The following is the results of your search for TEMPLE, HEROD'S.
Temple, Herod's: The temple erected by the exiles on their return from Babylon had
stood for about five hundred years, when Herod the Great became king
of Judea. The building had suffered considerably from natural decay as
well as from the assaults of hostile armies, and Herod, desirous of
gaining the favour of the Jews, proposed to rebuild it. This offer
was accepted, and the work was begun (B.C. 18) and carried out at
great labour and expense, and on a scale of surpassing splendour. The
main part of the building was completed in ten years, but the erection
of the outer courts and the embellishment of the whole were carried on
during the entire period of our Lord's life on earth
(John 2:16,19-21)
and the temple was completed only A.D. 65 But it was not long
permitted to exist. Within forty years after our Lord's crucifixion,
his prediction of its overthrow was accomplished
(Luke 19:41-44) The
Roman legions took the city of Jerusalem by storm, and notwithstanding
the strenuous efforts Titus made to preserve the temple, his soldiers
set fire to it in several places, and it was utterly destroyed (A.D.
70) and was never rebuilt. Several remains of Herod's stately temple
have by recent explorations been brought to light. It had two courts,
one intended for the Israelites only, and the other, a large outer
court, called "the court of the Gentiles," intended for the use of
strangers of all nations. These two courts were separated by a low
wall, as Josephus states, some 4 1/2 feet high, with thirteen
openings. Along the top of this dividing wall, at regular intervals,
were placed pillars bearing in Greek an inscription to the effect that
no stranger was, on the pain of death, to pass from the court of the
Gentiles into that of the Jews. At the entrance to a graveyard at the
north-western angle of the Haram wall, a stone was discovered by M.
Ganneau in 1871 built into the wall, bearing the following inscription
in Greek capitals: "No stranger is to enter within the partition wall
and enclosure around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will be
responsible to himself for his death, which will ensue." There can be
no doubt that the stone thus discovered was one of those originally
placed on the boundary wall which separated the Jews from the
Gentiles, of which Josephus speaks. It is of importance to notice
that the word rendered "sanctuary" in the inscription was used in a
specific sense of the inner court, the court of the Israelites, and is
the word rendered "temple" in
(John 2:15; Acts 21:28,29) When Paul
speaks of the middle wall of partition
(Ephesians 2:14) he probably makes
allusion to this dividing wall. Within this partition wall stood the
temple proper, consisting of,
1. the court of the women, 8 feet higher than the outer court;
2. 10 feet higher than this court was the court of Israel;
3. the court of the priests, again 3 feet higher; and lastly
4. the temple floor, 8 feet above that; thus in all 29 feet
above the level of the outer court.
The summit of Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood, is now occupied
by the Haram esh-Sherif, i.e., "the sacred enclosure." This enclosure
is about 1,500 feet from north to south, with a breadth of about 1,000
feet, covering in all a space of about 35 acres. About the centre of
the enclosure is a raised platform, 16 feet above the surrounding
space, and paved with large stone slabs, on which stands the
Muslim mosque called Kubbet es-Sahkra i.e., the "Dome of the
Rock," or the Mosque of Omar. This mosque covers the site of Solomon's
temple. In the centre of the dome there is a bare, projecting rock,
the highest part of Moriah (q.v.), measuring 60 feet by 40 standing 6
feet above the floor of the mosque, called the sahkra, i.e., "rock."
Over this rock the altar of burnt-offerings stood. It was the
threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. The exact position on this
"sacred enclosure" which the temple occupied has not been yet
definitely ascertained. Some affirm that Herod's temple covered the
site of Solomon's temple and palace, and in addition enclosed a square
of 300 feet at the south-western angle. The temple courts thus are
supposed to have occupied the southern portion of the "enclosure,"
forming in all a square of more than 900 feet. It is argued by others
that Herod's temple occupied a square of 600 feet at the south-west of
the "enclosure."
