Temple in Jerusalem
The
Temple in Jerusalem or the
Holy Temple (
Hebrew: ืืืช ื"ืืงื"ืฉ,
transliterated Bet HaMikdash) was built in ancient
Jerusalem in c.
10th century BCE and was subsequently rebuilt twice, after the
Babylonian Captivity and during
Herod the Great's renovation. It was the center of
Israelite Jewish worship, primarily for the offering of sacrifices known as the
korbanot. It was located on Jerusalem's
Temple Mount, was the center of ancient
Judaism, and has remained a focal point for
Jewish services over the millennia.
Orthodox and
Conservative Judaism anticipate
the Third Temple being built in the future.
According to the
Hebrew Bible, the
Temple was built by
Solomon. It replaced the
Tabernacle of
Moses.
The hebrew name given in Scripture for the building is
Beit HaMikdash or "The Holy House", and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name. The temple is also called by a variety of other names in the
Hebrew Bible, such as
Beit Adonai (House of God) or simple
Beiti (My house) or
Beitechah (Your House)
|
A model of Herod's Temple adjacent to the Shrine of the Book exhibit at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. |
As many as five distinct temples stood in succession on the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem:
*
King David's Altar was the first construction on the site of the temple.
Second Samuel 24:18-24 only describes a sacrificial
altar on the temple site, but it is possible that some preliminary version of a
temple was already functioning at the time of
David's death, before
Solomon's construction began.
*
Solomon's Temple, was built in approximately the 10th century BCE to replace the
Tabernacle. It was destroyed by the
Babylonians under
Nebuchadnezzar in
586 BCE.
*
The Second Temple was built after the return from the Babylonian Captivity, around
536 BCE (completed on
March 12,
515 BCE). This Temple was desecrated by the
Roman general
Pompey, when he entered it after taking Jerusalem in
63 BCE. According to
Josephus,
Pompey did not remove anything from the temple or its treasury.
*
Herod's Temple was a massive renovation of the
Second Temple including turning the entire
Temple Mount into a giant square platform.
Herod the Great began his expansion project around
19 BCE, dismantling the Second Temple in order to build a larger, grander version.
Herod's Temple was destroyed by
Roman troops under general
Titus in
70 CE.
*During the
Bar Kochba revolt in the c.
135 CE, and during the early part of the
Sassanid Persian occupation of most of the Byzantine empire from
610 to
620 the
Kohanim priesthood began anew the temple service, including animal sacrifice, and small buildings were erected. However, these two temples are hypothetical, and their existence is contested.
By custom,
Herod's Temple is
not called the
"Third Temple" because the Kohanim priesthood kept the animal sacrifices and other ceremonials (
korbanot) going without interruption during the entire reconstruction project.
While Herod's temple itself was subsequently destroyed, the mammoth
Temple Mount platform complex still exists and currently supports the
Dome of the Rock and
Al-Aqsa mosques.
According to Professor
Mary Ann Tolbert of the
Pacific School of Religion, the Temple in Jerusalem was originally built as a house for
Yahweh or the God of Ancient Israel. Priests in the sixth century B.C.E. believed the Temple was two miles below the heavenly dwelling of God
[``Reading the Bible``, By Mary Ann Tolbert] According to Professor
Stephen Harris of
California State University, Sacramento, the ancient temple was seen as a place where Yahweh frequently visited and where he sat on his throne from the holy
Ark of the Covenant. Disloyalty to this Ark and Yahweh's house would later be a reason why many Prophets condemned Israel, many individuals thought the Temple of Jerusalem would never fall due to the Angel that saved them of Assyrian conflict in 701 B.C.E.
[Understanding the Bible, The Sixth Edition, by Stephen Harris, McGraw Hill, 2003] According to the prophet Isaiah, Yahweh proclaimed he would save the city, and "The angel of the Lord went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp; when morning dawned, they all lay dead." (Isaiah 37:36). Professor Harris states that this account of the miraculous angel who saved the holy temple was later disputed when the Assyrian leader
Sennacherib states his troops sealed Jerusalem, "like a bird in a cage".
According to Professor Harris, the Prophet Ezekiel also has visions of Yahweh seated in the temple of Jerusalem. Yahweh's seat had wheels accompanied by animals, "Each had four faces and each four wings; their legs were straight, and their hoofs were like the hoofs of a calf, glistening and gleaming like bronze. (Isaiah 1:6-7). Ezekiel also sees Yahweh leave the sacred temple before it's destroyed by the Babylonian ruler
Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C.E
Ezekiel then sees the "glory of Yahweh" rise from its traditional seat between the gold cherubim in the Temple's innermost sanctuary and pass through the city gates to the east. This strange event is probably meant to show that Yahweh's kavod (a Hebrew term that can be translated as "glory" or "influence") has permanently abandoned the Temple and now roams the world, operating in new and unpredictable ways. [Understanding the Bible, The Sixth Edition, by Stephen Harris, McGraw Hill, 2003]
According to the
Talmud, the Temple had an
Ezrat Nashim (Women's Court) to the east and main area to the west. The main area contained the butchering area for the sacrifices and the
Mizbaeach (Outer alter) on which portions of most offerings were burned and blood was poured or dashed. An edifice contained the Ulam (antechamber), the Haiechal, and the Kodesh Kodashim (
Holy of Holies. The Heichal and the Kodesh Kodashim were separated by a wall in the First Temple and two curtains in the Second Temple. The Heichal contained the
Menorah, the table of
Showbread and the Incense alter.
The main courtyard had thirteen gates. On the south side, beginning with the southwest corner, there were four gates:
Shaar Ha'Elyoun (the Upper Gate);
Shaar HaDelek (the Kindling Gate), where wood was brought in);
Shaar HaBichorot (the Gate of Firstborn, where people with first-born animal offerings entered and fathers and children entered for the
Pidyon HaBen ceremony);
Shaar HaMayim (the Water Gate, where the Water Libation entered on
Sukkot). On the north side, beginning with the northwest corner, there were four gates:
Shaar Yechonyah (The Gate of Yechonyah, where kings of the Davidic line enter and Yechonyah/
Yehoyachin left for the last time to captivity);
Shaar HaKorban (The gate of the
Offering, where priests entered with
kodshei kodashim offerings);
Shaar HaNashim (The
Women's Gate, where women entered into the
Azaryah or main courtyard to perform offerings
[Sheyibaneh Beit Hamikdash:Women in the Azarya?]); and
Shaar Hashir (The Gate of Song, where the
Levites entered with their musical instruments). On the east side was
Shaar Nikanor, the Nikanor Gate between the Women's Courtyard and the main Temple Courtyard, which had two minor doorways, one on its right and one on its left. On the western wall, which was relatively unimportant, there were two gates that did not have any name.
The Biblical
prophets used florid and sometimes explicitly anthropomorphic imagery to describe visions of a mysterious presence of God occupying the Temple.
Isaiah wrote "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple." (Isaiah 6:1).
Jeremiah implored "Do not dishonor the throne of your glory" (Jeremiah 14:21) and referred to "Thou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, Thou place of our sanctuary" (Jeremiah 17:12).
Ezekiel spoke of "the glory of the God of Israel was there [in the Sanctuary], according to the vision that I saw in the plain."
The rabbis of the
Talmud referred to the Presence described in prophetic visions as the
Shekhinah. The Rabbis saw the Temple offerings or
Korbanot as central to Judaism, with much of the Talmud devoted to discussions of how they were performed. Prayer and good works came to substitute for the Temple ritual, although only partially.
The destruction of the Temple is mourned on the Jewish fast day of
Tisha B'Av.
Ever since its destruction in 70 CE, Jews have prayed that God will allow for the rebuilding of the Temple. This prayer is a formal part of the thrice daily Jewish prayer services.
The question surrounding the status of
The Third Temple is compounded by much mystery, uncertainty, controversy, and debate, but it does have roots in
Hebrew Biblical texts and in both Judaic scholarship and the traditional
Jewish prayers.
 |
A stone (2.43×1 m) with Hebrew inscription "To the Trumpeting Place" excavated by Benjamin Mazar at the southern foot of the Temple Mount is believed to be a part of the Second Temple. |
In
1999 Dr. Ernest L. Martin published a controversial
book called
The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot based upon the idea of Ory Mazar, son of
Professor Benjamin Mazar of
Hebrew University. In
1995 Dr. Martin wrote a draft report to support this theory. He wrote:
"I was then under the impression that Simon the Hasmonean (along with Herod a century later) moved the Temple from the Ophel mound to the Dome of the Rock area."However, after studying the words of
Josephus concerning the Temple of Herod, which was reported to be in the same general area of the former Temples, he then read the account of Eleazar who led the final contingent of Jewish resistance to the Romans at Masada which stated that the Roman fortress was the only structure left by 73 C.E.
"With this key in mind, I came to the conclusion in 1997 that all the Temples were indeed located on the Ophel mound over the area of the Gihon Spring". This theory implied that Judaism was fighting to preserve the wrong location, which in turn sparked reactions from Muslims.
The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot by Dr. Martin was made even more controversial due to the fact that he had previously spent five years engaged in excavations near the
Western Wall in a joint project between
Hebrew University and
Ambassador College, publisher of
The Plain Truth magazine edited by
Herbert W. Armstrong.
There are even more controversial theories that claim that the Temple was not in Jerusalem at all, but in
Jericho, somewhere in
Egypt,
Saudi Arabia,
Scotland, or
South America, etc. However, none of these theories is taken seriously by the vast majority of archaeologists, historians or theologians.
Archaeological excavations have found one hundred
mikvaot (ritual immersion pools) surrounding the area known as the Temple Mount or Har HaBayit. This is strong evidence that this area was considered of the utmost holiness in ancient times and could not possibly have been a secular area. However, it does not establish where exactly within the area was the Temple located.
Talmud Bavli (Schottenstein Edition), Masechet
Shekalim, 6:2 (17a).
Important Articles on the subject of the location of the Jerusalem Temple are found in the magazine
Biblical Archaeology Review, in the following issues: July/August 1983, November/December 1989, March/April 1992, July/August 1999, September/October 1999, March/April 2000, September/October 2005. Several of these articles support the theory of Professor
Asher Kaufman that the Temple was located on the Temple Mount, but a bit to the north of the Dome of the Rock (which actually was "The Stone of Losses" in the days of the Second Temple).
On
December 27,
2004, it was reported in the
Toronto-based
The Globe and Mail that the
Israel Museum in
Jerusalem concluded that the ivory pomegranate that everyone believed had once adorned a scepter used by the high priest in Solomon's Temple was a fake. This artifact was the most important item of biblical antiquities in its collection. It had been part of a traveling exhibition at the
Canadian Museum of Civilization in
2003. Experts fear that this discovery is part of an international fraud in antiquities. The thumb-sized pomegranate, which is a mere 44 mm in height, bears an inscription incised around the shoulder of the pomegranate in small paleo-Hebrew script. Only 9 characters remained complete, and were incomplete - if any sense were to be made of the inscription, it seemed likely that several more were missing.The surviving part of the inscription was transcribed ืืื...ื" ืงื"ืฉ ืื"ื ื(Only the lower horizontal stroke of the yod and the upper horizontal stroke of the ื" he remain).
The following restoration of missing letters was proposed: ืืืืช ืื"ืื" ืงื"ืฉ ืื"ื ื
This reconstruction resulted in the following transliteration, now accepted by the vast majority of scholars:lby[t yhw]h qdลก khnm, which led to the translation: "Belonging to the Temp[le of Yahw]eh, holy to the priests."
*
Western Wall*
Al-Aqsa Mosque*
Dome of the Rock*
Solomon's Temple, or First Temple.
*
Second Temple*
The Third Temple*
Leontopolis*
Summary of Christian eschatological differences*
Resources > Jerusalem*
Resources > Second Temple and Talmudic Era > Second Temple Jerusalem Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
*
Emperor Julian the Apostate (r. 361-363 CE) plan to rebuild the Temple*
Julian the Apostate and the Holy Temple*
Location of Temples*
Haaretz article describing contemporary Muslim views*
The Temples of Jerusalem in Islam Qur'anic and other references analyzed, by
Martin Kramer*
Paul,The Temple And New Covenant Sacrifices *
Seek Out the Welfare of Jerusalem Analytical studies by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi
Menachem M. Schneerson on the
Rambam's rulings concerning the construction and the design of the Beis HaMikdosh.
*
www.Tempelmodell.de Reconstruction of the second Temple
