Before we proceed to describe this venerable edifice, it may be proper to remark, that by the temple is to be understood not only the fabric or house itself, which by way of eminence is called the Temple, viz. the holy of holies, the sanctuary, and the several courts both of the priests and Israelites; but also all the numerous chambers and rooms which this prodigious edifice comprehended, and each of which had its respective degree of holiness, increasing in proportion to its contiguity to the holy of holies. This remark it will be necessary to bear in mind, lest the reader of Scripture should be led to suppose that whatever is there said to be transacted in the temple was actually done in the interior of that sacred edifice. To this infinite number of apartments into which the temple was disposed our Lord refers (John xiv. 2.): and, by a very striking and magnificent simile borrowed from them, he represents those numerous seats and mansions of heavenly bliss which his Father's house contained, and which were prepared for the everlasting abode of the righteous. The imagery is singularly beautiful and happy, when considered as an allusion to the temple, which our Lord not unfrequently called his Father's house.

The second temple, originally built by Zerubbabel, after the captivity, and repaired by Herod, differed in several respects from that erected by Solomon, although they agreed in others.

The temple erected by Solomon was more splendid and magnificent than the second temple, which was deficient in five remarkable things that constituted the chief glory of the first :-these were the ark and mercy seat,-the shechinah or manifestation of the divine presence in the holy of holies,-the sacred fire on the altar, which had been first kindled from heaven,-the urim and thummim,-and the spirit of prophecy. But the second temple surpassed the first in glory, being honoured by the frequent presence of our divine Saviour, agreeably to the prediction of Haggai. (ii. 9.) Both, however, were erected upon the same site, a very hard rock, encompassed by a very frightful precipice; and the foundation was laid with incredible expense and labour. The superstructure was not inferior to this great work; the height of the temple wall, especially on the south side, was stupendous. In the lowest places it was three hundred cubits, or four hundred and fifty feet, and in some places even greater. This most magnificent pile was constructed with hard white stones of prodigious magnitude.1

The temple itself, strictly so called (which comprised the portico, the sanctuary, and the holy of holies), formed only a small part of the sacred edifice on mount Moriah; being surrounded by spacious courts, making a square of half a mile in circumference. It was

it continued increasing in splendour and magnificence through the pious donations of the people (Bell. Jud. v. 14.) to the time of Nero, when it was completed, and 18,000 workmen were dismissed from that service. From the eighteenth of Herod, who reigned thirty-seven years, to the birth of Christ, more than a year before the death of that prince, was above sixteen years, added to which the age of Christ, now thirty, gives forty-six complete years.

1 Antiq. Jud. lib. xv. § 5.

entered through nine gates, which were on every side thickly coated with gold and silver: but there was one gate without the holy house, which was of Corinthian brass, the most precious metal in antient times, and which far surpassed the others in beauty. For while these were of equal magnitude, the gate composed of Corinthian brass was much larger; its height being fifty cubits and its doors forty cubits, and its ornaments both of gold and silver being far more costly and massive. This is supposed to have been the gate called Beautiful in Acts iii. 2., where Peter and John, in the name of Christ, healed a man who had been lame from his birth.

The first or outer court, which encompassed the holy house and the other courts, was named the Court of the Gentiles; because the latter were allowed to enter into it, but were prohibited from advancing further. On the gates that opened through this enclosure, and on the columns contiguous, were inscriptions in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; which interdicted, on pain of death, any further entrance to the unclean and to the Gentiles. This court was surrounded by a range of porticoes or cloisters, above which were galleries or apartments supported by pillars of white marble, each consisting of a single piece, and five and twenty cubits in height. One of these was called Solomon's Porch or piazza, because it stood on a vast terrace, which he had originally raised from a valley beneath, four hundred cubits high, in order to enlarge the area on the top of the mountain, and make it equal to the plan of his intended building; and as this terrace was the only work of Solomon's that remained in the second temple, the piazza which stood upon it retained the name of that prince. Here it was that our Lord was walking at the feast of dedication (John x. 23.); and that the lame man, when healed by Peter and John, glorified God before all the people.2 (Acts iii. 11.) This superb portico is termed the ROYAL PORTICO by Josephus, who represents it as the noblest work beneath the sun, being elevated to such a prodigious height that no one could look down from its flat roof to the valley below, without being seized with dizziness, the sight not reaching to such an immeasurable depth. The south-east corner of the roof of this portico, where the height was greatest, is supposed to have been the guyov, pinnacle, or extreme angle, whence Satan tempted our Saviour to precipitate himself. (Matt. iv. 5. Luke iv. 9.) This also was the spot where it was predicted that the abomination of desolation, or the Roman ensigns, should stand. (Dan. ix. 27. Matt. xxiv. 15.) Solomon's portico was situated in the eastern front of the temple, opposite to the mount of Olives, where our Lord is said to have sat when his disciples came to show him the grandeur of its various buildings, of which, grand as they

1 Antiq. Jud. lib. xv. c. xi. § 3.

2 Of the same kind with these porticoes, cloisters, or piazzas, were doubtless the five porticoes which surrounded the pool of Bethesda. (John v. 2.) The pool was probably a pentagon, and the piazzas round it were designed to shelter from the weather the multitude of diseased persons who lay waiting for a cure by the miraculous virtue of those waters. Jenning's Jewish Antiq. p. 267

were, he said, the time was approaching when one stone should not be left upon another. (Matt. xxiv. 1-3.) This outermost court being assigned to the Gentile proselytes, the Jews, who did not worship in it themselves, conceived that it might be lawfully put to profane uses for here we find that the buyers and sellers of animals for sacrifices, and also the money-changers, had stationed themselves; until Jesus Christ, awing them into submission by the grandeur and dignity of his person and behaviour, expelled them, telling them that it was the house of prayer for all nations, and that it had a relative sanctity, and was not to be profaned. (Matt. xxi. 12, 13. Mark xi. 15-17.)

Within the court of the Gentiles stood the court of the Israelites divided into two parts or courts, the outer one being appropriated to the women, and the inner one to the men. The court of the women was separated from that of the Gentiles by a low stone wall or partition, of elegant construction, on which stood pillars at equal distances, with inscriptions in Greek and Latin, importing that no alien should enter into the holy place. To this wall St. Paul most evidently alludes in Eph. ii. 13, 14. But now in Christ Jesus, ye, who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ: for he is our peace, who hath made both one, (united both Jews and Gentiles into one church,) and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished the law of ordinances by which, as by the wall of separation, both Jews and Gentiles were not only kept asunder, but also at variance. In this court was the treasury, over against which Christ sat, and beheld how the people threw their voluntary offerings into it for furnishing the victims and other things necessary for the sacrifices. (Mark xii. 41. John viii. 20.)

From the court of the women, which was on higher ground than that of the Gentiles, there was an ascent of fifteen steps into the inner or men's court: and so called because it was appropriated to the worship of the male Israelites. In these two courts, collectively termed the court of the Israelites, were the people praying, each apart by himself, for the pardon of his sins, while Zechariah was offering incense within the sanctuary. (Luke i. 10.)

Within the court of the Israelites was that of the priests, which was separated from it by a low wall, one cubit in height. This inclosure surrounded the altar of burnt offerings, and to it the people brought their oblations and sacrifices; but the priests alone were permitted to enter it. From this court twelve steps ascended to the temple strictly so called, which was divided into three parts, the portico, the outer sanctuary, and the holy place. In the portico were suspended the splendid votive offerings made by the piety of various individuals. Among its other treasures, there was a golden table given by Pompey, and several golden vines of exquisite workmanship as well as of immense size: for Josephus relates that there were clusters as tall as a man. And he adds, that all around were fixed up and displayed the spoils and trophies taken by Herod from the Barbarians and Arabians. These votive offerings, it should seer,

were visible at a distance; for when Jesus Christ was sitting on the mount of Olives, and his disciples called his attention to the temple, they pointed out to him the gifts with which it was adorned. (Luke xxi. 5.) This porch had a very large portal or gate, which, instead of folding doors, was furnished with a costly Babylonian veil, of many colours, that mystically denoted the universe. From this the Sanctuary or holy place was separated from the holy of holies, by a double veil, which is supposed to have been the veil that was rent in twain at our Saviour's crucifixion; thus emblematically pointing out that the separation between Jews and Gentiles was abolished, and that the privilege of the high priest was communicated to all mankind, who might henceforth have access to the throne of grace through the one great mediator, Jesus Christ. (Heb. x. 19-22.) The Holy of Holies was twenty cubits square: into it no person was ever admitted but the high priest, who entered it once a year on the great day of atonement. (Exod. xxx. 10. Levit. xvi. 2. 15. 34. Heb. ix. 2-7.)

Magnificent as the rest of the sacred edifice was, it was infinitely surpassed in splendour by the Inner Temple or Sanctuary. Its appearance, according to Josephus, had every thing that could strike the mind or astonish the sight: for it was covered on every side with plates of gold, so that when the sun rose upon it, it reflected so strong and dazzling an effulgence, that the eye of the spectator was obliged to turn away, being no more able to sustain its radiance than the splendour of the sun. To strangers who were approaching, it appeared at a distance like a mountain covered with snow, for where it was not decorated with plates of gold, it was extremely white and glistering. On the top it had sharp-pointed spikes of gold, to prevent any bird from resting on it and polluting it. There were, continues the Jewish historian, in that building several stones which were forty-five cubits in length, five in height, and six in breadth.1 "When all these things are considered, how natural is the exclamation of the disciples when viewing this immense building at a distance: Master, see what MANNER of STONES (TOTATO So, what very large stones) and what BUILDINGS are here! (Mark xiii. 1.); and how wonderful is the declaration of our Lord upon this, how unlikely to be accomplished before the race of men who were then living should cease to exist. Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."2 Improbable as this prediction must have appeared to the disciples at that time, in the short space of about forty years after it was exactly accomplished; and this most magnificent temple, which the Jews had literally turned into a den of thieves, through the righteous judgment of God upon that wicked and abandoned nation, was utterly destroyed by the Romans A. M. 4073 (A. D. 73), on the same month, and on the same day of the month, when Solomon's temple had been rased to the ground by the Babylonians!

1 Josephus, Antiq. Jud. lib. xv. c. xi. § 3. De Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 5. § 1—6. 2 Mark xiii. 2. Dr. Harwood's Introd. to the New Test. vol. ii. p. 161.

Both the first and second temples were contemplated by the Jews with the highest reverence of their affectionate regard for the first temple, and for Jerusalem, within whose walls it was built, we have several instances in those psalms which were composed during the Babylonish captivity; and of their profound veneration for the second temple we have repeated examples in the New Testament. They could not bear any disrespectful or dishonourable thing to be said of it. The least injurious slight of it, real or apprehended, instantly awakened all the choler of a Jew, and was an affront never to be forgiven. Our Saviour, in the course of his public instructions happening to say, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again;" it was construed into a contemptuous disrespect, designedly thrown out against the temple; his words instantly descended into the heart of a Jew, and kept rankling there for several years; for upon his trial, this declaration, which it was impossible for a Jew ever to forget or to forgive, was immediately alleged against him as big with the most atrocious guilt and impiety: they told the court they had heard him publicly assert, I am able to destroy this temple. The rancour and virulence they had conceived against him for this speech, which they imagined had been levelled against the temple, was not softened by all the affecting circumstances of that excruciating and wretched death they saw him die: even as he hung upon the cross, with infinite triumph, scorn, and exultation, they upbraided him with it, contemptuously shaking their heads, and saying: Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself! If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. (Matt. xxvii. 40.)

The superstitious veneration, which this people had for their temple, further appears from the account of Stephen. When his adversaries were baffled and confounded by that superior wisdom and those distinguished gifts which he possessed, they were so exasperated at the victory he had gained over them, that they suborned persons to swear that they had heard him speak blasphemy against Moses and against God. These inflaming the populace, the magistrates, and the Jewish clergy, the holy man was seized, dragged away, and brought before the Sanhedrin. Here the false witnesses whom they had procured, stood up and said, This person before you is continually uttering the most reproachful expressions against this sacred. place, meaning the temple. This was blasphemy not to be pardoned. A judicature composed of high priests and scribes would never forgive such impiety.

Thus also, when St. Paul went into the temple to give public notice, as was usual, to the priests, of his having purified and bound himself with a religious vow along with four other persons, declaring the time when this vow was made, and the oblations he would offer for every one of them at his own expense when the time of their vow

1 John i. 19.

2 Matt. xxvi. 61. "This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build in three days."

3 Acts i. 13.