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Smith's Bible Dictionary
TEMPLE OF HEROD. --Herod the Great announced to the people assembled at the
Passover, B.C. 20 or 19, his intention of restoring the temple; (probably a
stroke of policy on the part of Herod to gain the favor of the Jews and to make his
name great.) if we may believe Josephus, he pulled down the whole edifice to
its foundations, and laid them anew on an enlarged scale; but the ruins still
exhibit, in some parts, what seem to be the foundations laid by Zerubbable, and
beneath them the more massive substructions of Solomon. The new edifice was a
stately pile of Graeco-Roman architecture, built in white marble gilded acroteria
. It is minutely described by Josephus, and the New Testament has made us
familiar with the pride of the Jews in its magnificence. A different feeling,
however, marked the commencement of the work, which met with some opposition from the
fear that what Herod had begun he would not be able to finish. he overcame all
jealousy by engaging not to pull down any part of the existing buildings till
all the materials for the new edifice were collected on its site. Two years
appear to have been occupied in preparations --among which Josephus mentions the
teaching of some of the priests and Levites to work as masons and carpenters
--and then the work began. The holy "house," including the porch, sanctuary and
holy of holies, was finished in a year and a half, B.C. 16. Its completion, on
the anniversary of Herod’s inauguration, was celebrated by lavish sacrifices and a great feast. About
B.C. 9 --eight years from the commencement --the court and cloisters of the
temple were finished, and the bridge between the south cloister and the upper city
(demolished by Pompey) was doubtless now rebuilt with that massive masonry of
which some remains still survive. (The work, however, was not entirely ended
till A.D. 64, under Herod Agrippa II. So the statement in (John 2:20) is correct.
--Schaff.) The temple or holy "house" itself was in dimensions and arrangement
very similar to that of Solomon, or rather that of Zerubbabel --more like the
latter; but this was surrounded by an inner enclosure of great strength and
magnificence, measuring as nearly as can be made out 180 cubits by 240, and adorned
by porches and ten gateways of great magnificence; and beyond this again was
an outer enclosure measuring externally 400 cubits each way, which was adorned
with porticos of greater splendor than any we know of as attached to any temple
of the ancient world. The temple was certainly situated in the southwest angle
of the area now known as the Haram area at Jerusalem, and its dimensions were
what Josephus states them to be --400 cubits, or one stadium, each way. At the
time when Herod rebuilt it, he enclosed a space "twice as large" as that before
occupied by the temple and its courts --an expression that probably must not be
taken too literally at least, if we are to depend on the measurements of
Hecataeus. According to them, the whole area of Herod’s temple was between four and five times greater than that which preceded it.
What Herod did apparently, was to take in the whole space between the temple
and the city wall on its east side, and to add a considerable space on the north
and south to support the porticos which he added there. As the temple terrace
thus became the principal defence of the city on the east side, there were no
gates or openings in that direction, and being situated on a sort of rocky brow
--as evidenced from its appearance in the vaults that bounded it on this side
--if was at all later times considered unattackable from the eastward. The north
side, too, where not covered by the fortress Antonia, became part of the
defenses of the city, and was likewise without external gates. On the south side,
which was enclosed by the wall of Ophel, there were notable gates nearly in the
centre. These gates still exist at a distance of about 365 feet from the
southwestern angle, and are perhaps the only architectural features of the temple of
Herod which remain in situ . This entrance consists of a double archway of
Cyclopean architecture on the level of the ground, opening into a square vestibule
measuring 40 feet each way. From this a double funnel nearly 200 feet in length,
leads to a flight of steps which rise to the surface in the court of the
temple, exactly at that gateway of the inner temple which led to the altar, and is
one of the four gateways on this side by which any one arriving from Ophel would
naturally wish to enter the inner enclosure. We learn from the Talmud that the
gate of the inner temple to which this passage led was called the "water gate;"
and it is interesting to be able to identify a spot so prominent in the
description of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 12:37) Toward the west there were four gateways to
the external enclosure of the temple. The most magnificent part of the temple,
in an architectural point of view, seems certainly to have been the cloisters
which were added to the outer court when it was enlarged by Herod. The
cloisters in the west, north and east sides were composed of double rows of Corinthian
columns, 25 cubits or 37 feet 6 inches in height, with flat roof, and resting
against the outer wall of the temple. These, however, were immeasurably
surpassed in magnificence by the royal porch or Stoa Basilica, which overhung the
southern wall. It consisted of a nave and two aisled, that toward the temple being
open, that toward the country closed by a wall. The breadth of the centre aisle
was 95 feet of the side aisles, 30 from centre to centre of the pillars; their
height 50 feet, and that of the centre aisle 100 feet. Its section was thus
something in excess of that of York Cathedral, while its total length was one
stadium or 600 Greek feet, or 100 feet in excess of York or our largest Gothic
cathedrals. This magnificent structure was supported by 162 Corinthian columns. The
porch on the east was called "Solomon’s Porch." The court of the temple was very nearly a square. It may have been
exactly so, for we have not the details to enable us to feel quite certain about
it. To the eastward of this was the court of the women. The great ornament of
these inner courts seems to have been their gateways, the three especially on
the north end south leading to the temple court. These according to Josephus,
were of great height, strongly fortified and ornamented with great elaboration.
But the wonder of all was the great eastern gate leading from the court of the
women to the upper court. It was in all probability the one called the
"beautiful gate" in the New Testament. immediately within this gateway stood the altar
of burnt offerings. Both the altar and the temple were enclosed by a low
parapet, one cubit in height, placed so as to keep the people separate from the
priests while the latter were performing their functions. Within this last enclosure,
toward the westward, stood the temple itself. As before mentioned, its
internal dimensions were the same as those of the temple of Solomon. Although these
remained the same, however, there seems no reason to doubt that. the whole plan
was augmented by the pteromata , or surrounding parts being increased from 10 to
20 cubits, so that the third temple, like the second, measured 60 cubits
across and 100 cubits east and west. The width of the facade was also augmented by
wings or shoulders projecting 20 cubits each way, making the whole breadth 100
cubits, or equal to the length. There is no reason for doubting that the
sanctuary always stood on identically the same spot in which it had been placed by
Solomon a thousand years before it was rebuilt by Herod. The temple of Herod was
destroyed by the Romans under Titus, Friday, August 9, A.D. 70. A Mohammedan
mosque now stands on its site.
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Bibliography Information
Smith, William, Dr. "Entry for 'Temple'". "Smith's Bible Dictionary". 1901.