Temples have always been the domain and house of the gods
throughout the ancient Near East. As the abode of the God of Israel,
the Jerusalem temple served the same purpose. The temple played an
important role in the social, religious, and political life of
ancient Israel. No archaeological remains of the actual temple
building exist today; nevertheless, the temple has dominated biblical
scholarship. The Jerusalem temple was originally built by Solomon in
953 BC and was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 586
BC. After the exile, the temple was rebuilt and then rededicated by
Zerubbabel in 515 BC (Ezra). Herod the Great significantly expanded
and changed the temple, but it was eventually destroyed by the Romans
under the direction of Titus in AD 70.
The
biblical text refers to the temple in several ways: temple, house of
God/Yahweh, and sanctuary/shrine. These terms all refer to the
dwelling or house of God and an area of sacredness. The sources for
information on the temple are biblical texts, Josephus, and the
Mishnah (tractate Middot). The most detailed accounts of the
construction of the Solomonic temple are found in 1 Kings 6–8;
2 Chron. 2–4. In addition to these major sections, there
are several references to building activities and repairs to the
temple throughout the OT. Another major text is Ezek. 40, but it is
debated whether this represents the actual temple or an ideal temple.
There are several references in the NT that directly or indirectly
refer to functions and specific components of the Temple Mount
complex.
Archaeological
Investigation
The
location of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has been undisputed.
Current scholarly opinion locates the temple on the spot of the
current Muslim shrine, the Dome of the Rock. Today the larger
enclosed area is referred to as the harem esh-sharif (the noble
sanctuary). Explorers in the nineteenth century did not attempt
archaeological research of the temple itself, although various
explorations focused on recording visible features and conducting
soundings along the sides of the Temple Mount. Even after the
unification of Jerusalem in 1967, with three major excavations in the
city, no archaeological investigation of the temple was conducted.
Due to the political and religious variables associated with the
Muslim holy sites, there are no foreseeable archaeological
investigations. A recent renovation of the Mosque of Omar, located on
the southern end of the Temple Mount, removed truckloads of earth.
Unfortunately, there was no archaeological supervision of the project
and no archaeological excavations of the site were conducted.
In
spite of the limited archaeological excavations, several popular
accounts of alternate locations of the temple have been proposed.
Most of these place the temple somewhere other than the Dome of the
Rock, but none of these proposals has garnered scholarly support to
rival the current location.
First
Temple: Temple of Solomon
Throughout
the ancient Near East, temples served as monumental edifices that
provided divine legitimacy for the king or dynasty. While temples
should be considered part of the religious sphere of society, their
construction, maintenance, and associated activities are interlinked
with the political sphere. The construction of the temple in
Jerusalem is also linked to state formation by the Israelites. The
Solomonic temple ushered in a new period of religious activity among
the ancient Israelites. Previously, Israel had worshiped at various
shrines and sanctuaries, and its central religious practice was
associated with the tabernacle. With the establishment of the
monarchy, dynastic kingship and centralized authority were created.
Although the biblical text credits Solomon as the Israelite king who
built the temple, the project was initiated under David. David united
the Israelite tribes, captured Jerusalem and made it the capital of
the kingdom, and built a royal palace. He made Jerusalem the
political capital but also the religious center when he brought the
holy ark, the visible symbol of Yahweh’s presence, to Jerusalem
(2 Sam. 5–6). David intended to build Yahweh a permanent
dwelling (2 Sam. 7:2).
Location.
The
biblical text preserves multiple traditions and accounts of the
location and acquisition of land for the temple. In the ancient world
the city temple was commonly located on the acropolis (highest point)
of the city. The temple is located on the highest point of a ridge
where the OT city of Jerusalem is located (Jebusite city, later the
City of David). There are two accounts of the purchase of the land:
the threshing floors of Araunah (2 Sam. 24:18–25) and of
Ornan (1 Chron. 21:15–30; 2 Chron. 3:1 [here the NIV
supplies “Araunah,” but see, e.g., the NET, NASB, ESV]).
It is possible that Araunah and Ornan were kin, but most likely they
are the same person, with Samuel and Chronicles using variant names.
However, the two accounts disagree further on the amount paid for the
land: fifty silver shekels (2 Sam. 24:24) and six hundred
shekels of gold (1 Chron. 21:25). One theory explains this
discrepancy as arising from two separate transactions. First, David
purchased the threshing floor to build an altar to Yahweh, and he
later purchased the whole mountain to build a temple. Later tradition
associates the hill where David built an altar with the location
where earlier Abraham built an altar to sacrifice Isaac (Mount
Moriah).
Construction
and dimensions.
Solomon started to build during the fourth year of his reign
(2 Chron. 3:1), and construction lasted for seven years. The
plan of the temple was revealed to Solomon during a night in the
sanctuary at Gibeon (2 Chron. 1:7–13). The king obtained
building materials, specifically cedar from Lebanon (2 Chron.
2:3–10), and construction and design expertise from Phoenician
artisans (1 Kings 7:13–14, 45). The Solomonic temple
consisted of a tripartite plan similar to other temples in
Syro-Palestine during this period. There are two accounts for the
construction and dedication of the first temple (1 Kings 6–8;
2 Chron. 3–7). Both accounts offer similar descriptions
but there are some differences in measurements. Most scholars account
for these differences by viewing the dimensions in the book of
Chronicles as reflecting the temple measurements after Hezekiah’s
repair and rebuilding projects.
The
basic plan was a rectangle, 70 cubits long (120 ft. 7 in.)
and 20 cubits wide (34 ft. 5 in.) on a straight axis facing
east; the height was 30 cubits (51 ft. 7 in.). These
measurements refer to the inside dimensions (1 cubit =
20.67 in.). The three distinct architectural units formed three
distinct rooms where various functions were performed and also
reflected levels of holiness. The three units were the ’ulam
(“porch” or “vestibule”), the hekal (“cella”
or “nave”), and the debir (the innermost sanctuary, the
most holy place). In the biblical accounts the whole building is
called the “house [bayit] of the Lord,” and the word
“temple” is used for the hekal. There was a three-story
structure built around the sides and back of the temple (see below).
The
porch was 10 cubits (17 ft. 2 in.) by 20 cubits (34 ft.
5 in.). The account in Kings does not provide its height; the
account in Chronicles gives the height as 120 cubits. In its
description and measurements in the biblical text, the porch is
considered separate from the temple (bayit, house). The porch
contained two pillars of bronze: yakin (“he will establish”)
on the right side and bo’az (“in strength”) on the
left (see Boaz; Jakin). The pillars were bronze, 18 cubits (35 cubits
in Chronicles) in height, with elaborate double capitals. The bottom
capital was 5 cubits, round in shape, and surrounded by nets with
pomegranates. Above this was another capital, 4 cubits high, shaped
like a lily.
The
hekal was 40 cubits long and 20 cubits wide and was the only part
with windows (1 Kings 6:4). The debir was a cube, 20 cubits per
side. The debir is also called the “holy of holies.” The
difference in height (10 cubits shorter than the hekal )
is due to the rise in the bedrock. This measurement is confirmed
today in the interior of the Dome of the Rock.
The
walls of the house (hekal and debir) were built of whole stones
dressed in the quarry, as “no hammer, chisel or any other iron
tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built”
(1 Kings 6:7). The roof was made of cedar wood (1 Kings
6:10), with crossbeams and intersecting boards. The stone walls were
covered from ground to ceiling with boards of cedar wood, and the
floor was made of cypress wood, covered with gold (1 Kings
6:30). The wood had carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and
open flowers. The hekal and the debir were separated by a partition
made of olive wood.
The
three-story structure surrounding the temple was constructed of cedar
wood. Each story was 5 cubits. The width of the first floor was 5
cubits, the middle 6 cubits, and the top 7 cubits. This structure was
entered from the right side of the temple, and the floors were
connected by openings with ladders. This structure formed chambers
and storage for the activities of the priests.
In
front of the temple was a courtyard surrounded by a wall. Inside the
courtyard was a great bronze basin (known as “the Sea”).
This basin rested on the backs of twelve bronze oxen. Ten smaller
basins in groups of five were set on elaborate wheeled stands. A
large altar also was located in this courtyard.
In
the holy of holies stood two large cherubim of olive wood covered
with gold. They were 10 cubits in height, with a wingspan of 10
cubits. These cherubim stood over the ark of the covenant. In the
hekal were the golden altar, the golden table, and ten lampstands.
History.
From
Solomon to Zedekiah, the temple was used for political and religious
power shifts. Kings of Israel raided the temple treasury to pay off
invaders, closed the temple, or placed idols in the temple in periods
of apostasy. During periods of reform they repaired and rebuilt the
temple and its furnishings.
Under
Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt ransacked the temple
and removed all its treasures (1 Kings 14:25–28; 2 Chron.
12:9). Asa and his father, Abijah, added to the treasure of the
temple with silver, gold, and other vessels (2 Chron. 15:18) but
used these to pay Ben-Hadad of Syria to help him fight Baasha king of
Israel (16:2–3). Asa’s son Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 17)
ruled during a time of prosperity and reform. It was under his rule
that the court in front of the temple probably was enlarged (20:5).
The sons of Athaliah broke into the temple and worshiped Baal. During
the reign of Amaziah the temple was plundered by Jehoash king of
Israel (2 Chron. 25). Uzziah ruled for a long period of
prosperity (787–736 BC) but attempted to burn incense on the
altar in the hekal, a ritual kept solely for the priests. A later
king, Jotham, built the Upper Gate of the house of Yahweh (2 Kings
15:35; 2 Chron. 27:3). Jotham’s son Ahaz took the silver
and gold from the temple and sent it as a present to the king of
Assyria. He moved and changed various vessels of the temple and shut
its doors (2 Chron. 28:24).
Hezekiah
son of Ahaz ruled during a time of prosperity and revival. He
reopened the temple doors (2 Chron. 29), cleaned out the temple,
and created a 500-cubit-square mount around the temple. Hezekiah
conducted many building projects in Jerusalem and reforms throughout
the land. He also “stripped off the gold with which he had
covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord” to
pay a ransom to Sennacherib king of Assyria (2 Kings 18:16). Due
to his building activities, most scholars attribute major changes to
the temple to Hezekiah’s reign. The differences in the temple
descriptions in Kings and Chronicles probably reflect two different
periods of history concerning the temple (e.g., Kings represents the
temple during the period of Solomon, while Chronicles represents the
changes to the temple by Hezekiah). Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son,
undid the work of his father by building altars in the temple.
The
last resurgence of the temple in the life of the people of Israel was
under Josiah. He instigated a reform throughout the land and a
cleansing of the temple. Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of the
“Book of the Law” (2 Kings 22:8). After a reading of
the law in the public square, a collection was taken from the people
to be given to workers for temple repair. The Babylonians took some
of the temple treasure (2 Chron. 36:7) under the rule of
Jehoiakim. The last two kings of Judah, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, also
lost temple treasure to Babylon, and eventually the temple was
destroyed during the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC (2 Chron.
36).
Second
Temple: Zerubbabel and the Temple of Herod the Great
Zerubbabel’s
temple.
Solomon’s temple was rebuilt by the Jews who returned from
exile under the decree of the Persian king Darius (Ezra 6:1–5).
The temple was built under the direction of the governor Zerubbabel
with the support of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 6:13–18)
and was dedicated in 515 BC. This would have been a poorer temple due
to the poverty of the inhabitants of Judah. During the Hasmonean
period (152–37 BC) a platform and a fortress were constructed.
Not much is known about the temple during this period. It would be
greatly eclipsed by the work of Herod the Great.
Temple
of Herod the Great.
Herod invested heavily in building projects throughout his kingdom.
He was keen on bringing Hellenistic culture to the Jews but also on
upholding traditional Jewish religious practices, especially when it
came to the temple. Just as the first temple mimicked the religious
architecture of the ancient Near East, the second temple reflected
the massive sacred architecture of the classical world. John 2:20
indicates that thus far it had taken forty-six years (beyond Herod’s
life) to build. Herod could not alter the dimensions of the temple,
but he was able to make additions to the outside, alter its outer
furnishings, and expand the compound and platform to match the
grandeur of Greco-Roman temples. Today scholars refer to all these
buildings and the temple as the Temple Mount complex.
Herod
expanded the space of the Temple Mount by building a “box”
around the mountain. This was a massive wall with varying height due
to the topography. This wall is still visible today, especially the
current religious site of the Western Wall. This construction allowed
for a level platform with various buildings and plazas on the top.
The leveling was done by filling in the gaps and building
subterranean arches in low areas. One of these areas is located on
the southeast corner (the underground arched supports are erroneously
called “Solomon’s Stables” today). The whole area
was surrounded by a colonnaded portico (Solomon’s Colonnade
[John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12]). On the northwest corner was the
Antonia Fortress (Acts 21:35), and the southern end of the complex
contained the Royal Stoa, a basilica-style building (four rows of
forty columns) that housed the Sanhedrin and had other religious and
political functions (Luke 22:66).
This
complex became the religious and political center of the city of
Jerusalem, and Herod built many auxiliary components. Several
entrances and bridges from the Upper City were built. The public
entered the complex from the south. A southern complex consisting of
monumental stairs (210 feet wide) and entrance and exit gates (Double
and Triple Gates) took pedestrians from the outside up through
underground tunnels to the top of the temple compound. These stairs
became an area for public forums. In addition, several shops (Mark
11:15–17) were built around the complex, as well as a large
bathhouse for ritual cleansing. In order to facilitate the many
sacrifices, Herod built a complex hydrologic system that brought
water into the city. This was accomplished by various aqueducts and
storage pools. The Temple Mount had many cisterns and a new pool on
the northeast end of the Temple Mount complex, the Pool of Israel.
Although Herod could not alter the dimensions of the temple itself,
he was able to enlarge the facade, added storage chambers and
auxiliary buildings, build a second story above the temple, and
construct several courtyards and various buildings associated with
them. In keeping with the earlier tripartite level of holiness, these
additional temple buildings and courtyards retained the same linear
degree of holiness and exclusion.
Josephus
called Herod’s temple “a structure more noteworthy than
any under the sun” (Ant. 15.412). Herod built a new monumental
facade in front of the existing temple and added a second story.
Herod’s temple measured 100 cubits (172 ft.) in all three
dimensions. It stood on top of a foundation that gave it added
height. It had two stories, each one 45 cubits (77.5 ft.) in height.
On the roof was a parapet, 3 cubits in height, which contained
golden spikes, 1 cubit in height, to prevent birds from perching on
the roof’s edge. The temple was decorated with gold overlay.
The opening between the ’ulam (“porch”) and the
sanctuary was 20 cubits high and 10 cubits wide (34 ft. by 17 ft.).
There were two sets of double folding doors. The sanctuary contained
the golden menorah, the table of the bread of the Presence, and the
altar of incense. Between the sanctuary and the holy of holies was a
large tapestry (veil) (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). The holy
of holies had gold plating on its walls. Around the temple were
thirty-eight cells built in three stories (m. Mid. 4:3–4).
All of the cells were interconnected by openings between adjoining
cells and by one in the ceiling to reach the cell above. To the
north, between the outer wall of the temple and the cells, was an
inner stairway with access to the top of the temple and the upper
chamber (second story of the temple). The upper chamber allowed
priests to service the holy of holies. They would be suspended in
baskets, covered on three sides, through openings in the floor to
clean the gold overlay in the holy of holies.
The
temple courtyard was surrounded by various gates and buildings. These
were specific entrances and buildings that the priests used for the
various functions of the sacrifices and offerings (Mark 13:1–2).
These included the Kindling Gate, Wood Chamber, Gate of the
Firstlings, Golah Chamber, Water Gate, Chamber of the Hearth, Gate of
Jeconiah, Rinsing Chamber, Gate of the Offering-Women, Salt-Parva
Chamber, and Gate of the Flame-Singers. In front of the temple were
two narrow courts: the court of the priests to the west and the court
of the Israelites (men) to the east. Inside the temple court was the
altar of burnt offering. During the Second Temple period it was a
stationary, square-shaped altar constructed of unhewn stones.
According to the Mishnah (m. Mid. 3:1), this altar was 32 cubits
square at the base and about 10 cubits in height. A ramp 32 cubits
long, also built of unhewn stones, led the priests up to the altar
from the south. A laver, the great bronze basin known as “the
Sea,” stood west of the altar between the altar and the temple
porch (’ulam) for the washing of hands and feet. North of the
altar was the place of slaughtering.
The
court of the women, 135 cubits square, was in front of the temple to
the east. This court had four smaller courts, one at each corner.
Women could enter the temple only as far as this court. It was
surrounded by a colonnade. Inside these porches (porticoes) were
thirteen collection boxes for money. This is where Jesus saw the poor
widow donating two copper coins (Luke 21:1–3). The court had
four large lampstands nearly half the height of the temple. The
Mishnah states that each of the corner chambers was 40 cubits square
and roofless. The central area was exposed to the sky, with a portico
around each courtyard—typical of Mediterranean buildings. The
chamber to the immediate right of the court’s entrance
(northeast) was the chamber of the woodshed, where priests examined
logs for impurities (e.g., parasites). To the left (southeast) was
the chamber of the Nazirites. To the northwest was the chamber of the
lepers. A leper who had been healed brought an offering and then
bathed in this chamber before coming to the priests for the
performance of rituals. In the southwest corner was the chamber of
the house of oil. Between the court of the women and the temple court
was the Nicanor Gate. Fifteen semicircular steps led up to this gate.
It was on these steps that the Levites sang the fifteen Psalms of
Ascent (Pss. 120–134).
Surrounding
the temple and the court of the women was a balustrade or railing
that served as a boundary beyond which no Gentile could enter.
Outside this boundary was the court of the Gentiles (see John
12:20–22; Acts 21:27–29). Archaeologists have found an
inscription that forbids Gentiles, upon pain of death, to enter any
farther. Herod’s temple was destroyed in AD 70. The Temple
Mount continued to be used and considered sacred, as Roman temples,
Crusader churches, and Muslim shrines marked the sacredness of the
location.
Role
of the Temple
The
temple was the dwelling place of Yahweh. It was the domain of the
religious leaders, priests, and Levites. It also represented the
relationship/covenant between God and the nation of Israel. Various
kings used the temple for their political maneuvering and attempts to
shift the religious worship of the nation. The temple was the visible
presence of God and embodied the political and religious aspirations
of the people. The temple sat on top of a sacred mountain.
During
turbulent political times the temple was central to God’s
protection and judgment. From the Babylonian and Roman periods, two
texts spoke of a future temple. Ezekiel’s vision saw a
futuristic temple measuring 500 cubits square surrounded by a massive
court measuring 3,000 cubits square (Ezek. 40:1–47:12). Among
the DSS, the Temple Scroll also talks about a rebuilt temple. Today
many Christians and Jews look to a future rebuilding of the temple.
