ii. Herod's temple. — There are several ad- mirable descriptions of Herod's temple published and easily available ; § all are based on the main sources, viz. Jos. Ant. XV. xi., BJ \. v., c. Ap. i. 22, and the Mishnic tractate Middoth.W It will, therefore, not be necessary to give a detailed account here, but a general outline to illustrate the Gospel references is necessary. Herod the Great commenced rebuilding the temple IT in the year B.C. 20 (the eighteenth year of his reign), on the site of the second temple ; but the available space was insufficient for the much larger building which he intended to erect. He therefore con- structed immense vaulted chambers ** on the south side of the hill on which the earlier temple stood ; by this means the area at his disposal was doubled. A general idea of the whole will be best gained by indicating its main divisions :
1. The Outer Court. — This large space (two stadiaW in length, one in breadth, the perimeter being six stadia), which surrounded the temple proper, was enclosed by a battlemented wall. The main entrances to this enclosure were on the west, leading from the city ; here there were four gates, the remains of one of which have been discovered.JJ
* 0 01x0; ToZ Blov (Mt 124, Mk 226, Lk 64) is used in reference to the sanctuary at Nob, 1 S 214-6.
t On this passage see Swete, in loc.
t l/mfMS is read by NOD OL, but omitted by all other authorities.
§ The most useful are those in Riehm's HBA ii. pp. 1636- 1645 ; the section ' Tempel des Herodes ' in Nowack's Heb. Arch. ii. pp. 74-83; the account in Guthe's Kurzes Bibel-Worterbuch, pp. 653-^58. The best, however, is that in Hastings' DB ; it is very full, and the excellent illustrations enable one to form a definite picture of what the temple looked like in the time of Christ ; the art. in the Encye. Bibl. is very useful ; there is also an interesting art. in vol. xii. of the Jewish Encyclopedia. See, further, the literature at the end of this article.
II ed. Surenhusius, see also Hildersheim's description in Jahresbericht des Rabbiner-Seminars fiir das orthodoxe Jxiden- thum> (Berlin, 1876-1877). Middoth belongs to the 2nd cent. a. d. , but its account of the temple is evidently based on reliable data. The original sources are not always in agreement, but takmg them together a sufficiently accurate picture of Herod's teniple is obtainable.
IT It was not completed until the procuratorship of Albinus (a.d. 62-64). Its site is to-day occupied by the Haram es-Sherif, though this includes also part of the site formerly covered by the Tower of Antonia, which stood at the north-west of the temple area.
** Called by the Arabs ' Solomon's Stables' ; opinions differ as to whether they belong to an earlier period, and were only renovated by Herod, or whether Herod constructed them him- self, or whether they belong to a later date altogether.
t+ A stadium = 60(y^ English feet.
tt Known, after the name of the discoverer, as Wilson's Arch (see Warren and Conder's Survey of Western Palestine, ' Jeru- salem,' p. 196).
TExMPLE
TEMPLE
r09
'Golden Gate,' the ' Beautiful the north there
On the south side were the two ' Huldah ' gates, remains of which have also been discovered. On the south-west corner there was a bridge which led from the city into the temple area ; a huge arch which formed part of this bridge was dis- covered by Robinson, and is called after him. There was one gate on the east, whicli has been walled up ; this was called the which tradition identihes with Gate' mentioned in Ac 3-.* On was likewise one gate, called in Midduth tlie ' Tadi Gate.'t All these gates led directly into the great temple area, or outer court ; around the whole area, within the walls, were ranged porticoes witii double rows of pillars ; but the linest was that on tiie south side ; here tliere were four rows of Corin- thian columns made of white marble. All these porticoes were covered with a roof of wood. The eastern portico was called Solomon's Porch (Jn 10'^, cf. Ac 3'* 5^^) ; it belonged to an earlier build- ing which tradition ascribed to Solomon. On the north-west two sets of steps led up to the Tower of Antonia ; the Roman garrison stationed here kept constant watch during the feasts and other occa- sions of great gatherings, in case of tumult (cf. Ac 2135. 40 j_ This temple area was called the ' Court of the Gentiles ' ; it was not part of the temple proper, and therefore not sacred soil, consequently any one might enter it. It is to this outer court that refer- ence is made in Mt 21'2-i6^ Mk IP^ff-, Lk 19«- *«, Jn 2'^''''; the money-changers J and those who sold animals for the temple sacrifices had free access here.
2. The Coupt of the Israelites. — This inner court was raised fifteen cubits § above the outer one just referred to ; it was surrounded by a terrace (Ml), ten cubits in breadth, which was approached from the outer court by ascending fourteen steps ; these steps ran round the whole terrace, and at the bottom of them tiiere was a low wall or breast- work [sureg) wlucii was the limit to which non- Israelites might approach ; along it were placed, at intervals, inscriptions warning Gentiles not to pass beyond, on pain of death ; they were written in Latin and Greek ; one of the latter has been discovered by Clermont-Ganneau.|| On entering this inner court, ' holy ' ground was reached, which accounted for the proliibition just referred to ; only the seed of Abraham might enter here, hence its name. It was divided into two portions :