ELEVENTH STUDY
The Temple on Mount Moriah
The most famous of all the buildings erected by Sol´o-mon, though by no means the largest, was the temple. It is so frequently mentioned in the Bible, and was so closely connected with the religious and secular history, both in the Old Testament and the New, that a detailed study of it is needed.
I. The Three Temples. All these stood in succession upon the same site, and were arranged upon the same general plan.
1. Sol´o-mon's Temple. Built about B. C. 970, and standing until B. C. 587, when it was destroyed by the Bab-y-lo´ni-ans (2 Kings 25. 8, 9).
2. Ze-rub´ba-bel's Temple. After lying desolate more than fifty years the second temple was begun about B. C. 534, under Ze-rub´ba-bel, the ruler of the exiles returned from Bab´y-lon (Ezra 3. 8). This temple was far inferior in splendor to the first, but soon became the object of pilgrimage to Jews from all lands and the center of Jew´ish national and religious life.
3. Her´od's Temple. The second temple having become dilapidated, Her´od the Great undertook its restoration on a magnificent scale. The work was begun about B. C. 20 and was not completed until A. D. 64. In the lifetime of Je´sus it was not yet finished (John 2. 20). This temple was destroyed by the Ro´mans under Ti´tus, A. D. 70. Its site is now occupied partially by the Dome of the Rock, miscalled the Mosque of O´mar, in Je-ru´sa-lem.
II. The Situation. The city of Je-ru´sa-lem stood upon hills separated by three valleys radiating in a fanlike order, from a point at the southeast. Northward runs the valley of the Kid´ron; northwest the valley of the Ty-ro´pœ-on, now almost obliterated; almost westward, with a curve northward, the valley of Hin´nom. Between the valley of the Kid´ron and the valley of the Ty-ro´pœ-on were two hills—on the north Mount Mo-ri´ah, and a little to the south a spur of lower elevation known as O´phel. On Mount Mo-ri´ah stood the temple, on O´phel the buildings of Sol´o-mon's palace. Later the temple area was enlarged to include both these hills. West of Mo-ri´ah, across the Ty-ro´pœ-on valley, was Mount Zi´on, upon which the principal part of the city stood.