Outline Studies in the Old Testament for Bible Teachers

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

III. The House of the Lord. This was a building not large, but magnificent and costly; made of stone and cedar, and decorated lavishly with gold and precious stones. It consisted of four parts:

1. The Porch, a lofty tower facing the east. Two pillars, either in the tower at the entrance or standing apart before it, are named (1 Kings 7. 21). The interior dimensions of the porch were about 30 feet from north to south, and 15 feet east and west[14] (1 Kings 6. 3).

2. The Holy Place was west of the porch, and was a chamber 60 feet long by 30 wide, and perhaps 30 feet high. In it stood, on the north, the table for "the showbread"—that is, the twelve loaves shown before the Lord; on the south, the golden candlestick, or lampstand[15]; and at the western end the golden altar of incense.

3. The Holy of Holies, or "the oracle" (1 Kings 6. 19, 20), was a cube, each dimension being 30 feet. It had no windows, but received a dim light through the veil which separated it from the adjoining room. This place was entered by the high priest only, and on but one day in the year, the day of atonement. The only article of furniture in the room was the Ark of the Covenant, containing the two stone tables of the law. The Ark doubtless was destroyed with the first temple, and in the second and third temples its place was indicated by a marble block, upon which the blood was sprinkled.

4. The Chambers were rooms for the priests, situated around the house, with entrance from without. They were in three stories, and were set apart for the residence of the priests while employed in the services of the temple. Each priest served two weeks in the year; not, however, two weeks in succession, but six months apart, and lived at his home for the rest of the time. In similar chambers around the old tabernacle E´li and Sam´u-el slept (1 Sam. 3. 2, 3).

IV. The Court of the Priests was an open, unroofed quadrangle surrounding the House of the Lord, but mainly in front, toward the east. It was about 200 feet wide, north and south, by 275 feet long, east and west, a few feet lower in elevation than the floor of the temple proper. Here stood the great Altar of Burnt Offering, upon which the daily sacrifice was offered, its site now shown under the Dome of the Rock; and near the door to the house the Laver for washing the sacrifices. Sol´o-mon built also a great "Sea," or reservoir of water, standing on the backs of twelve oxen, all of "brass," probably copper (1 Kings 7. 23-26). This was broken up by the Bab-y-lo´ni-ans, B. C. 587 (2 Kings 25. 13), and was not replaced in the later temples.

V. Around the Court of the Priests was another and larger corridor, the Court of Is´ra-el, or "the men's court." In the later temples this was 320 by 240 feet in dimensions, 26 feet wide on the north and south, 24 feet wide on the east and west. The size of this court in Sol´o-mon's temple is not given, but was probably the same as in later times. This was the standing place of the worshipers (exclusively men) as they witnessed the service.

VI. These were the only courts around the first temple, as the space to the south of the last-named court was occupied by Sol´o-mon's palaces, from which a magnificent flight of steps ascended to the temple area (1 Kings 10. 5). After these buildings were destroyed the latest temple, that of Her´od, included their site in additional courts and buildings for the worship. East of the Court of Is´ra-el, and a little lower, stood the Court of the Women, 200 feet square, having a lattice gallery on the western side, from which the women could look on the services of the altar. This court was also called "the Treasury" (John 8. 20) from the gift boxes fastened upon the wall (Mark 12. 41, 42). In each corner of this court was a room said to be 60 feet square, with an open roof.