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The Temple of Herod

Brief Description of Herod's Temple by Easton

Several remains of Herod's stately temple have by recent explorations been brought to light. It had two courts, one intended for the Israelites only, and the other, a large outer court, called "the court of the Gentiles," intended for the use of strangers of all nations. These two courts were separated by a low wall, as Josephus states, some 4...

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Initiation of the Work of Herod's Temple ISBE

Herod became king de facto by the capture of Jerusalem in 37 BC. Some years later he built the fortress Antonia to the North of the temple (before 31 BC). Midway in his reign, assigning a religious motive for his purpose, he formed the project of rebuilding the temple itself on a grander scale (Josephus gives conflicting dates; in Ant, XV, xi, 1, h...

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Measurements of Herod's Temple ISBE

Differences of opinion continue as to the sacred cubit. A. R. S. Kennedy thinks the cubit can be definitely fixed at 17,6 inches. (Expostory Times, XX, 24 ff); G. A. Smith reckons it at 20,67 inches. (Jerusalem, II, 504); T. Witton Davies estimates it at about 18 in. (HDB, IV, 713), etc. W. S. Caldecott takes the cubit of Josephus and the Middoth t...

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The Grandeur of Herod's Temple ISBE

Built of white marble, covered with heavy plates of gold in front and rising high above its marble-cloistered courts--themselves a succession of terraces--the temple, compared by Josephus to a snow-covered mountain (BJ, V, v, 6), was a conspicuous and dazzling object from every side. The general structure is succinctly described by G. A. Smith: "He...

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Zerubbabel's Temple

About 70 years after the destruction of Solomon’s Temple and the Jewish deportation an entirely new Temple was built on Mount Moriah, by a decree of the Persian king. The new Temple was dedicated on March 12, 515 BC, some very old people who could remember Solomon's Temple regarded it a poor thing in comparison with the splendor of the original Tem...

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Herod's Temple in Unger's Bible Dictionary

The Temple as it existed after the captivity was not such as would satisfy a man as vain and fond of display as Herod the Great; and he accordingly undertook the task of rebuilding it on a grander scale. Although the reconstruction was practically equivalent to an entire rebuilding, still this Temple cannot be spoken of as a third one, for Herod hi...

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Overview of the Temple of Herod

The Temple Jesus knew was the Temple renovated, enlarged and beautified by Herod the Great. Architecturally it was new; religiously it was still Zerubbabel's Temple, rebuilt after the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile. The six centuries between the return from exile and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD are known in Jewish history as the ...

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Herod's Temple in Easton's Bible Dictionary

The temple erected by the exiles on their return from Babylon had stood for about five hundred years, when Herod the Great became king of Judea. The building had suffered considerably from natural decay as well as from the assaults of hostile armies, and Herod, desirous of gaining the favour of the Jews, proposed to rebuild it. This offer was accep...

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Solomon's Temple

Solomon's Temple had stood on the site of Mount Moriah for over 350 years before the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC beyond the possibility of repair. Solomon built the temple on the east side of Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, "where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the...

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Temple of Herod Devotional Bible Study

The Temple and it’s sacrifices provided a stage whereby a story was told, of a Supreme sacrifice that would be paid for the sins of mankind. Though built by Herod, Jesus called it "my father’s house." It’s grandeur was immense, it’s beauty could be seen glimmering in the sun from miles away. It housed the continuing worship of God, by the Leviti...

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