The Makers and Teachers of Judaism / From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Death of Herod the Great

by Charles Foster Kent

Section CXIX. HEROD'S TEMPLE

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:1a] Now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, undertook a very great work, that is, to rebuild the temple of God at his own expense, and to make it larger in circumference and to raise it to a more magnificent height. He thought rightly that to bring the temple to perfection would be the most glorious of all his works, and that it would suffice as an everlasting memorial.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:2c] So he prepared a thousand wagons to bring stones, chose ten thousand of the most skilful workmen, bought a thousand priestly garments for as many of the priests, and had some of them taught how to work as builders, and others as carpenters. Then he began to build, but not until everything was well prepared for the work.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:3a-c] And Herod took up the old foundations, and laid others. He erected a temple upon these foundations: its length was one hundred cubits and its height twenty additional cubits. Now the temple was built of stones that were white and strong. Each was about twenty-five cubits long, eight cubits high, and twelve cubits wide. The whole temple enclosure on the sides was on much lower ground, as were also the royal colonnades; but the temple itself was much higher, being visible for many furlongs in the country round about. It had doors at its entrance as high as the temple itself with lintels over them. These doors were adorned with variegated veils, into which were interwoven pillars and purple flowers. Over these, but under the crown-work, was spread out a golden vine, with its branches hanging far down, the great size and fine workmanship of which was a marvel to those who saw it.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:3f-l] Herod also built very large colonnades all around the temple, making them in proportion. He exceeded all who had gone before him in his lavish expenditure of money. There was a large wall about the colonnades. The hill, on which the temple stood, was rocky, ascending gradually toward the east of the city to its highest point. At the bottom, which was surrounded by a deep valley, he laid rocks that were bound together with lead. He also cut away some of the inner parts, carrying the wall to a great height, until the size and height of the square construction was immense, and until the great size of the stones in front were visible on the outside. The inward parts were fastened together with iron and the joints were preserved immovable for all time. When this work was joined together to the very top of the hill, he finished off its upper surface and filled up the hollow places about the wall and made it level and smooth on top. Within this wall, on the very top, was another wall of stone that had on the east a double colonnade of the same length as the wall. Inside was the temple itself. This colonnade faced the door of the temple and had been decorated by many kings before. Around about the entire temple were fixed the spoils taken from the barbarous nations. All these were dedicated to the temple by Herod, who added those that had been taken from the Arabians.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:4a, d] Now in an angle on the north side of the temple was built a citadel, well fortified and of extraordinary strength. This citadel had been built before Herod by the kings and high priests of the Hasmonean race, and they called it the Tower. In it were deposited the garments of the high priest, which he put on only at the time when he was to offer sacrifice. Herod fortified this tower more strongly than before, in order to guard the temple securely, and gave the tower the name of Antonia to gratify Antony, who was his friend and a Roman ruler.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5a-g] In the western side of the temple enclosure were four gates; one led to the king's palace, two others led to the suburbs of the city, and the fourth led by many steps down into the valley and up on the other side to the entrance to the other part of the city. The fourth front of the temple, that on the south, had gates in the middle; before this front were the three royal colonnades, which reached from the valley on the east to that on the west. These colonnades were especially remarkable for their great height, which seemed more because the hill at their base dropped abruptly into a very deep valley. There were four rows of pillars, placed side by side. The fourth was built into the stone wall. Each pillar was about twenty-seven feet high, with a double spiral at the base, and was so thick that three men joining hands could just reach around it. The number of the pillars was one hundred and sixty-two. The columns had Corinthian capitals, which aroused great admiration in those who saw them because of their beauty. These four rows of pillars made three parallel spaces for walking. Two of these parallel walks were thirty feet wide, six hundred and six feet in length, and fifty feet in height, while the middle walk was half as wide again and twice as high. The roofs were adorned with deep sculptures in wood, representing many different things; the middle was much higher than the rest, and the front wall, which was of polished stone, was adorned with beams set into the stone on pillars.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5h, i] The second enclosure, which was reached by ascending a few steps, was not very far within the first. This inner enclosure had a stone wall for a partition. Upon this wall it was forbidden any foreigner to enter under penalty of death. This inner enclosure had on its northern and southern sides three gates at intervals from each other. On the east, however, there was one large gate, through which those of us who were ceremonially pure could enter with our wives. Within this enclosure was another forbidden to women. Still further in there was a third court, into which only the priest could go. Within this court was the temple itself; before that was the altar, upon which we offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings to God.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5k, 6] Herod himself took charge of the work upon the colonnades and outer enclosures; these he built in eight years. But the temple itself was built by the priest in a year and five months. Thereupon all the people were filled with joy and returned thanks, in the first place to God for the speed with which it was finished, and in the second place for the zeal which the king had shown. They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding of the temple; the king sacrificed three hundred oxen to God, as did the others, each according to his ability. The time of this celebration of the work about the temple also fell upon the day of the king's inauguration, which the people customarily observed as a festival. The coincidence of these anniversaries made the festival most notable.

I. Herod's Motives. It is not difficult to appreciate the reasons which influenced Herod to begin the rebuilding of the temple. Chief among these was doubtless the desire to win still further the approval of his master Augustus. It is also a characteristic of a man of Herod's type to seek to gain popular approval by the munificence of his public gifts. Throughout his reign he was painfully aware of the suspicions of his Jewish subjects. He trusted, and the event proved the wisdom of his judgment, that he might conciliate them by giving them that about which their interest most naturally gathered. The methods which he employed in building the temple clearly indicate that this was one of his leading motives. He also gratified that love of construction which had found expression in many of the cities of Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean. He desired to rear a great memorial for himself, and in this hope he was not disappointed, for later generations continued to think of him with gratitude because of the temple which bore his name.

II. Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple. Herod's temple was begun in 20 or 19 B.C. and was not entirely completed until a few years before its destruction in 70 A.D. The task in itself was a difficult one, for on the north the city prevented the extension of the temple area, and on the south the hill rapidly descended toward the juncture of the Tyropoean and Kidron valleys. Herod met the difficulty by filling in to the south with vast stone constructions which rose to the height of seventy to ninety feet above the virgin rock. To economize building materials he built the huge underground vaults and arches known to-day as Solomon's Stables. Thus with a vast expense of labor and wealth he extended the temple area to the south until it was double that which surrounded Solomon's temple. It was also important to regard in every detail the ceremonial scruples of the Jews. To this end a small army of priests were trained as masons and carpenters in order to do the work in the immediate proximity of the temple. To bring the ancient temple into proportions with the rest of his buildings, a huge porch or facade was reared in front of it on the east, rising, according to Josephus, to the height of one hundred and twenty feet. For the roof that covered the porches he apparently brought cedar from the distant Lebanons. Only with all the resources of the kingdom at his command was it possible to carry through this vast enterprise.

III. The Approaches to the Temple. The entire temple area was rectangular in form, about twelve hundred feet in length and six hundred feet wide. Its chief approaches were on the south and west. A small gate through which sacrificial animals were introduced immediately into the temple precincts opened from the north. The one gate on the east, which opened into the Kidron Valley, was apparently opposite the eastern entrance to the temple. The two gates on the south opened toward the City of David. The one was a double gate with an incline leading into the temple area, and the other farther to the east was a triple gate. The main approaches were from the west. The southern of these was a low viaduct spanning the Kidron Valley and thence by steps or inclined approach ascending to the temple area. Remnants of the arches that spanned the valley at this point and a little farther north are still traceable on the present walls of the temple area far down in the Tyropoean Valley. The third approach farther to the north was probably also a viaduct leading directly into the temple area, while the extreme northern approach, according to Josephus, led from the palace of Herod directly to the temple. The entire temple area was encircled by a colonnade. One row of pillars was built into the high wall that surrounded the area. On the south was found the royal porch with its four rows of columns, the first and second about thirty feet apart, the second and third forty-five, and the third and fourth thirty. The pillars on the sides were about twenty-seven feet in height, while the two rows in the middle were double this height. Each of these colonnades was covered with a richly ornamented cedar roof, thus affording grateful shelter from the sun and storm. The great space at the south of the temple area was the Court of the Gentiles, the common park of the city where all classes of its population freely gathered. The colonnade on the east of the temple area bore the name of Solomon's Porch, and from it the steps led up to the raised platform of native rock twenty or more feet above the Court of the Gentiles. Somewhere to the east of the temple was found the famous Beautiful Gate. The series of steps led into the so-called Court of the Women. West of this was the Court of the Israelites, to which only men were admitted. Thence a broad, high door led to the open space before the temple. Surrounding the altar and cutting off approach to the temple proper was a stone balustrade. The space within this was known as the Court of the Priests. Here no laymen were admitted except as the ritual of private sacrifice required. These inner courts were surrounded by a high wall and adjoining chambers for the storing of the paraphernalia used in connection with the sacrifice and for the residence of the priests. On the southern side of the temple was the room where the national council, the sanhedrin, held its public meetings. Four gates on the north and four gates on the south led from the temple court to the lower Court of the Gentiles.

IV. The Organization of the Temple Service. At the head of the temple organization was the high priest. Since the deposition of the ill-fated Hyrcanus the high priests had been appointed by Herod, for to them was intrusted large civil as well as religious authority. The one duty which the high priests could not neglect, unless prevented by illness, was to perform the sacrifice in behalf of the people and to enter the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement. Frequently he also offered the sacrifice or presided at the special services on the sabbath, the new moons, or at the great annual festivals. Otherwise the temple duties were performed by the army of priests and assistants who were associated with the temple. According to Josephus there were twenty thousand priests. They were divided into twenty-four courses. Each course included certain priestly families to which were intrusted for a week the performing of the sacrifices. Corresponding to the twenty-four courses of the priests were the courses of the people, who were represented by certain of their number at each of the important services. The priests not only performed the sacrifices but also guarded the temple treasures and the private wealth placed in their keeping. The Levites attended to the more menial duties in connection with the temple service. They aided the priests in preparing the sacrifices and in caring for the utensils that were used in connection with the sacrifice. Some of them were doorkeepers. Probably from the Levites were drafted the temple police at whose head was the captain of the temple. Their task was to preserve order and to prevent Gentiles from entering the sacred precincts of the temple. The singers constituted a third group of Levites.

Two public services were held each day, the first, at sunrise, consisted in the offering of a sacrificial ram with the accompaniment of prayer and song. The same rites were repeated at sunset. After the morning sacrifice the private offerings were presented. On the sabbaths, new moons, and great festivals, the number of sacrifices was greatly increased and the ritual made more elaborate. Upon the Jews, instructed in the synagogue in the details of the law and taught to regard the temple and its services with deepest reverence, the elaborate ceremonies of this great and magnificent sanctuary must have made a profound impression. As the people streamed up to Jerusalem by thousands at the great feasts, their attention was fixed more and more upon the ritual and the truths which it symbolized. Herod's temple also strengthened the authority of the Jewish hierarchy with the people, and gave the scribes and Pharisees the commanding position which they later occupied in the life and thought of Judaism.