by Alfred Edersheim (1825-1889)
Preface
It has been my wish in this book, to take the reader back nineteen centuries; to show him Jerusalem as it was, when our Lord passed through its streets, and the Sanctuary, when He taught in its porches and courts; to portray, not only the appearance and structure of the Temple, but to describe its ordinances and worshippers, the ministry of its priesthood, and the ritual of its services. In so doing, I have hoped, not only to illustrate a subject, in itself most interesting to the Bible-student, but also, and chiefly, to sketch, in one important aspect, the religious life of the period in which our blessed Lord lived upon earth, the circumstances under which He taught, and the religious rites by which He was surrounded; and whose meaning, in their truest sense, He came to fulfil.
The Temple and its services form, so to speak, part of the life and work of Jesus Christ; part also of His teaching, and of that of His apostles. What connects itself so closely with Him must be of deepest interest. We want to be able, as it were, to enter Jerusalem in His train, along with those who on that Palm-Sunday cried, ’Hosanna to the Son of David’; to see its streets and buildings; to know exactly how the Temple looked, and to find our way through its gates, among its porches, courts, and chambers; to be present in spirit at its services; to witness the Morning and the Evening Sacrifice; to mingle with the crowd of worshippers at the great Festivals, and to stand by the side of those who offered sacrifice or free-will offering, or who awaited the solemn purification which would restore them to the fellowship of the Sanctuary. We want to see these rites, as it were, before us—to hear the Temple-music, to know the very Psalms that were chanted, the prayers that were offered, the duties of the priesthood, the sacrificial worship in which they engaged, and the very attitude of the worshippers—in short, all those details which in their combination enable us vividly to realise the scenes, as if we ourselves were present in them.
For, amidst them all, we ever see that one great outstanding Personality, Whose presence filled that house with glory. The New Testament transports us into almost every one of the scenes described in this book. It also makes frequent reference to them for illustration. We see the father of John ministering in his course in the burning of incense; the Virgin-Mother at her purification, presenting her First-born; the child Jesus among the Rabbis; the Master teaching in the porches of the Temple, sitting in the Treasury, attending the various festivals, giving His sanction to the purifications by directing the healed leper to the priest, and, above all, as at the Feast of Tabernacles, applying to himself the significant rites of the Sanctuary. And, as we follow on, we witness the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost; we mark the frequent illustrations of spiritual realities by Temple-scenes, in the writings of the apostles, but more especially in the Book of Revelation, whose imagery is so often taken from them; and we still look for the accomplishment of the one yet unfulfilled type—the Feast of Tabernacles, as the grand harvest-festival of the Church.
I have thus placed the permanent Christian interest in the foreground, because it
occupied that place in my own mind. At the same time, from the nature of the subject, I
hope the volume may fulfil yet another and kindred purpose. Although it does not
profess to be a Handbook of Biblical Antiquities, nor a treatise on the types of the Old
Testament, both these subjects had to be constantly referred to. But to realise the
gorgeous Temple ritual, in all its details, possesses more than a merely historical
interest. We are indeed fascinated by it; we live over again, if not the period of Israel’s
temporal glory, yet that of deepest interest to us; and we can vividly represent to
ourselves what the Temple had been before its services had for ever passed away. But
beyond this, stretching far back through the period of prophets and kings, and reaching
up to the original revelation of Jehovah amid the awful grandeur of Sinai, our holiest
recollections, and the very springs of our religious life rise among these ordinances and
types, which we here see fully developed and carried out, and that under the very light
of His Presence, to Whom they all had pointed. I say not, whether or how far later
Jewish practice may have misapprehended the original import or the meaning of the
Divine ordinances. That was beyond my present task. But an accurate acquaintance
with the sacrificial services at the time of Christ must not only tend to correct mistakes,
but throw a fresh and vivid light upon all, and influence our views of what the Levitical
ordinances were intended to be and to teach.
To have thus stated my object in this book, is also to have indicated its difficulties. Yet
abundant materials for such a work, though scattered far and wide, are within our reach.
Not to speak of contemporary writings, as those of Josephus and Philo, and references
in the New Testament itself, we have in the Mishnah a body of authoritative traditions,
reaching up, not only to Temple-times, but even to the days of Jesus Christ. (1) On this
source of information, of course in conjunction with the Old Testament itself, I have
been chiefly dependent.
While thus deriving my materials at first hand, I have also thankfully made use of any
and every help within my reach. Foremost I place here the writings of Maimonides, not
only because he is of greatest authority among the Jews, but because his vast and
accurate knowledge of these subjects, and the clearness and subtlety of his intellect,
entitle him to that position. Next to him come the numerous writers on Biblical
Antiquities, in Latin and German; works on Typology—scientific and popular; treatises
on the Life and Times of our Lord; histories of the Jewish Nation, or of Judaism;
commentaries on such passages in the Old and New Testament as bore on these
subjects; and numerous treatises on cognate points. In my study of ancient Jerusalem, I
had the benefit of the labours of recent explorers, from Robinson and Barclay to the
volumes published under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
To the Cyclopaedias of Winer, Herzog, Ersch and Gruber, Dr. Smith, and Kitto (the third
edition), I have been greatly indebted. The last-named of these works has the special
merit of a series of articles on Jewish subjects (as I may designate them), written in quite
an original manner, and with most competent knowledge. Although, as will appear from
the text, I have been obliged frequently to differ from their writer, yet these articles must,
from the fulness and ability of their treatment, be of very great use to the student.
Lightfoot’s Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae are known to every scholar. Not so, perhaps,
his small learned treatise De ministerio templi. The title and many of the subjects are
similar to those treated in the present volume. But the learned reader will at once
perceive that the plan and execution are quite different, though the work has been of
great service to me. Perhaps I ought not here to omit such names as Relandus, Buxtorf,
Otho, Schottgen, Meuschen, Goodwin, Hottinger, Wagenseil, and Lundius; and, among
modern writers, Bahr, Keil, Kurtz, de Wette, Saalschutz, Zunz, Jost, Geiger, Herzfeld, and
Fratz, of whose works I have, I may say, constantly availed myself. Many others have
been consulted, some of which are quoted in the foot-notes, while others are not
expressly referred to, as not adding anything material to our knowledge.
In general, I should explain, that I have acted on the principle of giving the minimum of
references possible. It would have been easy to have multiplied them almost indefinitely.
But I wished to avoid cumbering my pages with an array of authorities, which too often
give a mere appearance of learning; and, while they are not needed by scholars, may
tend to interfere with the more general and popular use of such a work. For a similar
reason, I have throughout avoided the use of Hebrew and even Greek letter-press. To
print an expression in Hebrew letters could not be necessary for students, while the
general reader, whom it too often bewilders by a show of knowledge, must in such case
necessarily pass it over, unnoticed and unknown.
While this book embodies the studies of many years, I have during its actual
composition deemed no labour nor pains irksome in comparing the results of my own
investigations with those of all, within reach, who were entitled to such consideration.
Thus much for the matter of the book. As to its form, some subjects may be touched in it
which do not equally interest all readers; (2) others may appear to have been treated
with too little or else with too much detail; objections may be raised to interpretations of
types, or even to the general view of the Old Testament which has been taken
throughout. My aim has been to make the book as complete and generally useful as I
could, and clearly to express my convictions as to the meaning of the Old Testament.
But on one point especially I would wish to be quite explicit. At the close of these
studies, I would say, with humble and heartfelt thankfulness, that step by step my
Christian faith has only been strengthened by them, that, as I proceeded, the conviction
has always been deepened that Christ is indeed ’the end of the Law for righteousness,’
to Whom all the ordinances of the Old Testament had pointed, and in Whom alone, alike
the people and the history of Israel find their meaning. Viewed in this light, the Temple-
services are not so many strange or isolated rites, for the origin of which we must look
among neighbouring nations, or in the tendencies natural to men during the infancy of
their history. Rather, all now becomes one connected whole—the design and execution
bearing even stronger evidence to its Divine authorship than other of God’s works,—
where every part fits into the other, and each and all point with unswerving
steadfastness to Him in Whom the love of God was fully manifested, and its purposes
towards the world entirely carried out. From first to last, the two dispensations are
substantially one; Jehovah, the God of Israel, is also the God and Father of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ—Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet; Vetus in Novo patet. A. E.
(1) Quite a different estimate must be formed of the Gemara (which in a general way may
be described as a twofold commentary—the Jerusalem and Babylonian Gemara—upon
the Mishnah), not only from its much later date, but also from the strange and
heterogeneous congeries which are found in the many folios of the Talmud. Judaism
was, at the time of its compilation, already thoroughly ossified; and the trustworthiness
of tradition greatly impaired not merely by the long interval of time that had elapsed, but
by dogmatic predilections and prejudices, and by the not unnatural wish to foist
comparatively recent views, practices, and prayers upon Temple-times. Indeed, the work
wants in its greatest part even the local colouring of the Mishnah—an element of such
importance in Eastern traditions, where, so to speak, the colours are so fast, that, for
example, to this day the modern Arab designations of places and localities have
preserved the original Palestinian names, and not those more recent Greek or Roman
with which successive conquerors had overlaid them.
(2) Thus Chapters 1 and 2, which give a description of ancient Jerusalem and of the
structure and arrangements of the Temple, may not interest some readers, yet it could
neither be left out, nor put in a different part of the book. Those for whom this subject
has no attractions may, therefore, begin with Chapter 3.
Chapter 1
A First View of Jerusalem, and of the Temple
‘And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it.’ Luke 19:41
The Charm of Jerusalem
In every age, the memory of Jerusalem has stirred the deepest feelings. Jews, Christians,
and Mohammedans turn to it with reverent affection. It almost seems as if in some sense
each could call it his ’happy home,’ the ’name ever dear’ to him. For our holiest thoughts
of the past, and our happiest hopes for the future, connect themselves with ’the city of
our God.’ We know from many passages of the Old Testament, but especially from the
Book of Psalms, with what ardent longing the exiles from Palestine looked towards it;
and during the long centuries of dispersion and cruel persecution, up to this day, the
same aspirations have breathed in almost every service of the synagogue, and in none
more earnestly than in that of the paschal night, which to us is for ever associated with
the death of our Saviour. It is this one grand presence there of ’the Desire of all nations,’
which has for ever cast a hallowed light round Jerusalem and the Temple, and given
fulfillment to the prophecy—’Many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up
to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of
His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the
word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.’ (Isa 2:3) His feet have trodden the busy streets of
Jerusalem, and the shady recesses of the Mount of Olives; His figure has ’filled with
glory’ the Temple and its services; His person has given meaning to the land and the
people; and the decease which He accomplished at Jerusalem has been for the life of all
nations. These facts can never be past—they are eternally present; not only to our faith,
but also to our hope; for He ’shall so come in like manner’ as the ’men of Galilee’ had on
Mount Olivet ’seen Him go into heaven.’
Ancient Memories
But our memories of Jerusalem stretch far back beyond these scenes. In the distance of
a remote antiquity we read of Melchisedek, the typical priest-king of Salem, who went
out to meet Abraham, the ancestor of the Hebrew race, and blessed him. A little later,
and this same Abraham was coming up from Hebron on his mournful journey, to offer
up his only son. A few miles south of the city, the road by which he travelled climbs the
top of a high promontory, that juts into the deep Kedron valley. From this spot, through
the cleft of the mountains which the Kedron has made for its course, one object rose up
straight before him. It was Moriah, the mount on which the sacrifice of Isaac was to be
offered. Here Solomon afterwards built the Temple. For over Mount Moriah David had
seen the hand of the destroying angel stayed, probably just above where afterwards
from the large altar of burnt-offering the smoke of countless sacrifices rose day by day.
On the opposite hill of Zion, separated only by a ravine from Moriah, stood the city and
the palace of David, and close by the site of the Temple the tower of David. After that
period an ever-shifting historical panorama passes before our view, unchanged only in
this, that, amidst all the varying events, Jerusalem remains the one centre of interest and
attractions, till we come to that Presence which has made it, even in its desolateness,
‘Hephzibah,’ ’sought out,’ ’a city not forsaken.’ (Isa 62:4)
Origin of the Name
The Rabbis have a curious conceit about the origin of the name Jerusalem, which is
commonly taken to mean, ’the foundation,’ ’the abode,’ or ’the inheritance of peace.’ They
make it a compound of Jireh and Shalem, and say that Abraham called it ’Jehovah-Jireh,’
while Shem had named it Shalem, but that God combined the two into Jireh-Shalem,
Jerushalaim, or Jerusalem. There was certainly something peculiar in the choice of
Palestine to be the country of the chosen people, as well as of Jerusalem to be its
capital. The political importance of the land must be judged from its situation rather than
its size. Lying midway between the east and the west, and placed between the great
military monarchies, first of Egypt and Assyria, and then of Rome and the East, it
naturally became the battle-field of the nations and the highway of the world. As for
Jerusalem, its situation was entirely unique. Pitched on a height of about 2,610 feet
above the level of the sea, its climate was more healthy, equable, and temperate than
that of any other part of the country. From the top of Mount Olivet an unrivalled view of
the most interesting localities in the land might be obtained. To the east the eye would
wander over the intervening plains to Jericho, mark the tortuous windings of Jordan,
and the sullen grey of the Dead Sea, finally resting on Pisgah and the mountains of
Moab and Ammon. To the south, you might see beyond ’the king’s gardens,’ as far as
the grey tops of ’the hill country of Judea.’ Westwards, the view would be arrested by
the mountains of Bether, (Song 2:17) whilst the haze in the distant horizon marked the
line of the Great Sea. To the north, such well-known localities met the eye as Mizpeh,
Gibeon, Ajalon, Michmash, Ramah, and Anathoth. But, above all, just at your feet, the
Holy City would lie in all her magnificence, like ’a bride adorned for her husband.’
The Situation of Jerusalem
‘Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the
north, the city of the Great King….Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the
towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces.’ If this could be said of
Jerusalem even in the humbler days of her native monarchy, (Psa 48:2,12,13) it was
emphatically true at the time when Jesus ’beheld the city,’ after Herod the Great had
adorned it with his wonted splendour. As the pilgrim bands ’came up’ from all parts of
the country to the great feasts, they must have stood enthralled when its beauty first
burst upon their gaze. Not merely remembrances of the past, or the sacred associations
connected with the present, but the grandeur of the scene before them must have
kindled their admiration into enthusiasm. For Jerusalem was a city of palaces, and right
royally enthroned as none other. Placed on an eminence higher than the immediate
neighbourhood, it was cut off and isolated by deep valleys on all sides but one, giving it
the appearance of an immense natural fortress. All round it, on three sides, like a natural
fosse, ran the deep ravines of the Valley of Hinnom and of the Black Valley, or Kedron,
which merged to the south of the city, descending in such steep declivity that where the
two meet is 670 feet below the point whence each had started. Only on the north-west
was the city, as it were, bound to the mainland. And as if to give it yet more the
character of a series of fortress-islands, a deep natural cleft—the Tyropoeon—ran south
and north right through the middle of the city, then turned sharply westwards,
separating Mount Zion from Mount Acra. Similarly, Acra was divided from Mount
Moriah, and the latter again by an artificial valley from Bezetha, or the New Town. Sheer
up from these encircling ravines rose the city of marble and cedar-covered palaces. Up
that middle cleft, down in the valley, and along the slopes of the hills, crept the busy
town, with its streets, markets, and bazaars. But alone, and isolated in its grandeur,
stood the Temple Mount. Terrace upon terrace its courts rose, till, high above the city,
within the enclosure of marble cloisters, cedar-roofed and richly ornamented, the Temple
itself stood out a mass of snowy marble and of gold, glittering in the sunlight against
the half-encircling green background of Olivet. In all his wanderings the Jew had not
seen a city like his own Jerusalem. Not Antioch in Asia, not even imperial Rome herself,
excelled it in architectural splendour. Nor has there been, either in ancient or modern
times, a sacred building equal to the Temple, whether for situation or magnificence; nor
yet have there been festive throngs like those joyous hundreds of thousands who, with
their hymns of praise, crowded towards the city on the eve of a Passover. No wonder
that the song burst from the lips of those pilgrims:
‘Still stand our feet Within thy gates, Jerusalem! Jerusalem, ah! thou art built
As a city joined companion-like together.’ Psalm 122:2,3
From whatever side the pilgrim might approach the city, the first impression must have
been solemn and deep. But a special surprise awaited those who came, whether from
Jericho or from Galilee, by the well-known road that led over the Mount of Olives. From
the south, beyond royal Bethlehem—from the west, descending over the heights of
Beth-horon—or from the north, journeying along the mountains of Ephraim, they would
have seen the city first vaguely looming in the grey distance, till, gradually approaching,
they had become familiar with its outlines. It was far otherwise from the east. A turn in
the road, and the city, hitherto entirely hid from view, would burst upon them suddenly,
closely, and to most marked advantage. It was by this road Jesus made His triumphal
entry from Bethany on the week of His Passion. Up from ’the house of dates’ the broad,
rough road would round the shoulder of Olivet. Thither the wondering crowd from
Bethany followed Him, and there the praising multitude from the city met Him. They had
come up that same Olivet, so familiar to them all. For did it not seem almost to form part
of the city itself, shutting it off like a screen from the desert land that descended beyond
to Jordan and the Dead Sea?
Mount of Olives
From the Temple Mount to the western base of Olivet, it was not more than 100 or 200
yards straight across, though, of course, the distance to the summit was much greater,
say about half a mile. By the nearest pathway it was only 918 yards from the city gate to
the principal summit.1
Olivet was always fresh and green, even in earliest spring or during parched summer—
the coolest, the pleasantest, the most sheltered walk about Jerusalem. For across this
road the Temple and its mountain flung their broad shadows, and luxuriant foliage
spread a leafy canopy overhead. They were not gardens, in the ordinary Western sense,
through which one passed, far less orchards; but something peculiar to those climes,
where Nature everywhere strews with lavish hand her flowers, and makes her gardens—
where the garden bursts into the orchard, and the orchard stretches into the field, till,
high up, olive and fig mingle with the darker cypress and pine. The stony road up Olivet
wound along terraces covered with olives, whose silver and dark green leaves rustled in
the breeze. Here gigantic gnarled fig-trees twisted themselves out of rocky soil; there
clusters of palms raised their knotty stems high up into waving plumed tufts, or spread,
bush-like, from the ground, the rich-coloured fruit bursting in clusters from the pod.
Then there were groves of myrtle, pines, tall, stately cypresses, and on the summit itself
two gigantic cedars. To these shady retreats the inhabitants would often come from
Jerusalem to take pleasure or to meditate, and there one of their most celebrated Rabbis
was at one time wont in preference to teach.2 Thither, also, Christ with His disciples
often resorted.
Coming from Bethany the city would be for some time completely hidden from view by
the intervening ridge of Olivet. But a sudden turn of the road, where ’the descent of the
Mount of Olives’ begins, all at once a first glimpse of Jerusalem is caught, and that quite
close at hand. True, the configuration of Olivet on the right would still hide the Temple
and most part of the city; but across Ophel, the busy suburb of the priests, the eye
might range to Mount Zion, and rapidly climb its height to where Herod’s palace
covered the site once occupied by that of David. A few intervening steps of descent,
where the view of the city has again been lost, and the pilgrim would hurry on to that
ledge of rock. What a panorama over which to roam with hungry eagerness! At one
glance he would see before him the whole city—its valleys and hills, its walls and
towers, its palaces and streets, and its magnificent Temple—almost like a vision from
another world. There could be no difficulty in making out the general features of the
scene. Altogether the city was only thirty-three stadia, or about four English miles, in
circumference. Within this compass dwelt a population of 600,000 (according to
Tacitus), but, according to the Jewish historian, amounting at the time of the Passover
to between two and three millions, or about equal to that of London. 3
The Walls
The first feature to attract attention would be the city walls, at the time of Christ only
two in number. 4
The first, or old wall, began at the north-western angle of Zion, at the tower of Hippicus,
and ran along the northern brow of Zion, where it crossed the cleft, and joined the
western colonnade of the Temple at the ’Council-house.’ It also enclosed Zion along the
west and the south, and was continued eastward around Ophel, till it merged in the
south-eastern angle of the Temple. Thus the first wall would defend Zion, Ophel, and,
along with the Temple walls,, Moriah also. The second wall, which commenced at a gate
in the first wall, called ’Gennath,’ ran first north, and then east, so as to enclose Acra,
and terminated at the Tower of Antonia. Thus the whole of the old city and the Temple
was sufficiently protected.
Tower of Antonia
The Tower of Antonia was placed at the north-western angle of the Temple, midway
between the castle of the same name and the Temple. With the former it communicated
by a double set of cloisters, with the latter by a subterranean passage into the Temple
itself, and also by cloisters and stairs descending into the northern and the western
porches of the Court of the Gentiles. Some of the most glorious traditions in Jewish
history were connected with this castle, for there had been the ancient ’armoury of
David,’ the palace of Hezekiah and of Nehemiah, and the fortress of the Maccabees. But
in the days of Christ Antonia was occupied by a hated Roman garrison, which kept
watch over Israel, even in its sanctuary. In fact, the Tower of Antonia overlooked and
commanded the Temple, so that a detachment of soldiers could at any time rush down to
quell a riot, as on the occasion when the Jews had almost killed Paul (Acts 21:31). The
city walls were further defended by towers—sixty in the first, and forty in the second
wall. Most prominent among them were Hippicus, Phasaelus, and Mariamne, close by
each other, to the north-west of Zion—all compactly built of immense marble blocks,
square, strongly fortified, and surmounted by buildings defended by battlements and
turrets. 5 They were built by Herod, and named after the friend and the brother he had
lost in battle, and the wife whom his jealousy had killed.
The Four Hills
If the pilgrim scanned the city more closely, he would observe that it was built on four
hills. Of these, the western, or ancient Zion, was the highest, rising about 200 feet above
Moriah, though still 100 feet lower than the Mount of Olives. To the north and the east,
opposite Zion, and divided from it by the deep Tyropoeon Valley, were the crescent-
shaped Acra and Moriah, the latter with Ophel as its southern outrunner. Up and down
the slopes of Acra the Lower City crept. Finally, the fourth hill, Bezetha (from bezaion,
marshy ground), the New Town, rose north of the Temple Mount and of Acra, and was
separated from them by an artificial valley. The streets, which, as in all Eastern cities,
were narrow, were paved with white marble. A somewhat elevated footway ran along for
the use of those who had newly been purified in the Temple, while the rest walked in the
roadway below. The streets derived their names mostly from the gates to which they led,
or from the various bazaars. Thus there were ’Water-street,’ ’Fish-street,’ ’East-street,’ etc.
The ’Timber Bazaar’ and that of the ’Tailors’ were in the New City; the Grand Upper
Market on Mount Zion. Then there were the ’Wool’ and the ’Braziers’ Bazaar’; ’Baker-
street,’ ’Butcher-street,’ ’Strangers’-street,’ and many others similarly named. Nor would it
have been difficult to identify the most prominent buildings in the city. At the north-
western angle of Mount Zion, the ancient Salem and Jebus, on the site of the castle of
David, was the grand palace of Herod, generally occupied by the Roman procurators
during their temporary sojourn in Jerusalem. It stood high up, just within shelter of the
great towers which Herod had reared—a marvel of splendour, of whose extent, strength,
height, rooms, towers, roofs, porticoes, courts, and adjacent gardens Josephus speaks
in such terms of admiration.
High-priest’s Palace
At the opposite, or north-eastern corner of Mount Zion, was the palace of the High-
priest. Being built on the slope of the hill, there was under the principal apartments a
lower story, with a porch in front, so that we can understand how on that eventful night
Peter was ’beneath in the palace.’ (Mark 14:66) Beyond it, probably on the slope of Acra,
was the Repository of the Archives, and on the other side of the cleft, abutting on the
Temple, with which it was probably connected by a colonnade, the Council Chamber of
the Sanhedrim. Following the eastern brow of Mount Zion, south of the High-priest’s
palace, and opposite the Temple, was the immense Xystus, which probably extended
into the Tyropoeon. Whatever may have been its original purpose, 6 it was afterwards
used as a place of public meetings, where, on great occasions, the populace was
harangued.
Here Peter probably addressed the three thousand converts on the day of Pentecost
when the multitude had hurried thither from the Temple on hearing ’the mighty rushing
sound.’ The Xystus was surrounded by a covered colonnade. Behind it was the palace
of Agrippa, the ancient palace of David and of the Maccabees, and again, in the rear of
it, that of Bernice. On Acra stood afterwards the palaces of certain foreign princes, such
as those of Queen Helena, King Monobasus, and other proselytes. In this quarter, or
even beyond it to the north-west, one would naturally look for the Theatre and the
Amphitheatre, which, being so essentially un-Jewish, must have been located as far as
possible from the Temple. The space around the Temple was no doubt kept clear of
buildings. On the south-eastern corner behind it was the great Sheep Market, and to the
south of it the Hippodrome. Originally, the king’s house by the horse-gate, built by
Solomon, and the royal stables, had occupied the southern area of the Temple Mount,
where Herod afterwards built the ’Royal Porch.’ For the Temple of Solomon was 300 feet
shorter, from north to south, than that of Herod. Transversely, between Xystus and the
Fish Gate, lay the quarter of Maktesh, (Zeph 1:10,11) occupied by various bazaars,
chiefly connected with the Temple. Lastly, south of the Temple, but on the same hill,
was Ophel, the crowded suburb of the priests.
The Shushan Gate
Such must have been a first view of Jerusalem, as ’beheld’ from the Mount of Olives, on
which we are supposed to have taken our stand. If Jewish tradition on the subject may
be trusted, a gate opened upon this Mount of Olives through the eastern wall of the
Temple. 7
It is called ’the Shushan Gate,’ from the sculptured representation over it of the city to
which so many Jewish memories attached. From this gate an arched roadway, by which
the priests brought out the ’red heifer,’ and on the Day of Atonement the scapegoat, is
said to have conducted to the Mount of Olives. Near the spot where the red heifer was
burned were extensive lavatories, and booths for the sale of articles needed for various
purifications. Up a crest, on one of the most commanding elevations, was the Lunar
Station, whence, by fire signals, the advent of each new moon was telegraphed from hill
to hill into far countries. If Jewish tradition may further be trusted, there was also an
unused gate in the Temple towards the north—Tedit or Tere—and two gates towards
the south. We know for certain of only a subterranean passage which led from the
fortress Antonia on the ’north-western angle’ of the Temple into the Temple Court, and
of the cloisters with stairs descending into the porches, by one of which the chief
captain Lysias rushed to the rescue of Paul, when nearly killed by the infuriated
multitude. Dismissing all doubtful questions, we are sure that at any rate five gates
opened into the outer Temple enclosure or Court of the Gentiles—one from the south,
and four—and these the principal—from the west. That southern gate was double, and
must have chiefly served the convenience of the priests. Coming from Ophel, they
would pass through its gigantic archway and vestibule (40 feet each way), and then by a
double tunnel nearly 200 feet long, whence they emerged at a flight of steps leading
straight up from the Court of the Gentiles into that of the priests, close to the spot where
they would officiate. 8
But to join the great crowd of worshippers we have to enter the city itself. Turning our
back on Mount Zion, we now face eastwards to Mount Moriah. Though we look
towards the four principal entrances to the Temple, yet what we see within those walls
on the highest of the terraces is not the front but the back of the sanctuary. It is curious
how tradition is here in the most palpable error in turning to the east in worship. The
Holy Place itself faced east-wards, and was approached from the east; but most
assuredly the ministering priests and the worshippers looked not towards the east, but
towards the west.
The Temple Plateau
The Temple plateau had been artificially levelled at immense labour and cost, and
enlarged by gigantic substructures. The latter served also partly for the purpose of
purification, as otherwise there might have been some dead body beneath, which,
however great the distance from the surface, would, unless air had intervened, have,
according to tradition, defiled the whole place above. As enlarged by Herod the Great,
the Temple area occupied an elongated square of from 925 to 950 feet and upwards. 9
Roughly calculating it at about 1,000 feet, this would give an extent more than one-half
greater than the length of St. Peter’s at Rome, which measures 613 feet, and nearly
double our own St. Paul’s, whose extreme length is 520 1/2 feet. And then we mu st bear
in mind that the Temple plateau was not merely about 1,000 feet in length, but a square
of nearly 1,000 feet! It was not, however, in the centre of this square, but towards the
north-west, that the Temple itself and its special courts were placed. Nor, as already
hinted, were they all on a level, but rose terrace upon terrace, till the sacred edifice itself
was reached, its porch protruding, ’shoulder-like,’ on either side—perhaps rising into
two flanking towers—and covering the Holy and Most Holy Places. Thus must the
‘golden fane’ have been clearly visible from all parts; the smoke of its sacrifices slowly
curling up against the blue Eastern sky, and the music of its services wafted across the
busy city, while the sunlight glittered on its gilt roofs, or shone from its pavement of
tesselated marble, or threw great shadows on Olivet behind.
Fables of the Rabbis
Assuredly, when the Rabbis thought of their city in her glory, they might well say: ’The
world is like unto an eye. The ocean surrounding the world is the white of the eye; its
black is the world itself; the pupil is Jerusalem; but the image within the pupil is the
sanctuary.’ In their sorrow and loneliness they have written many fabled things of
Jerusalem, of which some may here find a place, to show with what halo of reverence
they surrounded the loving memories of the past. Jerusalem, they say, belonged to no
tribe in particular—it was all Israel’s. And this is in great measure literally true; for even
afterwards, when ancient Jebus became the capital of the land, the boundary line
between Judah and Benjamin ran right through the middle of the city and of the Temple;
so that, according to Jewish tradition, the porch and the sanctuary itself were in
Benjamin, and the Temple courts and altar in Judah. In Jerusalem no house might be
hired. The houses belonged as it were to all; for they must all be thrown open, in free-
hearted hospitality, to the pilgrim-brethren that came up to the feast. Never had any one
failed to find in Jerusalem the means of celebrating the paschal festivities, nor yet had
any lacked a bed on which to rest. Never did serpent or scorpion hurt within her
precincts; never did fire desolate her streets, nor ruin occur. No ban ever rested on the
Holy City. It was Levitically more sacred than other cities, since there alone the paschal
lamb, the thank-offerings, and the second tithes might be eaten. Hence they carefully
guarded against all possibility of pollution. No dead body might remain in the city
overnight; no sepulchres were there, except those of the house of David and of the
prophetess Huldah. No even domestic fowls might be kept, nor vegetable gardens be
planted, lest the smell of decaying vegetation should defile the air; nor yet furnaces be
built, for fear of smoke. Never had adverse acident interrupted the services of the
sanctuary, nor profaned the offerings. Never had rain extinguished the fire on the altar,
nor contrary wind driven back the smoke of the sacrifices; nor yet, however great the
crowd of worshipperes, had any failed for room to bow down and worship the God of
Israel!
Thus far the Rabbis. All the more impressive is their own admission and their lament—
so significant as viewed in the light of the Gospel: ’For three years and a half abode the
Shechinah’ (or visible Divine presence) ’on the Mount of Olives,’—waiting whether
Israel would repent—’and calling upon them, ”Seek ye the Lord while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.” And when all was in vain, then the Shechinah returned
to its own place!’
Jerusalem in Ruins
The Shechinah has withdrawn to its own place! Both the city and the Temple have been
laid ’even with the ground,’ because Jerusalem knew not the time of her visitation (Luke
19:44). ’They have laid Jerusalem on heaps’ (Psalm 79:1). ’The stones of the sanctuary are
poured out in the top of every street’ (Lam 4:1). All this, and much more, did the Saviour,
the rightful King of Israel, see in the near future, when ’He beheld the city, and wept
over it.’ And now we must search very deep down, sinking the shaft from 60 to over 125
feet through the rubbish of accumulated ruins, before reaching at last the ancient
foundations. And there, close by where once the royal bridge spanned the deep chasm
and led from the City of David into the royal porch of the Temple, is ’the Jews’ Wailing
Place,’ where the mourning heirs to all this desolation reverently embrace the
fallen stones, and weep unavailing tears—unavailing because the present is as the past,
and because what brought that judgment and sorrow is unrecognised, unrepented,
unremoved. Yet—’Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The
watchman said, The morning cometh and also the night. If ye will inquire, inquire!
Return, come!’
Chapter 2
Within the Holy Place
‘There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’ —
Matthew 24:2
‘The Royal Bridge’
Of the four principal entrances into the Temple—all of them from the west—the most
northerly descended, perhaps by flights of steps, into the Lower City; while two others
led into the suburb, or Parbar, as it is called. But by far the most magnificent avenue was
that at the south-western angle of the Temple. Probably this was ’the ascent…into the
house of the Lord,’ which so astounded the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:5) 10
It would, indeed, be difficult to exaggerate the splendour of this approach. A colossal
bridge on arches spanned the intervening Valley of the Tyropoeon, connecting the
ancient City of David with what is called the ’Royal Porch of the Temple.’ From its ruins
we can reconstruct this bridge. Each arch spanned 41 1/2 feet, and the spring-stones
measured 24 feet in length by 6 in thickness. It is almost impossible to realise these
proportions, except by a comparison with other buildings. A single stone 24 feet long!
Yet these were by no means the largest in the masonry of the Temple. Both at the south-
eastern and the south-western angles stones have been found measuring from 20 to 40
feet in length, and weighing above 100 tons.
The Temple Porches
The view from this ’Royal Bridge’ must have been splendid. It was over it that they led
the Saviour, in sight of all Jerusalem, to and from the palace of the high-priest, that of
Herod, the meeting-place of the Sanhedrim, and the judgment-seat of Pilate. Here the
city would have lain spread before us like a map. Beyond it the eye would wander over
straggling suburbs, orchards, and many gardens—fairest among them the royal gardens
to the south, the ’garden of roses,’ so celebrated by the Rabbis —till the horizon was
bounded by the hazy outline of mountains in the distance. Over the parapet of the
bridge we might have looked into the Tyropoeon Valley below, a depth of not less than
225 feet. The roadway which spanned this cleft for a distance of 354 feet, from Mount
Moriah to Mount Zion opposite, was 50 feet broad, that is, about 5 feet wider than the
central avenue of the Royal Temple-Porch into which it led. These ’porches,’ as they are
called in the New Testament, or cloisters, were among the finest architectural features of
the Temple. They ran all round the inside of its wall, and bounded the outer enclosure of
the Court of the Gentiles. They consisted of double rows of Corinthian pillars, all
monoliths, wholly cut out of one block of marble, each pillar being 37 1/2 feet high. A flat
roof, richly ornamented, rested against the wall, in which also the outer row of pillars
was inserted. Possibly there may have been towers where one colonnade joined the
other. But the ’Royal Porch,’ by which we are supposed to have entered the Temple, was
the most splendid, consisting not as the others, of a double, but of a treble colonnade,
formed of 162 pillars, ranged in four rows of 40 pillars each, the two odd pillars serving
as a kind of screen, where the ’Porch’ opened upon the bridge. Indeed, we may regard
the Royal Porch as consisting of a central nave 45 feet wide, with gigantic pillars 100 feet
high, and of two aisles 30 feet wide, with pillars 50 feet high. By very competent
authorities this Royal Porch, as its name indicates, is regarded as occupying the site of
the ancient palace of Solomon, to which he ’brought up’ the daughter of Pharaoh. Here
also had been the ’stables of Solomon.’ When Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple, he
incorporated with it this site of the ancient royal palace. What the splendour and height
(Professor Porter has calculated it at 440 feet) of this one porch in the Temple must have
been is best expressed in the words of Captain Wilson (Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 9): ’It
is almost impossible to realise the effect which would be produced by a building longer
and higher than York Cathedral, standing on a solid mass of masonry almost equal in
height to the tallest of our church spires.’ And this was only one of the porches which
formed the southern enclosure of the first and outermost court of the Temple—that of
the Gentiles. The view from the top of this colonnade into Kedron was to the
stupendous depth of 450 feet. Here some have placed that pinnacle of the Temple to
which the tempter brought our Saviour.
These halls or porches around the Court of the Gentiles must have been most
convenient places for friendly or religious intercourse—for meetings or discussions.
Here Jesus, when still a child, was found by His parents disputing with the doctors; here
He afterwards so often taught the people; and here the first assemblies of the Christians
must have taken place when, ’continuing daily with one accord in the Temple,…praising
God, and having favour with all the people,…the Lord added to the church daily such as
should be saved.’ Especially do we revert to Solomon’s Porch, that ran along the eastern
wall of the Temple, and faced its great entrance. It was the only remnant left of the
Temple built by the wise King of Israel. In this porch ’Jesus walked’ on that ’Feast of the
Dedication,’ (John 10:23) when He ’told it plainly,’ ’I and my Father are one’; and it was
thither ’that all the people ran together’ when ’the notable miracle’ on the lame man had
been wrought at the ’Beautiful Gate of the Temple.’
Court of the Gentiles
It was the rule when entering the Temple to pass in by the right, and when leaving it to
go out by the left hand. The great Court of the Gentiles,11 which formed the lowest or
outer enclosure of the Sanctuary, was paved with the finest variegated marble.
According to Jewish tradition, it formed a square of 750 feet. Its name is derived from the
fact that it was open to all—Jews or Gentiles—provided they observed the prescribed
rules of decorum and reverence. In this court tradition places eating and sleeping
apartments for the Levites, and a synagogue. But, despite pharisaic punctilliousness,
the noise, especially on the eve of the Passover, must have been most disturbing. For
there the oxen, sheep, and doves selected as fit for sacrifices were sold as in a market;
and here were those tables of the money-changers which the Lord overthrew when He
drove from His Father’s house them that bought and sold (Matt 21:12; John 2:14).
Within a short distance, in the court, a marble screen 4 1/2 feet high, and beautifully
ornamented, bore Greek and Latin inscriptions, warning Gentiles not to proceed, on pain
of death. One of those very tablets, bearing almost the same words as those given by
Josephus, has been discovered in late excavations. It was because they thought Paul
had infringed this order, that the infuriated multitude ’went about to kill him’ (Acts 21:31).
Beyond this enclosure a flight of fourteen steps, each 9 inches high, led up to a terrace
15 feet broad, called the ’Chel,’ which bounded the inner wall of the Temple. We are now
approaching the Sanctuary itself, which consisted, first, of three courts, each higher
than the former, and, beyond them, of the Holy and Most Holy Places, with their
outbuildings. Entering by the principal gate on the east we pass, first into the Court of
the Women, thence into that of Israel, and from the latter into that of the Priests. This
would have been, so to speak, the natural way of advancing. But there was a nearer road
into the Court of the Priests. For both north and south, along the terrace, flights of steps
led up to three gates (both north and south), which opened into the Court of the Priests,
while a fourth gate (north and south) led into the middle of the Court of the Women.
Thus there were nine gates opening from ’the Terrace’ into the Sanctuary—the principal
one from the east, and four north and south, of which one (north and south) also led
into the Court of the Women, and the other three (north and south) into that of the
Priests.
The ‘Beautiful Gate’
These eight side gates, as we may call them, were all two-leaved, wide, high, with
superstructures and chambers supported by two pillars, and covered with gold and
silver plating. But far more magnificent than any of them was the ninth or eastern gate,
which formed the principal entrance into the Temple. The ascent to it was from the
terrace by twelve easy steps. The gate itself was made of dazzling Corinthian brass,
most richly ornamented; and so massive were its double doors that it needed the united
strength of twenty men to open and close them. This was the ’Beautiful Gate’; and on its
steps had they been wont these many years to lay the lame man, just as privileged
beggars now lie at the entrance to Continental cathedrals. No wonder that all Jerusalem
knew him; and when on that sunny afternoon Peter and John joined the worshippers in
the Court of the Women, not alone, but in company with the well-known cripple, who,
after his healing, was ’walking and leaping and praising God,’ universal ’wonder and
amazement’ must have been aroused. Then, when the lame man, still ’holding by’ the
apostles, again descended these steps, we can readily understand how all the people
would crowd around in Solomon’s Porch, close by, till the sermon of Peter—so fruitful in
its spiritual results—was interrupted by the Temple police, and the sudden
imprisonment of the apostles.
Court of the Women
The Court of the Women obtained its name, not from its appropriation to the exclusive
use of women, but because they were not allowed to proceed farther, except for
sacrificial purposes. Indeed, this was probably the common place for worship, the
females occupying, according to Jewish tradition, only a raised gallery along three sides
of the court. This court covered a space upwards of 200 feet square. All around ran a
simple colonnade, and within it, against the wall, the thirteen chests, or ’trumpets,’ for
charitable contributions were placed. These thirteen chests were narrow at the mouth
and wide at the bottom, shaped like trumpets, whence their name. Their specific objects
were carefully marked on them. Nine were for the receipt of what was legally due by
worshippers; the other four for strictly voluntary gifts. Trumpets I and II were
appropriated to the half-shekel Temple-tribute of the current and of the past year. Into
Trumpet III those women who had to bring turtledoves for a burnt- and a sin-offering
dropped their equivalent in money, which was daily taken out and a corresponding
numb er of turtledoves offered. This not only saved the labour of so many separate
sacrifices, but spared the modesty of those who might not wish to have the occasion or
the circumstances of their offering to be publicly known. Into this trumpet Mary the
mother of Jesus must have dropped the value of her offering (Luke 2:22,24) when the
aged Simeon took the infant Saviour ’in his arms, and blessed God.’ Trumpet IV similarly
received the value of the offerings of young pigeons. In Trumpet V contributions for the
wood used in the Temple; in Trumpet VI for the incense, and in Trumpet VII for the
golden vessels for the ministry were deposited. If a man had put aside a certain sum for
a sin-offering, and any money was left over after its purchase, it was cast into Trumpet
VIII. Similarly, Trumpets IX, X, XI, XII, and XIII were destined for what was left over
from trespass-offerings, offerings of birds, the offering of the Nazarite, of the cleansed
leper, and voluntary offerings. In all probability this space where the thirteen Trumpets
were placed was the ’treasury,’ where Jesus taught on that memorable Feast of
Tabernacles (John 7 and 8; see specially 8:20). We can also understand how, from the
peculiar and known destination of each of these thirteen ’trumpets,’ the Lord could
distinguish the contributions of the rich who cast in ’of their abundance’ from that of the
poor widow who of her ’penury’ had given ’all the living’ that she had (Mark 12:41; Luke
21:1). But there was also a special treasury-chamber, into which at certain times they
carried the contents of the thirteen chests; and, besides, what was called ’a chamber of
the silent,’ where devout persons secretly deposited money, afterwards secretly
employed for educating children of the pious poor.
It is probably in ironical allusion to the form and name of these treasure-chests that the Lord, making use of the word ’trumpet,’ describes the conduct of those who, in their alms giving, sought glory from men as ’sounding a trumpet’ before them (Matt 6:2)—that is, carrying before them, as it were, in full display one of these trumpet-shaped alms - boxes (literally called in the Talmud, ’trumpets’), and, as it were, sounding it.12
1 ’By the longer footpath it is 1,310 yards, and by the main camel road perhaps a little
farther.’ Josephus calculates the distance from the city evidently to the top of Mount
Olivet at 1,010 yards, or 5 furlongs. See City of the Great King, p. 59.
2 R. Jochanan ben Saccai, who was at the head of the Sanhedrim immediately before and
after the destruction of Jerusalem.
3 Mr. Fergusson, in Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, i. p. 1025, controverts these numbers,
on the ground of the population of modern cities within a given area. But two millions
represent not the ordinary population, only the festive throngs at the Passover. Taking
into consideration Eastern habits—the sleeping on the roof, and possibly the camping
out—the computation is not extravagant. Besides, however untruthful Josephus was, he
may, as a general rule, be trusted where official numbers, capable of verification, are
concerned. In fact, taking into account this extraordinary influx, the Rabbis distinctly
state, that during the feasts—except on the first night—the people might camp outside
Jerusalem, but within the limits of a sabbath-day’s journey. This, as Otho well remarks
(Lex. Rabb. p. 195), also explains how, on such occasions, our Lord so often retired to
the Mount of Olives.
4 The third, largest, and strongest wall, which enclosed Bezetha, or the New Town, was
built by Herod Agrippa, twelve years after the date of the crucifixion.
5 For particulars of these forts, see Josephus’ Wars, v. 4, 3.
6 Barclay suggest that the Xystus had originally been the heathen gymnasium built by
the infamous high-priest Jason. (City of the Great King, p. 101)
7 In the chamber above this gate two standard measures were kept, avowedly for the use
of the workmen employed in the Temple. (Chel. 17. 9.)
8 Jewish tradition mentions the following five as the outer gates of the Temple: that of
Shushan to the east, of Tedi to the north, of Copponus to the west, and the two Huldah
gates to the south. The Shushan gate was said to have been lower than the others, so
that the priests at the end of the ’heifer-bridge’ might look over it into the Temple. In a
chamber above the Shushan gate, the standard measures of the ’cubit’ were kept.
9 Many modern writers have computed the Temple area at only 606 feet, while Jewish
authorities make it much larger than we have stated it. The computation in the text is
based on the latest and most trustworthy investigations, and fully borne out by the
excavations made on the spot by Capts. Wilson and Warren.
10 According to Mr. Lewin, however (Siege of Jerusalem, p. 270), this celebrated ’ascent’
to the house of the Lord went up by a double subterranean passage, 250 feet long and
62 feet wide, by a flight of steps from the new palace of Solomon, afterwards occupied
by the ’Royal Porch,’ right into the inner court of the Temple.
11 We have adopted this name as in common use, though Relandus (Antiq. p. 78) rightly
objects that the only term for it used in Jewish writings is the ’mountain of the house.’
12 The allusion is all the more pointed, when we bear in mind that each of these trumpets
had a mark to tell its special object. It seems strange that this interpretation should not
have occurred to any of the commentators, who have always found the allusion such a
crux interpretum. An article in the Bible Educator has since substantially adopted this
view, adding that trumpets were blown when the alms were collected. But for the latter
statement there is no historical authority whatever, and it would contravene the
religious spirit of the times.
Special thanks to Moza, a research member of Philologos and the Bible Prophecy
Research and Study List, for providing this electronic copy. THIS BOOK HAS BEEN
EDITED. Any corrections or questions may be directed to this address:
research-bpr@philologos.org
The Temple - Its Ministry and Services by Alfred Edersheim
Revised: February 24, 1999
Word Document Copy: October 7, 1999
http://philologos.org/default.htm
“… freely ye have received, freely give.” (Mat 10:8)
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