He this as it may, we find that the Temple itself was of the exact dimensions of that built by Solomon, viz. an adytum (Kzek. xl. 1-4) twenty cubits square, a naos twenty liy forty, and surrounded by cells often cubits' width, including the thickness of the walls; the whole, with the porch, making up forty cubits by eighty. The height, inifortunately, is not given. Beyond this were various courts and residences for the priests, and places for sacrifice and other ceremonies of the Temple, till he comes to the outer court, which measured five hundred reeds on each of its sides; each reed (vcr. 5) was six Babylonian cubits long, viz. of cubits each of one ordinary cubit and a handbreadth, or, at the lowest estimate, twenty-one inches. The reed was therefore at least ten feet six inches, and the side consequently five thousand two hundred and fifty Greek feet, or with- in a few feet of an English mile, considerably more than the whole area of the city of Jerusalem, Temple included.
It has been attempted to get over this difficulty by saying that the |iropbet meant cubits, not reeds; but this is (piite untenable. Nothing can be more clear than the specification of the length of the reed, and nothing more careful than the mode in which reeds are distin- guished from cubits throughout ; as, for instance, in the next two verses ((5 and 7), where a chamber and a gate- way are mentioned, each of one reed. If "cubit" were substituted, it would be nonsense. Nevertheless, Prof. Paine has given a reconstruction of this as well as the actual Temple, for the description and dimensions in the vision are consistent with themselves and capable of being jilotted down.
Notwithstanding its ideal character, the whole is ex- tremely curious, as showing what were the aspirations of the Jews in this direction, and how different they were from those of other nations; and it is interesting here, inasmuch as there can be little doubt but that the arrangements of Herod's Temple were in some measure influenced by the description here given. The outer court, for instance, with its porticos measuring five hundred cubits each way, is an exact counterpart, on a smaller scale, of the outer court of Ezekiel's Temple, and is not found in either Solomon's or Zerubbabel's; and so too, evidently, are several of the internal arrangements. See EzEKiKi,.
VIII. llerocTs Temple. — The most full, explicit, and trustworthy information on this subject is contained in that tract of the Jewish Talmud entitled Mlddoth (i. e. "measures"), which is almost as minute in its descrip- tions and dimensions (no doubt by parties who had seen, and as priests been familiar with, the edifice) as a modern architect's specifications. Besides this, the two descrip- tions of the Temple incidentally given by Josephus («/ «w/>.) are the only consecutive accounts of the ancient structure. Our principal attempt will therefore be to fol- low these where they agree, and to reconcile their seem- ing discrepancies, noting at the same time all important allusions in the Bible and uninspired historians of antiq- uity, and constantly comparing the whole with the indi- cations on the modern site. Occasional use, for verifica- tion, may be made of the measures in the spiritual temple of Ezek. xl-xlii, but with great caution, as but few of them seem to have been borrowed from the actual type, which, moreover, was Solomon's Temple, and not Herod's.
(I.) Tui; OCTEK ClKOUIT OF TUK TeMPI.E.
We assume thiit the present enclosure of the Hninni corresponds to the aie;is of the Temple and of t lie Tower Antouia t,aken together; and the most convenient mode of considering the general contour of the outer wall will be afier presenting tlie following arguments:
i. Remains of cyclopean masonry are still found at in- tervals on all the sides of the present enclosure of the pe- culinr bevelled character which niiitks their antiquity. The English engineers engaged in the late Ordnance sur- vey traced these all aloni; the southern end, and found them resting on the native rock, some of them still re- taining the marks of the original Tyrian workmen (see lierovenj of JcrvmUm., p. lOS). Mow Josephus informs us (Ant. XV, 11, 3: Ha?-, v, 5, 1) thnt the area of Moriah was enlarged by building up enormous walls from the valleys
Perspective of Herod's Temple, with all its Courts (.according to Paine), as seen from the East.
TEMPLE
259
TEMPLE
St )iie C of the Second Course from the Bottom of the E; Haram at Jerusalem. (The marks are in red paint, and they are now upside-down, showing that the stones were ed lu the quarry.)
and filling them in with earth. The lower courses of these seem to have heen buried under the rubbish that fell upon them from the demolition of the upper part of the walls, and have thus escaped. It is ditiionlt to su))- pose that such masonry could iiave been the work of later times, or that the area would have been altered after such prodigious bounds had been set to it. Particular coinci- dences of ruins on the eastern, southern, and western sides will be noted in giving the circuit of the wall in de- tail. The "Jews' Wailing-place" along the western wall is agreed upon all hands to be a veritable mark of antiq- uity, Koiug back at least as far as the time of Herod.