M 





T i: M 



3GOO overseers of the others. To save the labour . 

 riage, the ports were all prepared foi 



tin- rite nf the building, ami when they \veie brought to- 

 gether, the structure <l without the sound of 

 hammers, axes, or tools of iron 1 AY 



To furnish a i. i of Solomon's tt'iniilo from the 



materinls whie-h hiu.' n-aelud IK, even if \ve take in the 

 ideal temple of K/ekiel, \vhieh is com-cive-d tn lie framed 

 on (he same model, would require such a eonihiniitiou of 

 real architectural knowledge with deep Hihlical learning 

 as have perhaps never been combined ia any one \ 

 Hence all the descriptions \\liv-h have been ileihur-d from 

 such materials ililt'er greatly from one another. These only 

 claim our confidence in the points in which all, or nearly 

 all, of them agree : for such points of agreement appear to 

 ciub.idy all the real information which ha* hitherto been 

 collected fii'in llu- text. There are however materials of 

 comparison nnd illustration, which, taken along with the 

 text, might furnish some clearer notions than ha. 

 been realized in a mailer which circumstances have in- 

 \e--te-elwith considerable interest. 1. It would be ceuisi- 

 ! that the temple was on the same essential plan as 

 the tabernacle, di'f'cring chiefly in materials, extent, and 

 in additions to the enclosure". 2. Reference would be 

 made to other ant lent Oriental temples, of which we know 

 more, nnd especially to those of Egypt, some of which are 

 in sufficient preservation to allow their relative parts and 

 proportions to he clearly understood. And in this regard it 

 will be seen that those" plans of the temple which appear 

 most in agreement with the text otter the most striking ana- 

 logies to Kgyptian temples Csee the chapter -An Kgyptian 

 Temple.' vol. i., pp. li'J-127, of ' Kiryptian Antiquiti 

 Library nf Knli'rtiiiiiiin: Knn And although it 



is probable that, from the friendly relations which Solomon 

 had already established with Egypt, Kgyptian as well as 

 Phoenician artist* supplied the artistic, labour for the temple 

 in which the Hebrews were themselves deficient, such 

 analogies need not be necessarily traced to imitation, but 

 to similar conditions and circumstances producing similar 

 results. The popular notion of a temple, as a vast pile of 

 building in which, as in our cathedrals, large multitudes 

 might assemble for worship under cover, does not in these 

 apply. A temple was a large area, enclosed by a 

 wall, and laid out in courts, where the crowds worshipped 

 and where sacrifices were offered ; and in colonnades 

 around th. where the worshippers might walk or 



tind shelter from the sun or rain. Apartment* for the nu- 

 ns officiating priests, and chambers for stores and 

 treasure-, also increased the display of building within and 

 around the enclosing walls. The cacrcd editiee itself, 

 being only intended to contain the sacred symbo!- 

 being entered only by the prie.sts for particular services, 

 never lartre; but what it wanted in .-i/e was made 

 up ir :i:itciials and splendour of workmanship. 



:- npply equally to the temples of Jerusalem and 

 of Kg> pt ; and in both Hie saeved building was divided 

 into three ]rts, which were in Solomon's temple called 

 the Porch, the Holy 1'lace, and the Most Holy Place, an- 

 ,ree to the porch, the nave, and the 

 i i an churches, the parts of which were indeed 



.eil originally with an intended reference to those of 

 the JcwUh temple. Even Hie pillars called .laehin and 

 lion/, whieh Solomon <-ct up at the porch, find analogies 

 in the obelisks which the Kgyptians placed in a corre- 

 spuii '.IITC of illiistratiuti is 



offered ill the more ample description which is given by 

 Joseplms Hi Herod's temple- : lor although that appears to 

 liare bi-en architecturally a gre-ate-r nnd more imposing 

 fiibric than that of Solomon, there is no doubt that i! had 

 the same |>aits and that they were similarly proportioned 

 to each other. 4. The antient Christian "churches also 

 offer som * of arrangement, which claim to be 



considered when viewed :is intended retrospects of the 

 Jewish temple. Among the plans of antient churches 

 given in ( 'iilemaii A/I/II/. i<f t/ii> Chnnlinn Church, Anelo- 

 ver. I'. S.. ls|| , that of the church at Tyre affords sonic 

 remarkable illustrations. 



The site of Solomon's Temple was the summit of Mount 

 Moriah. one of the eminences on which .Jerusalem 

 This eminence rose to no great height within the city, but 

 wan high and st .1 the Kedron. wliich it 



overlooked. It tared (he Mount of Olives. The Mo^ne ul 

 Omar now occupy, the same sile; and the imposing figure- 



which it makes in eveiy view of Jer 'hat a 



.ulvautageoiu situation could not I .... been < ! 

 The top of the In ..ml the sides banked up to 



afford a sufficient area. This area was divided into 

 fbnt in Herod's temple tin. 



which stood the people. 1 wall 



(or, as sonic think, by a latticed 

 inner court, called the i'ouit of the 1'iiests, in wind 



. at altar of burnt offerings, and where the | 

 I.evites officiated in view of the people, and ill front ol the 

 holy house, or proper temple. The proper temp 

 viouuly indicated, was an oblong building. It wa-~0 cubits 

 in length, 20 in width, nnd 30in height : tin how- 



>D of the house or holy place, for the 



innermost sanctuary was but 20 cubits high 1 Kii/f;x,\\. 

 20); and although the poich i- said, in 1 Ohron., iii. -t. to 

 have been 120 cubits hiirh, or four times the height of the 

 main buildinir, the numbers in that text are now generally 

 admitted to be corrupted : 211 cubit-, which we find in the 

 antient versions, is probably the tine number: being the 

 same height as the sanctuary. The porch covered the 

 breadth ot the building 20 cubits, and was 10 cubits deep: 

 the holy place was -JO cubits leing by 20 wide- : and the 

 sanctuary was a perfect square of 2O cubits. The building 

 fronted the east. Along the north and south sides, and 

 the west end of the structure, wi ! certain Imilcl- 



ailed 'side chambers,' in tlin each five 



cubits high. This made 15 cubits of total elevation, which 

 it more than half the height of the main building, in 

 whose walls, above, there was therefore room for the 

 splayed windows which gave light to the temple. 



The sacred utensils were of the same description and 

 occupied the same relative position as in the tabernacle : 

 but some of them were larger, as the altnr, candle - 1 

 Sec., in proportion to the more extensive establishment to 

 which they belonged. The principal of the new uu 

 was the great brazen laver for ablutions, wliich rested on 

 the hacks of twelve oxen of the same metal. 



The inner sanctuary was separated from the holy place. 

 by a rich curtain or veil. The whole of the interior was 

 wainscoted with cedar, carved with figures of cherubim, 

 palm-trees, and flowers, and then overlaid with the ; 

 gold. The' doors were also covered with gold : all the 

 utensils in the house were of that metal; and even tin- 

 floor appeals to hn\c been overlaid with it 1 Kmif.v, 

 vi. 30,>. It is this lavish expenditure of precious metal 

 upon the building, and the elaborate workmanship be- 

 stowed upon it. which, rather than its a.-chitectnral effect, 

 .nts for the reports of its surpassing magnificence, 

 and for the immense' wealth consumed in its erection. 

 The popular impression concerning it, however. I 

 based rather upon the exaggerated statements of .loscphns 

 than upon the more sober in Scripture, dec 



doubt, greatly exceed the truth. More might be said of 



ime.s "than of its grandeur, its wealth is i> 

 attested by the spoliations of knu-s and con- 



querors; and it may be well to remember that thi- 

 not, as in other notions, one 1 of many temples, but was the 

 iiiple nf the whole nation, mid in the 1 production of 

 which the whole nation could therefore concentrate its 



The Temple of Solomon retained its pristine splendour 

 only for for hen its treasures were plundered by 



Shi-s'iiak, king of Kg\ pt. After undergoing various other 

 profanations and pillages, it was finally d, 

 the- < 'Imlda'iiiis under Nc-bnchachie/^ar, n.r. ."''-, aller 

 having stood 117 yeais. Aller the ( 'aplivily, the temple 

 built, on tin- same' plan, and cm a more extensive 

 eatly diminished splendour. This temple 

 stood until some u :ir- befoie tin' birth of ChiM, when 

 Herod the' fre:d. to propitiate his subjects, whom ni 

 the in icign bad tended to exasperate', un- 



dertook to rebuild it on a larger- M ale- iind with greater 

 magnificence. In nine years, during which Mi.UKi work- 

 men were- constantly employed, l- ae-e-e>m|i!ishcd his oii- 

 ginal design; and produced a fabiir, which, while- the 

 same- in ils essential chai ! the 



Temple of Solomon in e-vte-ni and architecture, although 

 the precious metal may have 1 been less 1a\i-hl\ e!isp|:iy ( . ( | 

 in the 1 interior <'. Main \ the Jews 



kept weiil,me-n employee! in cm 1 " rd in 



tin- e-re'e-lion of additional buildings (Jnfin, ii. 20). In 

 A.D. 64, nothing remained to he done, and the- elismi --al at 



