of that sacred edifice. To this infinite number of
apartments, into which the temple was disposed, our Lord refers, John
xiv, 2; and by a very striking and magnificent simile, borrowed from
them, he represents those numerous seats and mansions of heavenly bliss
which his Father’s house contained, and which were prepared for the
everlasting abode of the righteous. The imagery is singularly beautiful
and happy, when considered as an allusion to the temple, which our Lord
not unfrequently called his Father’s house.
The second temple, originally built by Zerubbabel after the captivity,
and repaired by Herod, differed in several respects from that erected by
Solomon, although they agreed in others.
The temple erected by Solomon was more splendid and magnificent than the
second temple, which was deficient in five remarkable things that
constituted the chief glory of the first: these were, the ark and the
mercy seat; the shechinah, or manifestation of the divine presence, in
the holy of holies; the sacred fire on the altar, which had been first
kindled from heaven; the urim and thummim; and the spirit of prophecy.
But the second temple surpassed the first in glory; being honoured by
the frequent presence of our divine Saviour, agreeably to the prediction
of Haggai, ii, 9. Both, however, were erected upon the same site, a very
hard rock, encompassed by a very frightful precipice; and the foundation
was laid with incredible expense and labour. The superstructure was not
inferior to this great work: the height of the temple wall, especially
on the south side, was stupendous. In the lowest places it was three
hundred cubits, or four hundred and fifty feet, and in some places even
greater. This most magnificent pile was constructed with hard white
stones of prodigious magnitude. The temple itself, strictly so called,
which comprised the portico, the sanctuary, and the holy of holies
formed only a small part of the sacred edifice on Mount Moriah, being
surrounded by spacious courts, making a square of half a mile in
circumference. It was entered through nine gates, which were on every
side thickly coated with gold and silver; but there was one gate without
the holy house, which was of Corinthian brass, the most precious metal
in ancient times, and which far surpassed the others in beauty. For
while these were of equal magnitude, the gate composed of Corinthian
brass was much larger; its height being fifty cubits, and its doors
forty cubits, and its ornaments both of gold and silver being far more
costly and massive. This is supposed to have been the “gate called
Beautiful” in Acts iii, 2, where Peter and John, in the name of Christ,
healed a man who had been lame from his birth. The first or outer court,
which encompassed the holy house and the other courts, was named the
court of the Gentiles; because the latter were allowed to enter into it,
but were prohibited from advancing farther. It was surrounded by a range
of porticoes, or cloisters, above which were galleries, or apartments,
supported by pillars of white marble, each consisting of a single piece,
and twenty-five cubits in height. One of these was called Solomon’s
porch, or piazza, because it stood on a vast terrace, which he had
originally raised from a valley beneath, four hundred cubits high, in
order to enlarge the area on the top of the mountain, and make it equal
to the plan of his intended building; and as this terrace was the only
work of Solomon that remained in the second temple, the piazza which
stood upon it retained the name of that prince. Here it was that our
Lord was walking at the feast of dedication, John x, 23; and that the
lame man, when healed by Peter and John, glorified God before all the
people, Acts iii, 11. This superb portico is termed the royal portico by
Josephus, who represents it as the noblest work beneath the sun, being
elevated to such a prodigious height, that no one could look down from
its flat roof to the valley below, without being seized with dizziness;
the sight not reaching to such an immeasurable depth. The south-east
corner of the roof of this portico, where the height was the greatest,
is supposed to have been the ϖτερύγιον, pinnacle, or extreme angle,
whence Satan tempted our Saviour to precipitate himself, Matt, iv, 5;
Luke iv, 9. This also was the spot where it was predicted that the
abomination of desolation, or the Roman ensigns, should stand, Daniel
ix, 27; Matt, xxiv, 15. Solomon’s portico was situated in the eastern
front of the temple, opposite to the mount of Olives, where our Saviour
is said to have sat when his disciples came to show him the grandeur of
its various buildings, of which, grand as they were, he said, the time
was approaching when one stone should not be left upon another, Matt,
xxiv, 1–3. This outer court being assigned to the Gentile proselytes,
the Jews, who did not worship in it themselves, conceived that it might
lawfully be put to profane uses: for here we find that the buyers and
sellers of animals for sacrifices, and also the moneychangers, had
stationed themselves; until Jesus Christ, awing them into submission by
the grandeur and dignity of his person and behaviour, expelled them;
telling them that it was the house of prayer for all nations, and was
not to be profaned, Matt. xxi, 12, 13; Mark xi, 15–17. Within the court
of the Gentiles stood the court of the Israelites, divided into two
parts, or courts; the outer one being appropriated to the women, and the
inner one to the men. The court of the women was separated from that of
the Gentiles by a low stone wall, or partition, of elegant construction,
on which stood pillars at equal distances, with inscriptions in Greek
and Latin, importing that no alien should enter into the holy place. To
this wall St. Paul most evidently alludes in Eph. ii, 13, 14: “But now
in Christ Jesus, ye, who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the
blood of Christ: for he is our peace, who hath made both one, (united
both Jews and Gentiles into one church,) and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us;” having abolished the law of ordinances,
by which, as by the wall of separation, both Jews and Gentiles were not
only kept asunder, but also at variance. In this court was the treasury,
over against which Christ sat, and beheld how the people threw their
voluntary offerings into it, for furnishing the victims and other things
necessary for the sacrifices, Mark xii, 41; John viii, 20. From the
court of the women, which was on higher ground than that of the
Gentiles, there was an ascent of fifteen steps into the inner or men’s
court: and so called because it was appropriated to the worship of the
male Israelites. In these two courts, collectively termed the court of
the Israelites, were the people praying, each apart by himself, for the
pardon of his sins, while Zacharias was offering incense within the
sanctuary, Luke i, 10. Within the court of the Israelites was that of
the priests, which was separated from it by a low wall, one cubit in
height. This enclosure surrounded the altar of burnt-offerings, and to
it the people brought their oblations and sacrifices; but the priests
alone were permitted to enter it. From this court twelve steps ascended
to the temple, strictly so called; which was divided into three parts,
the portico, the outer sanctuary, and the holy place. In the portico was
suspended the splendid votive offerings made by the piety of various
individuals. Among other treasures, there was a golden table given by
Pompey, and several golden vines of exquisite workmanship, as well as of
immense size; for Josephus relates, that there were clusters as tall as
a man. And he adds, that all around were fixed up and displayed the
spoils and trophies taken by Herod from the barbarians and Arabians.
These votive offerings, it should seem, were visible at a distance; for
when Jesus Christ was sitting on the mount of Olives, and his disciples
called his attention to the temple, they pointed out to him the gifts
with which it was adorned, Luke xxi, 5. This porch had a very large
portal or gate, which, instead of folding doors, was furnished with a
costly Babylonian veil, of many colours, that mystically denoted the
universe. From this the sanctuary, or holy place, was separated from the
holy of holies by a double veil, which is supposed to have been the veil
that was rent in twain at our Saviour’s crucifixion; thus emblematically
pointing out that the separation between Jews and Gentiles was
abolished; and that the privilege of the high priest was communicated to
all mankind, who might henceforth have access to the throne of grace
through the one great Mediator, Jesus Christ, Heb. x, 19–22. The holy of
holies was twenty cubits square: into it no person was admitted but the
high priest, who entered it once a year on the great day of atonement,
Exod. xxx, 10; Lev. xvi, 2, 15, 34; Heb. ix, 2–7.
Magnificent as the rest of the sacred edifice was, it was infinitely
surpassed in splendour by the inner temple, or sanctuary. Its
appearance, according to Josephus, had every thing that could strike the
mind, or astonish the sight: for it was covered on every side with
plates of gold; so that when the sun rose upon it, it reflected so
strong and dazzling an effulgence, that the eye of the spectator was
obliged to turn away, being no more able to sustain its radiance than
the splendour of the sun. To strangers who were approaching, it appeared
at a distance like a mountain covered with snow; for where it was not
decorated with plates of gold, it was extremely white and glistering. On
the top it had sharp-pointed spikes of gold, to prevent any bird from
resting upon it, and polluting it. There were, continues the Jewish
historian, in that building, several stones which were forty-five cubits
in length, five in height, and six in breadth. “When all these things
are considered,” says Harwood, “how natural is the exclamation of the
disciples, when viewing this immense building at a distance: ‘Master,
see what manner of stones’ (ϖοταποὶ λίθοι, ‘what very large ones’) ‘and
what buildings are here!’ Mark xiii, 1: and how wonderful is the
declaration of our Lord upon this, how unlikely to be accomplished
before the race of men who were then living should cease to exist!
‘Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone
upon another that shall not be thrown down.’ Improbable as this
prediction must have appeared to the disciples at that time, in the
short space of about thirty years after it was exactly accomplished; and
this most magnificent temple, which the Jews had literally turned into a
den of thieves, through the righteous judgment of God upon that wicked
and abandoned nation, was utterly destroyed by the Romans A. D. 70, or
73 of the vulgar era, on the same month, and on the same day of the
month, when Solomon’s temple had been razed to the ground by the
Babylonians!”
Both the first and second temples were contemplated by the Jews with the
highest reverence. Of their affectionate regard for the first temple,
and for Jerusalem, within whose walls it was built, we have several
instances in those Psalms which were composed during the Babylonish
captivity; and of their profound veneration for the second temple we
have repeated examples in the New Testament. They could not bear any
disrespectful or dishonourable thing to be said of it. The least
injurious slight of it, real or apprehended, instantly awakened all the
choler of a Jew, and was an affront never to be forgiven. Our Saviour,
in the course of his public instructions, having said, “Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up again,” John ii, 19, it was
construed into a contemptuous disrespect, designedly thrown out against
the temple; his words instantly descended into the heart of the Jews,
and kept rankling there for some years; for, upon his trial, this
declaration, which it was impossible for a Jew ever to forget or to
forgive, was immediately alleged against him, as big with the most
atrocious guilt and impiety: they told the court they had heard him
publicly assert, “I am able to destroy this temple,” Matt. xxvi, 61. The
rancour and virulence they had conceived against him for this speech,
was not softened by all the affecting circumstances of that wretched
death they saw him die; even as he hung upon the cross, with triumph,
scorn, and exultation, they upbraided him with it, contemptuously
shaking their heads, and saying, “Thou that destroyest the temple, and
buildest it in three days, save thyself! If thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross!” Matt. xxvii, 40. It only remains to add, that it
appears, from several passages of Scripture, that the Jews had a body of
soldiers who guarded the temple, to prevent any disturbances during the
ministration of such an immense number of priests and Levites. To this
guard Pilate referred, when he said to the chief priests and Pharisees
who waited upon him to desire he would make the sepulchre secure, “Ye
have a watch, go your way, and make it as secure as ye can,” Matt.
xxvii, 65. Over these guards one person had the supreme command, who in
several places is called the captain of the temple, or officer of the
temple guard. “And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the
captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,” Acts iv, 1; v,
25, 26; John xviii, 12. Josephus mentions such an officer.
TENT MAKER. St. Paul, according to the practice of the Jews, who,
however opulent, always taught their children some trade, appears to
have been a tent maker. This, however, is understood by some moderns to
mean a maker of tent cloth, St. Paul being a Cilician, a country which
produced a species of rough-haired goats, from which the Cilicians
manufactured a thick and coarse cloth, much used for tents. The fathers,
however, say that he made military tents, the material of which was
skins.
TERAPHIM. It is said, Gen. xxxi, 19, that Rachel had stolen the images
(_teraphim_) of her father. What then were these _teraphim_? The
Septuagint translate this word by “oracle,” and sometimes by “vain
figures.” Aquila generally translates it by “figures.” It appears,
indeed, from all the passages in which this word is used, that they were
idols or superstitious figures. Some Jewish writers tell us the
_teraphim_ were human heads placed in niches, and consulted by way of
oracles. Others think they were talismans or figures of metal cast and
engraven under certain aspects of the planets, to which they ascribed
extraordinary effects. All the eastern people are much addicted to this
superstition, and the Persians still call them _telefin_, a name nearly
approaching to teraphim. M. Jurieu supposes them to have been a sort of
_dii penates_, or household gods; and this appears to be, perhaps, the
most probable opinion.
TESTAMENT. The property or estate of the father fell, after his decease,
into the possession of his sons, who divided it among themselves
equally, with this exception, that the eldest son had two portions. The
father expressed his last wishes or will in the presence of witnesses,
and probably in the presence of the heirs, 2 Kings xx, 1. At a more
recent period the will was made out in writing. The portion that was
given to the sons of concubines depended altogether upon the feelings of
the father. Abraham gave presents to what amount is not known, both to
Ishmael and to the sons whom he had by Keturah, and sent them away
before his death. It does not appear that they had any other portion in
the estate. But Jacob made the sons whom he had by his concubines heirs
as well as the others, Gen. xxi, 8–21; xxv, 1–6; xlix, 1–27. Moses laid
no restrictions upon the choice of fathers in this respect; and we
should infer that the sons of concubines, for the most part, received an
equal share with the other sons, from the fact, that Jephtha, the son of
a concubine, complained that he was excluded without any portion from
his father’s house, Judg. xi, 1–7. The daughters not only had no portion
in the estate, but, if they were unmarried, were considered as making a
part of it, and were sold by their brothers into matrimony. If they had
no brothers, or if they had died, the daughters then took the estate,
Num. xxvii, 1–8. If any one died intestate, and without offspring, the
property was disposed of according to Num. xxvii, 8–11. The servants or
the slaves in a family could not claim any share in the estate as a
right; but the person who made a will, might, if he chose, make them his
heirs, Gen. xv, 3. Indeed, in some instances, those who had heirs,
recognized as such by law, did not deem it unbecoming to bestow the
whole or a portion of their estates on faithful and deserving servants,
Prov. xvii, 2. The widow of the deceased, like his daughters, had no
legal right to a share in the estate. The sons, however, or other
relations, were bound to afford her an adequate maintenance, unless it
had been otherwise arranged in the will. She sometimes returned back
again to her father’s house, particularly if the support which the heirs
gave her was not such as had been promised, or was not sufficient, Gen.
xxxviii, 11. See also the story of Ruth. The prophets very frequently,
and undoubtedly not without cause, exclaim against the neglect and
injustice shown to widows, Isa. i, 17; x, 2; Jer. vii, 6; xxii, 3; Ezek.
xxii, 7; Exod. xxii, 22–24; Deut. x, 18; xxiv, 17.
TESTIMONY, a witnessing, evidence, or proof, Acts xiv, 3. The whole
Scripture or word of God, which declares what is to be believed,
practised, and expected by us, is called God’s “testimony,” and
sometimes in the plural “testimonies,” Psalm xix, 7. The two tables of
stone on which the law or ten commandments were written, which were
witnesses of that covenant made between God and his people, and
testified what it was that God had required of them, have the same
title, Exod. xxv, 16, 21; xxxi, 18.
TETRARCH, a sovereign prince that has the fourth part of a state,
province, or kingdom under his dominion, without wearing the diadem, or
bearing the title of king, Matt, xiv, 1; Luke iii, 1, 19; ix, 7; Acts
xiii, 1.