1. A public edifice erected in honor of some deity. Among pagans, a building erected to some pretended deity, and in which the people assembled to worship. Originally, temples were open places, as the Stonehenge in England. In Rome, some of the temples were open, and called sacella; others were roofed, and called oedes. The most celebrated of the ancient pagan temples were that of Belus in Babylon, that of Vulcan at Memphis, that of Jupiter at Thebes, that of Diana at Ephesus, that of Apollo in Miletus, that of Jupiter Olympius in Athens, and that of Apollo at Delphi. The most celebrated and magnificent temple erected to the true God, was that built by Solomon in Jerusalem.
2. In Scripture, the tabernacle is sometimes called by this name. 1 Samuel 1:9 -3.
3. A church; an edifice erected among christians as a place of public worship.
4. Can he whose life is a perpetual insult to the authority of God, enter with any pleasure a temple consecrated to devotion and sanctified by prayer?
5. A place in which the divine presence specially resides; the church as a collective body. Ephesians 2:21 .
6. In England, the Temples are two inns of court, thus called because anciently the dwellings of the knights Templars. They are called the Inner and the Middle temple
7. Literally, the fall of the head; the part where the head slopes from the top.
8. In anatomy, the anterior and lateral part of the head, where the skull is covered by the temporal muscles.
TEMPLE. The temple is an institution common to religions of natural growth -which have reached a certain stage, and in most languages bears a name expressing that it is the house or palace erected by men as a habitation for their god (Greek, ναός; Hebrew, hehal, “palace,” or l)eth elohim, “house of God”; Latin, aedes sacrae). In this connexion the term “house of God” has quite a different sense from that -which we connect with it when we apply it to a Christian place of worship. A temple is not a meeting-place for worshippers; for many ancient temples were open only to priests, and as a general rule the altar, which was the true place of worship, stood not within the house but before the door. The temple is the dwelling-house of the deity to which it is consecrated, whose presence is marked by a statue or other sacred symbol; and in it his sacred treasures, the gifts and tribute of his worshippers, are kept, under the charge of his attendants or priests. Again, a temple implies a sanctuary; but a sanctuary or holy spot does not necessarily contain a temple. A piece of land may be reserved for the deity without a dwelling-house being erected to him upon it, and a sacred tree, stone, or altar, with the holy precinct surrounding it, may be recognized as a place where the worshipper can meet his god and present his offerings, although no temple is attached. Indeed the conception of a holy place, separated from profane use, is older than the beginnings of architecture; and natural objects of worship, such as trees and stones, which need no artificial protection or official keeper, are older than images enshrined under roofs and protected by walls and doors. All antique religion is essentially altar-worship (see Sacrifice), and for ritual purposes the altar ...always continued to be the true centre of the sanctuary. But the altar is only a modification of the sacred stone (comp. Priest, vol. xix. p. 726), and it has already been observed that, even in later times, the chief altar of a sanctuary stood outside the temple. In the oldest and most primitive forms of religion the sacred stone is at once the place -where gifts are offered and the material sign of the presence of the deity; thus the temple with its image belongs to a later development, in which the significance of the sacred stone is divided between the altar outside the door and the idol, or its equivalent, within. But in many very ancient sanctuaries the place of a temple is taken by a natural or artificial grotto (e.g., the Phoenician Astartegrottoes, the grotto of Cynthus in Delos), or else the temple is built over a subterranean opening (as at Delphi); and, while this may be in part explained as connected with the cult of telluric deities, or the worship of the dead, it seems not unreasonable to think that in their origin cave temples may date back to the time when caves were commonly used as human habitations, that the altar in front of the temple had its prototype in altars at the mouths of sacred caves, which were approached with holy fear and not entered by ordinaryworshippers, and that thus some of the main features of the ancient temple were fixed from the first by the analogy of more primitive sanctuaries. The influence of the cave temple seems at least to be undeniable in that widespread type of sanctuary in which, besides the court for the worshippers and an outer chamber, there was a dark and mysterious inner room, an adytum or Holy of Holies. This type is found in Egypt (see Architecture, vol. ii. p. 388 and plate VII.), among the Semites, as in the temple at Jerusalem and in that of Hierapolis (De Dea Syr., § 31), and also among the Greeks and Romans. In Greece the adytum was not a universal feature, though large temples usually had an antechamber as well as the cella or proper chamber of the god. But, where an oracle was given, or mysteries were celebrated, an adytum was always found, and one of its names was μiγαpov, which seems to be a transcription of a Semitic word for a cave (megharap Certain adyta in Greece were actually subterranean; and the association of oracles with caves is well known.
The architectural features and plan of temples in various parts of the world have been illustrated at length in the article Architecture, and need not detain us here, but some further notice of the successive temples at Jerusalem is called for by the unique interest of the subject, while a glance at the topographical problems connected with this holy site is necessary to supplement the article Jerusalem.
1. The Temple of Solomon.— There were temples among the Hebrews before the time of Solomon, whether private, like that of Micah (Judges xvii. 5), or public, like that of Shiloh, where the ark was housed for a time (see Tabernacle). In this, as in other matters, the Israelites must have learned from the Canaanites, who had large temples in the time of the Judges. The “hold” (vault?) of the temple of El-Berith at Shechem was the place of refuge for a thousand men (Judges ix. 46 s<∕.), and at Gaza there was a vast temple with a roof supported on two middle pillars (Judges xvi. 29). Solomon’s enterprise was not therefore absolutely novel, and in point of size his temple can hardly have surpassed those just mentioned. But his subjects were much behind the Canaanites and Philistines in the constructive arts, and as Solomon had to call in the aid of Tyriancraftsmen it cannot be questioned that the design was derived from Tyrian architecture. The general plan, indeed, of the house or “palace” (hehat) of Jehovah, with an adytum (debιr, E.V. “oracle ”), an outer chamber, and an altar before the door, is, as we have seen, common to many countries, especially in temples which had an oracle, as was the case with Solomon’s temple, built to contain the ark. But all the distinctive features are Phoenician, or at least characteristic of the northern Semites, of whose art the Phoenicians were then the leading exponents. For the general arrangements the temple of Hierapolis (Mabbög), described by Lucian, offers a complete parallel. Like that of Solomon, it faced the east, and had two cellae and a pronaos. The interior was enriched with gold work. Before the door stood a brazen altar within a walled court. The walled court is a constant feature in the Phoenician and Syrian temples, known to us from their remains or from coins, and the golden decorations, the portico, and the brazen altar appear in the ancient temple of Byblus and in other Phoenician shrines (CH.S., Nos. 2, 143). The chief motives in the internal decoration of Solomon’s temple were the palm tree and the cherub. The former is one of the commonest Phoenician symbols, and the Phoenician associations of the latter are clear from Ezek. xxviii. The cherub, in fact, is only a variety of the sphinx, and the way in which the Dahn and winded animal fisures were combined in
Phoenician decoration is shown in a fragment of alabaster preserved in the Louvre and here figured (fig. 1) after Perrot (op. cit., iii. 131). Two cherubs with outstretched wings stood in the adytum to form a baldachin over the ark. Baldachins over the image or symbol of the deity existed in other temples of the northern Semites (Donaldson, op.cit., pp. 73, 76 sq., 99), and in many Phoenician works of art (e.g., on the stele of Byblus) the figure or symbol of a deity is overshadowed by the winged disk (an Assyrian symbol of godhead) arranged as a sort of canopy (Ménant, Glyptique Oriental, ii. 231, 238).
The adytum of the temple was a cube of 20 cubits each way; the outer chamber was of the same breadth, but 40 cubits long and 30 high. The portico was of the breadth of the main building and 10 cubits deep. That the two chambers were separated by a solid wall and not by a mere wooden partition may be taken as certain if, with Stade, we understand 1 Kings vi. 31 to say that the doorway of the adytum was pentagonal, i.e., that instead of a horizontal lintel a rude arch of two blocks was introduced to distribute the pressure of the superincumbent wall. In this case it is not likely that the exterior walls of the adytum were carried up to a height of 30 cubits, so as to allow of a continuous roof. The reduction of the dimensions to English feet is approximately determined by the Siloam inscription, which gives a round number of 1200 cubits for a measured length of 1760 feet. The Hebrew cubit, therefore, was the short cubit of antiquity, and for practical purposes may be taken as equal to the Greek cubit of 18 inches, used by Josephus for the measurements of Herod’s temple. Thus the roof-beams of the temple had a span of 30 feet, a length sufficient to make it probable that the wooden pillars spoken of in 1 Kings x. 12 (comp. 2 Kings xviii. 16) were employed to support them. The roof of the temple at Gaza rested on pillars, as we have seen, and wooden pillars seem to have been used within the temple at Golgus (Cesnola, Cyprus, p. 139), which was smaller than that of Jerusalem. A peculiar feature in Solomon’s temple was that all its sides except the front were surrounded by three stories (each 5 cubits high) of small chambers, 5 cubits wide on the ground floor, 6 on the first floor, and 7 on the second, the increasing breadth being evidently got by reducing the thickness of the walls by 1 cubit at each floor. Thus, allowing for the walls, the external measurements of the house cannot have been much less than 45 cubits by 90. The aspect of the façade can only be conjecturally determined. Several Phoenician temples, known from coins, show on their façade a high-pitched gable (Byblus, Tripolis), and that of Tripolis has also a flat-roofed wing on each side of the gable and portico, which would answ er to the ends of the side chambers in our temple. But perhaps the closest analogy to the frontispiece of Solomon’s temple is the often-cited one of the temple at Paphos, of which a representation from a coin is annexed (fig. 2). Here the portico between the side wings is flanked by two slender towers, and in the end of the nave above the door there are square-topped windows. Solomon’s temple had “windows of beams” (or “with horizontal lintels ”) “framed in,” which, as Professor J. H. Middleton observes, is naturally explained on the analogy of the windows between the beams in the wooden gables of Coptic churches. This is the obvious position of openings for light in buildings the type of which was derived from wooden constructions, and we know that the oldest Phoenician temples were, at least in great part, of wood (L T tica; Pliny, H.N., xvi. 79; comp. Jos., C. Ap., i. 17, 18, and Solomon’s house of the forest of Lebanon). That Solomon’s temple had towers cannot be proved, for the height of the porch is not given in Kings, and the 120 cubits of 2 Chron. iii. 4 is obviously an excessive figure, due to a mistake of the writer or of a copyist. But the fact that in Ezekiel’s ideal temple the door-posts of the porch are 5 cubits broad makes the existence of slender turrets like those of Paphos on each side of the portal probable. Another feature of Solomon’s temple is exactly reproduced at Paphos. On each side of the door the coin shows a fantasticpillar standing free. Solomon erected two such pillars of bronze, 18 cubits high (1 Kings vii. 15 sqf with capitals of “lily work,” i.e., adorned with lotus flowers, like the Phoenician capital from Cyprus figured by Perrot (op. cit., p. 116). Such twin pillars or twinstelae in stone are of constant occurrence in Phoenician sacred art, and are still familiar to us as the Pillars of Hercules. In Solomon’s temple both the oracle and the outer cella had folding doors. In the second and third temples the inner door was replaced by a vail (parokheth), and a vail also hung before the outer door (Mal. i. 10; 1 Mac. i. 22, iv. 51; B. J., v. 5, § 4 sg.). The Chronicler (2 Chron. iii. 14) introduces a vail in the first temple. This feature also seems to be common to the temple with other Semitic shrines (comp. C.LS., No. 86, D□ΙD, Assyr. parakku, Syriac prakke, “shrines,” and the Kaaba at Mecca).
The temple had an inner court of its own (1 Kings vi. 36), but the outer or great court (1 Kings vii. 12) was the court of the palace as well as of the sanctuary. Details as to the position of the courts and buildings must be reserved till we speak of the site, but it may be noticed that Jer. xxxvi. 10 speaks of the “higher court,” to which the “new gate” of the temple belonged. This new gate in the higher court can hardly be different from the “higher gate” built by Jotham (2 Kings xv. 35), or from the “higher gate” of Benjamin, which, in Jer. xx. 2, is not the city gate of that name, but a gate “in” (not “by” as E.V.) “the house of the Lord.” From its name this gate must have been on the north side or at the north-east angle of the temple area, so that the ground rose to the north or north-east. The upper court may be merely the upper part of the great court near the “higher gate” leading to the palace (2 Chrom xxiii. 20), or may be the same as the “new court” of 2 Chrom XX. 5. But one cannot be sure that the Chronicler is not transferring to Jehoshaphat’s time a new court of the second temple. We know, however, that the kings of Judah made from time to time considerable changes in and about the temple.
2. The Temple of Zerubbabel.— After the captivity an altar of stone took the place of the brazen altar, or rather perhaps of the altar of Ahaz (2 Kings xvi. 10 sqf The altar was erected immediately after the return (Ezra iii.
2); but the rebuilding of the temple was long delayed, and the work was not completed till 520 b.c. (see Haggai). It was much inferior to the first temple in magnificence, though not perhaps in size (Haggai ii. 3). The proposed breadth of 60 cubits and height of 60 cubits spoken of in Ezra vi. 3 would indeed imply that it was larger than the first temple, but in view of the testimony of Haggai (loc. cit.) it seems unlikely that these dimensions were realized by Zerubbabel.
The first temple resembled other temples of antiquity in being built to contain a visible symbol of the presence of the deity, namely, the ark, which stood in the inner chamber. In the second temple the adytum was empty, but the idea that the Godhead was locally present in it still found expression in the continuance of the altar service, in the table of showbread (a sort of continual lectisternium) that stood in the outer chamber, and above all in the annual ritual of the day of atonement, when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of the expiatory sacrifice on behalf of the people. Not only in this point but in all others the ritual of the second temple was dominated by the idea of priestly mediation, and the stated sacrifices of the priests on behalf of the people, -which replaced the old stated oblations of the kings, became the main feature of the altar service. The first temple was primarily the royal chapel, and the kings did as they pleased in it; the second temple was the sanctuary of the priests, whose chief now became the temporal as well as the spiritual head of the people. In the time of Ezekiel not only laymen but uncircumcised foreigners entered the sanctuary and acted as servants in the sacred offices (Ezek. xliv. 7); in the second temple the laity were anxiously kept at a distance from the holy things, and even part of the court around the altar was fenced off by a barrier, which only the priests were allowed to cross (Joseph., Anh, xiii. 13, § 5). Being no longer hemmed in by the royal buildings, as the first temple had been (Ezek. xliii. 8), its precincts could be expanded to suit the necessities of the enormous host of ministers of various ranks demanded by the growing complexity of the ritual, which, in matters of music and the like, was immensely developed as time went on (comp. Psalms). Herod’s temple, with the dependent buildings, was a little city enclosed in its own fortifications. But long before his time the temple was a sort of priestly citadel, the fortress as well as the sanctuary of the hierocracy; and the sacred offerings which flowed to Jerusalem from Jews in all parts of the world were lavishly expended on enlarging and strengthening it (Jos., B. J., v. 5, § 1). The name of Simon II. (c. 200 b.c.) is associated in Ecclus. 1. 1 sq. with important works of fortification on the circuit of the temple. Twice ruined in the wars with the Seleucids, these bulwarks were twice rebuilt, by Judas and Jonathan Maccabaeus (1 Mac. vi. 7; Jos., Ant., xiii. 5, § 11). The works were further strengthened by Simon (1 Mac. xiii. 52), and at the time of Pompey’s siege (63 b.c.) constituted an almost impregnable fastness, strengthened on its weakest or northern side by great towers and a deep ditch (Ant., xiv. 4, § 2). Twenty-six years later the temple was again besieged by Herod, who, attacking, like Pompey, from the north, had to force three lines of defence,—the city wall and the outer and inner temple (Ant., xiv. 16, § 2).
Of the temple as it was in the Greek or the Hasmonean period we have two descriptions by Hellenistic Jews, Pseudo-Aristaeus (comp. Septuagint) and Pseudo-Hecataeus (Jos., C. Ap., i. 22). In such a matter - we may suspect even notorious literary forgers of carelessness and exaggeration rather than of absolute untruth. Pseudo-Aristaeus describes the temple as surrounded by a triple circuit of walls more than 70 cubits high, and as further protected by the adjoining Aera, which overlooked the place of sacrifice. Comparing the account of Herod’s siege, we may perhaps take the third circuit to be the wall of the town, which is represented as lying below the temple on the same hill. The upper city on the western hill is ignored, which seems to show that the account was written before the Hasmonean period (comp. Jerusalem, vol. xiii. p. 641), as has been argued on other grounds in Septuagint. The Aera, which is often mentioned in the history of the Maccabee wars, seems to have been on the same site as the Baris or castle of the Hasmonean priest-princes, where they put on their priestly robes before doing sacrifice (Ant., xv. 11, § 4). That the Baris was close to the temple appears both from this circumstance and from the fact that Antigonus was charged with setting fire to the porticoes of the temple during the siege by Herod (Ant., xiv. 16, § 2),—an accusation which would have had no plausibility unless the destruction of the porticoes had been useful to isolate the castle. Pseudo-Hecataeus gives the temple precincts a length of 500 feet and a breadth of 100 cubits. The explanation of these numbers will appear in the sequel.
3. The Temple of Herod.— In the eighteenth year of his reign (20-19 b.c.) Herod the Great began to rebuild the temple and its precincts from the foundation, doubling the old area (Ani., xv. 11; Bell. Jud., i. 21). The works included the reconstruction, on the old site, of the Baris, which now received the name of Antonia, and is generally reckoned by Josephus as forming part of the temple precincts. Apart from the Antonia, the temple area formed a quadrangular plateau supported by retaining walls of great height and strength, and surrounded by porticoes. Three of the porticoes were double walks, 30 cubits broad, with monolith pillars 25 cubits high, and cedar roofs; the fourth or southern portico (the Stoa Basilica) had four rows of Corinthian pillars and three walks, respectively 30, 45, and 30 cubits in breadth. The middle walk was twice the height of the aisles, and the latter were 50 feet high. As regards the size...
the house of God; properly the temple of Solomon. David first conceived the design of building a house somewhat worthy of the divine majesty, and opened his mind to the Prophet Nathan, 2 Sam. vii; 1 Chron. xvii; xxii, 8, &c. God accepted of his good intentions, but refused him the honour. Solomon laid the foundation of the temple, A. M. 2992, completed it in 3000, and dedicated it in 3001, 1 Kings viii, 2; 2 Chron. v, vi, vii. According to the opinion of some writers, there were three temples, namely, the first, erected by Solomon; the second, by Zerubbabel, and Joshua the high priest; and the third, by Herod, a few years before the birth of Christ. But this opinion is, very properly, rejected by the Jews; who do not allow the third to be a new temple, but only the second temple repaired and beautified: and this opinion corresponds with the prophecy of Haggai, ii, 9, “that the glory of this latter house,” the temple built by Zerubbabel, “should be greater than that of the former;” which prediction was uttered with reference to the Messiah’s honouring it with his presence and ministry. The first temple is that which usually bears the name of Solomon; the materials for which were provided by David before his death, though the edifice was raised by his son. It stood on Mount Moriah, an eminence of the mountainous ridge in the Scriptures termed Mount Zion, Psalm cxxxii, 13, 14, which had been purchased by Araunah, or Ornan, the Jebusite, 2 Sam. xxiv, 23, 24; 1 Chron. xxi, 25. The plan, and the whole model of this superb structure, were formed after that of the tabernacle, but of much larger dimensions. It was surrounded, except at the front or east end, by three stories of chambers, each five cubits square, which reached to half the height of the temple; and the ...front was ornamented with a magnificent portico, which rose to the height of one hundred and twenty cubits: so that the form of the whole edifice was not unlike that of some ancient churches, which have a lofty tower in the front, and a low aisle running along each side of the building. The utensils for the sacred service were the same; excepting that several of them, as the altar, candlestick, &c, were larger, in proportion to the more spacious edifice to which they belonged. Seven years and six months were occupied in the erection of the superb and magnificent temple of Solomon, by whom it was dedicated, A. M. 3001, B. C. 999, with peculiar solemnity, to the worship of the Most High; who on this occasion vouchsafed to honour it with the Shechinah, or visible manifestation of his presence. Various attempts have been made to describe the proportions and several parts of this structure; but as scarcely any two writers agree on this subject, a minute description of it is designedly omitted. It retained its pristine splendour only thirty-three or thirty-four years, when Shishak, king of Egypt, took Jerusalem, and carried away the treasures of the temple; and after undergoing subsequent profanations and pillages, this stupendous building was finally plundered and burnt by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, A. M. 3416, or B. C. 584, 2 Kings xxv, 13–15; 2 Chron. xxxvi, 17–20.
After the captivity, the temple emerged from its ruins being rebuilt by Zerubbabel, but with vastly inferior and diminished glory; as appears from the tears of the aged men who had beheld the former structure in all its grandeur, Ezra iii, 12. The second temple was profaned by order of Antiochus Epiphanes, A. M. 3837, B. C. 163, who caused the daily sacrifices to be discontinued, and erected the image of Jupiter Olympus on the altar of burnt-offering. In this condition it continued three years, 1 Mac. iv, 42, when Judas Maccabæus purified and repaired it, and restored the sacrifices and true worship of Jehovah. Some years before the birth of our Saviour, the repairing and beautifying of this second temple, which had become decayed in the lapse of five centuries, was undertaken by Herod the Great, who for nine years employed eighty thousand workmen upon it, and spared no expense to render it equal, if not superior, in magnitude, splendour, and beauty, to any thing among mankind. Josephus calls it a work the most admirable of any that had ever been seen or heard of, both for its curious structure and its magnitude, and also for the vast wealth expended upon it, as well as for the universal reputation of its sanctity. But though Herod accomplished his original design in the time above specified, yet the Jews continued to ornament and enlarge it, expending the sacred treasure in annexing additional buildings to it; so that they might with great propriety assert, that their temple had been forty and six years in building, John ii, 20.
Before we proceed to describe this venerable edifice, it may be proper to remark, that by the temple is to be understood not only the fabric or house itself, which by way of eminence is called the temple, namely, the holy of holies, the sanctuary, and the several courts both of the priests and Israelites, but also all the numerous chambers and rooms which this prodigious edifice comprehended; and each of which had its respective degree of holiness, increasing in proportion to its contiguity to the holy of holies. This remark it will be necessary to bear in mind, lest the reader of Scripture should be led to suppose, that whatever is there said to be transacted in the temple was actually done in the interior of that sacred edifice. To this infinite number of apartments, into which the temple was disposed, our Lord refers, John xiv, 2; and by a very striking and magnificent simile, borrowed from them, he represents those numerous seats and mansions of heavenly bliss which his Father’s house contained, and which were prepared for the everlasting abode of the righteous. The imagery is singularly beautiful and happy, when considered as an allusion to the temple, which our Lord not unfrequently called his Father’s house.
The second temple, originally built by Zerubbabel after the captivity, and repaired by Herod, differed in several respects from that erected by Solomon, although they agreed in others.
The temple erected by Solomon was more splendid and magnificent than the second temple, which was deficient in five remarkable things that constituted the chief glory of the first: these were, the ark and the mercy seat; the shechinah, or manifestation of the divine presence, in the holy of holies; the sacred fire on the altar, which had been first kindled from heaven; the urim and thummim; and the spirit of prophecy. But the second temple surpassed the first in glory; being honoured by the frequent presence of our divine Saviour, agreeably to the prediction of Haggai, ii, 9. Both, however, were erected upon the same site, a very hard rock, encompassed by a very frightfulprecipice; and the foundation was laid with incredible expense and labour. The superstructure was not inferior to this great work: the height of the temple wall, especially on the south side, was stupendous. In the lowest places it was three hundred cubits, or four hundred and fifty feet, and in some places even greater. This most magnificent pile was constructed with hard white stones of prodigious magnitude. The temple itself, strictly so called, which comprised the portico, the sanctuary, and the holy of holies formed only a small part of the sacred edifice on Mount Moriah, being surrounded by spacious courts, making a square of half a mile in circumference. It was entered through nine gates, which were on every side thickly coated with gold and silver; but there was one gate without the holy house, which was of Corinthian brass, the most precious metal in ancient times, and which far surpassed the others in beauty. For while these were of equal magnitude, the gate composed of Corinthian brass was much larger; its height being fifty cubits, and its doors forty cubits, and its ornaments both of gold and silver being far more costly and massive. This is supposed to have been the “gate called Beautiful” in Acts iii, 2, where Peter and John, in the name of Christ, healed a man who had been lame from his birth. The first or outer court, which encompassed the holy house and the other courts, was named the court of the Gentiles; because the latter were allowed to enter into it, but were prohibited from advancing farther. It was surrounded by a range of porticoes, or cloisters, above which were galleries, or apartments, supported by pillars of white marble, each consisting of a single piece, and twenty-five cubits in height. One of these was called Solomon’s porch, or piazza, because it stood on a vast terrace, which he had originally raised from a valley beneath, four hundred cubits high, in order to enlarge the area on the top of the mountain, and make it equal to the plan of his intended building; and as this terrace was the only work of Solomon that remained in the second temple, the piazza which stood upon it retained the name of that prince. Here it was that our Lord was walking at the feast of dedication, John x, 23; and that the lame man, when healed by Peter and John, glorified God before all the people, Acts iii, 11. This superbportico is termed the royal portico by Josephus, who represents it as the noblest work beneath the sun, being elevated to such a prodigious height, that no one could look down from its flat roof to the valley below, without being seized with dizziness; the sight not reaching to such an immeasurable depth. The south-east corner of the roof of this portico, where the height was the greatest, is supposed to have been the ϖτερύγιον, pinnacle, or extreme angle, whence Satantempted our Saviour to precipitate himself, Matt, iv, 5; Luke iv, 9. This also was the spot where it was predicted that the abomination of desolation, or the Roman ensigns, should stand, Daniel ix, 27; Matt, xxiv, 15. Solomon’s portico was situated in the eastern front of the temple, opposite to the mount of Olives, where our Saviour is said to have sat when his disciples came to show him the grandeur of its various buildings, of which, grand as they were, he said, the time was approaching when one stone should not be left upon another, Matt, xxiv, 1–3. This outer court being assigned to the Gentile proselytes, the Jews, who did not worship in it themselves, conceived that it might lawfully be put to profane uses: for here we find that the buyers and sellers of animals for sacrifices, and also the moneychangers, had stationed themselves; until Jesus Christ, awing them into submission by the grandeur and dignity of his person and behaviour, expelled them; telling them that it was the house of prayer for all nations, and was not to be profaned, Matt. xxi, 12, 13; Mark xi, 15–17. Within the court of the Gentiles stood the court of the Israelites, divided into two parts, or courts; the outer one being appropriated to the women, and the inner one to the men. The court of the women was separated from that of the Gentiles by a low stone wall, or partition, of elegant construction, on which stood pillars at equal distances, with inscriptions in Greek and Latin, importing that no alien should enter into the holy place. To this wall St. Paul most evidently alludes in Eph. ii, 13, 14: “But now in Christ Jesus, ye, who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ: for he is our peace, who hath made both one, (united both Jews and Gentiles into one church,) and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;” having abolished the law of ordinances, by which, as by the wall of separation, both Jews and Gentiles were not only kept asunder, but also at variance. In this court was the treasury, over against which Christ sat, and beheld how the people threw their voluntary offerings into it, for furnishing the victims and other things necessary for the sacrifices, Mark xii, 41; John viii, 20. From the court of the women, which was on higher ground than that of the Gentiles, there was an ascent of fifteen steps into the inner or men’s court: and so called because it was appropriated to the worship of the male Israelites. In these two courts, collectively termed the court of the Israelites, were the people praying, each apart by himself, for the pardon of his sins, while Zacharias was offering incense within the sanctuary, Luke i, 10. Within the court of the Israelites was that of the priests, which was separated from it by a low wall, one cubit in height. This enclosure surrounded the altar of burnt-offerings, and to it the people brought their oblations and sacrifices; but the priests alone were permitted to enter it. From this court twelve steps ascended to the temple, strictly so called; which was divided into three parts, the portico, the outer sanctuary, and the holy place. In the portico was suspended the splendid votive offerings made by the piety of various individuals. Among other treasures, there was a golden table given by Pompey, and several golden vines of exquisiteworkmanship, as well as of immense size; for Josephus relates, that there were clusters as tall as a man. And he adds, that all around were fixed up and displayed the spoils and trophies taken by Herod from the barbarians and Arabians. These votive offerings, it should seem, were visible at a distance; for when Jesus Christ was sitting on the mount of Olives, and his disciples called his attention to the temple, they pointed out to him the gifts with which it was adorned, Luke xxi, 5. This porch had a very large portal or gate, which, instead of folding doors, was furnished with a costly Babylonianveil, of many colours, that mystically denoted the universe. From this the sanctuary, or holy place, was separated from the holy of holies by a double veil, which is supposed to have been the veil that was rent in twain at our Saviour’s crucifixion; thus emblematically pointing out that the separation between Jews and Gentiles was abolished; and that the privilege of the high priest was communicated to all mankind, who might henceforth have access to the throne of grace through the one great Mediator, Jesus Christ, Heb. x, 19–22. The holy of holies was twenty cubits square: into it no person was admitted but the high priest, who entered it once a year on the great day of atonement, Exod. xxx, 10; Lev. xvi, 2, 15, 34; Heb. ix, 2–7.
Magnificent as the rest of the sacred edifice was, it was infinitely surpassed in splendour by the inner temple, or sanctuary. Its appearance, according to Josephus, had every thing that could strike the mind, or astonish the sight: for it was covered on every side with plates of gold; so that when the sun rose upon it, it reflected so strong and dazzling an effulgence, that the eye of the spectator was obliged to turn away, being no more able to sustain its radiance than the splendour of the sun. To strangers who were approaching, it appeared at a distance like a mountain covered with snow; for where it was not decorated with plates of gold, it was extremely white and glistering. On the top it had sharp-pointed spikes of gold, to prevent any bird from resting upon it, and polluting it. There were, continues the Jewish historian, in that building, several stones which were forty-five cubits in length, five in height, and six in breadth. “When all these things are considered,” says Harwood, “how natural is the exclamation of the disciples, when viewing this immense building at a distance: ‘Master, see what manner of stones’ (ϖοταποὶ λίθοι, ‘what very large ones’) ‘and what buildings are here!’ Mark xiii, 1: and how wonderful is the declaration of our Lord upon this, how unlikely to be accomplished before the race of men who were then living should cease to exist! ‘Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.’ Improbable as this prediction must have appeared to the disciples at that time, in the short space of about thirty years after it was exactly accomplished; and this most magnificent temple, which the Jews had literally turned into a den of thieves, through the righteous judgment of God upon that wicked and abandoned nation, was utterly destroyed by the Romans A. D. 70, or 73 of the vulgar era, on the same month, and on the same day of the month, when Solomon’s temple had been razed to the ground by the Babylonians!”
Both the first and second temples were contemplated by the Jews with the highest reverence. Of their affectionate regard for the first temple, and for Jerusalem, within whose walls it was built, we have several instances in those Psalms which were composed during the Babylonish captivity; and of their profound veneration for the second temple we have repeated examples in the New Testament. They could not bear any disrespectful or dishonourable thing to be said of it. The least injurious slight of it, real or apprehended, instantly awakened all the choler of a Jew, and was an affront never to be forgiven. Our Saviour, in the course of his public instructions, having said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again,” John ii, 19, it was construed into a contemptuous disrespect, designedly thrown out against the temple; his words instantly descended into the heart of the Jews, and kept rankling there for some years; for, upon his trial, this declaration, which it was impossible for a Jew ever to forget or to forgive, was immediately alleged against him, as big with the most atrocious guilt and impiety: they told the court they had heard him publicly assert, “I am able to destroy this temple,” Matt. xxvi, 61. The rancour and virulence they had conceived against him for this speech, was not softened by all the affecting circumstances of that wretched death they saw him die; even as he hung upon the cross, with triumph, scorn, and exultation, they upbraided him with it, contemptuouslyshaking their heads, and saying, “Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself! If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross!” Matt. xxvii, 40. It only remains to add, that it appears, from several passages of Scripture, that the Jews had a body of soldiers who guarded the temple, to prevent any disturbances during the ministration of such an immense number of priests and Levites. To this guard Pilate referred, when he said to the chief priests and Pharisees who waited upon him to desire he would make the sepulchre secure, “Ye have a watch, go your way, and make it as secure as ye can,” Matt. xxvii, 65. Over these guards one person had the supreme command, who in several places is called the captain of the temple, or officer of the temple guard. “And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,” Acts iv, 1; v, 25, 26; John xviii, 12. Josephus mentions such an officer.
1. A gauge, pattern, or mold, commonly a thin plate or board, used as a guide to the form of the work to be executed; as, a mason's or a wheelwright's templet.
2. A short piece of timber, iron, or stone, placed in a wall under a girder or other beam, to distribute the weight or pressure.
Adv.sideways, sidelong, broadside on, on one side, abreast, alongside, beside, aside, by the side of, side by side, cheek by jowl, to windward, to leeward, laterally, right and left, on her beam ends
Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tentpeg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tentpeg through his temple.
She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
She reached for the tentpeg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple.
Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
Now the temple was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samsonentertain them.
And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
And Samson reached out for the two central pillars supporting the temple. Bracing himself against them with his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other,
And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people in it. So in his death he killed more than he had killed in his life.
So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.
So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.
And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.
They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people.
And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple.
And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.
He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.
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