* As Judaea was not under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, Christ would be more unfettered in His action there.
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with the otlier prime mark of practical Judaism, viz. the saci-ificial system. That this is really the inner meaning of the ' cleansing ' of the temple, the following considerations will show :
(i. ) Excepting on this supposition, there was no meaning in Christ's action ; the Outer Court, or 'Court of the Gentiles,' where the 'cleansing' took place (see above, ii. 1), was not ' sacred ' soil ; it cannot, therefore, have been on account of profana- tion of the temple that Christ acted as He did. The sheep and oxen, doves, and money-changers, were all absolutely essential for the carrying on of the sacrificial system of the time ; Christ's action was too significant to be misunderstood. — (ii. ) The stress laid in each of the three Synoptics on the temple being a ' house of prayer,' seems to point in the same direction. There is some significancej too, in the dialogue which took place very shortly" after be- tween our Lord and one of the scribes (Mt 12^^^), when the latter says : ' . . . and to love his neighbour as himself, is much more than whole burnt-otierings and sacrifices,' — words which Christ describes as 'discreet.' — (iii.) The event took place just before the Feast of the Passover, i.e. at a time when the sacrificial animals would be crowding in as they did at no other time of the year. This made Christ's action all the more significant. — (iv.) The Avliole belief and attitude of both hierarchy and people regarding the sacrifices were such that the abrogation of these latter was an indispensable necessity if Christ's teaching was to have practical and permanent results. Vast as the number of public, official sacrifices were, those of private indi- viduals were of an infinitely greater number ; it was these latter that formed one of the characteristic marks of the worship at Jerusalem.
'Here, day after day, whole crowds of victims were slaugh- tered and whole masses of flesh burnt ; and when any of the high festivals came round, there was such a host of sacrifices to dispose of that it was scarcely possible to attend to them all, notwithstanding the fact that there were thousands of priests officiating on the occasion. But the people of Israel saw, in the punctilious observance of this worship, the principal means of securing for themselves the favour of their God' (Schiirer, HJP II. i. 298).
These considerations seem to show that the ' cleansing ' of the temple really did connote an intention in the mind of Christ to abrogate entirely the Jewish sacrificial system ; if this is not what it meant, it is difficult to see any point in it at all. In how far Christ intended to mark Himself out as Him in whom was hereafter to be centred a purified, spiritual ' sacrificial system,' — or, in other words, what the relations were between the 'cleansing' of tlie temple and the words spoken in the upper chamber, ' This is my body,' ' This is my blood,' — is a question which cannot be dealt with here.
If tlie meaning of the Clean.sing of the Temple here advocated be correct, it will at once be seen that few actions of our Lord possessed greater significance.
Literature.— Besides the various works referred to above,
Arch. _pp. 402-404, Leipzig, 1894; Clermont-Ganneaur^ rc^feo- logical Researches in Palestine, chs. iv.-vii., London 1899 • Box- in Eneyc. Bibl. iv. 4948-49,'5(i (for the services of the temple), London, 1903 ; Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, pp. 106-117, Oxford, 1903 ; Babelon, Mamial of Oriental Antiquities, ch. vii., London, 1906. w. O. E. OeSTERLEY.
TEMPTATION.— The word Trapdfw (noun wn- paa^ids, Lk 413 813 222«, Mt 6''' 26« ; intensive form fK-n-eipd^oj, Lk \0^\ Mt 4'^) has a neutral, a good, and a bad sense. It may mean simply 'to try,' 'make trial of,' 'test,' for the ])urpose of ascer- taining the ouality of a man, wliat lie tiiinks, or ho ; he will beiiave himself ; but usually there is
either a good (Jn 6", perhaps also Mt 22*') or a bad intent. In the latter case it means to solicit to sin, to temjH. That the word may be u.sed in the wider sense, even when rendered 'tempt,' must not be forgotten. In Ja 1'- ' temptation is used of trial generally, the issue of Avhich is intended to be the crown of life ; but in v.'^ 'tempted ' is used in the sense of solicited to sin ; and the writer very emphatically asserts, ' God cannot be tempted {awdpa(TTos) with evil, and he himself tempteth no man.' This statement seems to be contradicted by Jesus' quotation from Dt 6^^ in His answer to the second temptation in Mt 4^, as well as by the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer (Mt 6^^) ; but tempting God does not mean soliciting Him to sin, but trying His justice and patience, challenging Him to give proof of His perfection to such a degree as to incur His displeasure, and to expose oneself to His judgment ; and the temptations into which God is asked not to lead us, are the circumstances or the states of mind which, though to the strong they might prove the opportunities of winning 'the crown of life' (Ja P^), to weakness may be the occasions of failure and transgression. This weakness of His disciples, while admitting their good intentions, Jesus recognizes in His warning in Gethsemane (Mt 26^'), and commends their fidelity to Him in the trying experiences they had shared with Him (Lk 22^8). To the enthusi- astic but shallow hearers of His words He affirmed that trials (persecution, etc. ) would prove morally fatal (Lk 8^^). The cares and riches and pleasures of tliis life (v.i*) He regarded as hindrances to the higher life. Noteworthy is the emphasis He lays on the peril of wealth (Mt \^^- ^4). That Jesus dis- covered the moral peril in which Judas was placed from the very first indications of distrust and dis- loyalty to Himself, is suggested by Jn 6''*'- ''^ which shows also the danger He feared for the other disciples. His repeated references to His coming betrayal (Mt W^ 20i« 26^), His plain allusion to the presence of the traitor at the Last Supper (Lk 22^'), His giving the sop to Judas (Jn IS^**), may all be regarded as loving endeavours to strengthen him against temptation ; and even when all these efforts had proved vain, what good was still in him was appealed to in the pathetic reproach, ' Betrayest thou the Son of INIan with a kiss ? ' (Lk 22«). Peter, too, was warned against the temptation that threat- ened him (Lk 22^'- 3^) ; and Jesus, who feared his fall through his self-confident weakness, hoped for his recovery, and the help he could be to others after his recovery, because He believed in tlie power of His own intercessory prayer.