2 Chronicles 4

2. Chron. 3 : 1** THEN Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, which he made ready in the 2 place that David had appointed, in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

1. K. 6 : 1** And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

2. And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore 3 cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

2. Chron. 3: 4 And the height an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with 5 pure gold. And the greater house he ceiled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, 6 and wrought thereon palm trees and chains. And he garnished the house with precious stones 7 for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. He overlaid also the house, the beams, the thresholds, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubim of 8 the walls. And he made the most holy house; the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it 9 with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.

1. K. 6: 4, 5 And for the house he made windows of fixed lattice-work. And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both 6 of the temple and of the oracle: and he made side-chambers round about: the nethermost story was five cubits broad; and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for on the outside he made rebatements in the wall of the house round about, 7 that the beams should not have hold in the walls of the house. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready at the quarry: and there was neither hammer nor axe 8 nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right side of the house: and they went up by winding stairs into the 9 middle chambers, and out of the middle into the third. So he built the house, and finished it; 10 and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar. And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

11,12. And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my com- mandments to walk in them; then will I establish my word with thee, which I spake unto David 13 thy father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

14,15. So Solomon built the house, and finished it. And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house unto the walls of the ceiling, he covered 16 them on the inside with wood: and he covered the floor of the house with boards of fir. And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto 17 the walls: he even built them for it within, for an oracle, even for the most holy place. And 18 the house, that is, the temple before the oracle, was forty cubits long. And there was cedar on the house within, carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 19 And he prepared an oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the cov- 20 enant of the LORD. And within the oracle was a space of twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold: 21 and he covered the altar with cedar. So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: 22 and he drew chains of gold across before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that 23 belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold. And in the oracle he made two cherubim of 24 olive wood, each ten cubits high. And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the utter- 25 most part of the other were ten cubits. And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cher- 26 ubim were of one measure and one form. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and 27 so was it of the other cherub. And he set the cherubim within the inner house: and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another 28 in the midst of the house. And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

2. Chron. 3: 14 And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubim thereon.

1. K. 6: 29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of 30 cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. And the floor of the house 31 he overlaid with gold, within and without. And for the entering of the oracle he made doors

32 of olive wood : the lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall. So he made two doors of olive wood ; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold ; and he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm trees. So also made he for the entering of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall ; and two doors of fir wood ; the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. And he carved thereon cherubim and palm trees and open flowers : and he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven work. And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams.

1. K. 7 : 13, 14 And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was the son of a widow woman of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass ; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and cunning, to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work. For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece : and a line of twelve cubits compassed either of them about. And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars : the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits. There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars ; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter. So he made the pillars ; and there were two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars : and so did he for the other chapiter. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits. And there were chapiters above also upon the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network : and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other chapiter. And he set up the pillars at the porch of the temple : and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin : and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz. And upon the top of the pillars was lily work : so was the work of the pillars finished.

2. Chron. 4 : 1 Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

1. K. 7 : 23 And he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and the height thereof was five cubits : and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about. And he made the ten bases of brass ; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it. After this manner he made the ten bases : all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form. And he made ten lavers of brass : one laver contained forty baths : and every laver was four cubits : and upon every one of the ten bases one laver. And he set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house : and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south. And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he wrought for king Solomon in the house of the LORD : the two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars ; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars ; and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks ; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars ; and the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases ; and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea ; and the pots, and the shovels, and the basons : even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of the LORD, were of burnished brass. In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many : the weight of the brass could not be found out. And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the LORD : the golden altar, and the table whereupon the shewbread was, of gold ; and the candlesticks, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, of pure gold ; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold ; and the cups, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the firepans, of pure gold ; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple, of gold.

2. Chron. 4 : 8 He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold. Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.

I K. 7: 51 Thus all the work that king Solomon wrought in the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.

I K. 6: 37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the 38 month Ziv. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it. [Some details omitted, vs. 24-26, 28-36.]

Rock Plan of Jerusalem. (Capt. Warren.)

THE geographical position of Jerusalem may be indicated by saying that its latitude is that of the northern end of the Dead Sea, its distance from the Mediterranean thirty-one miles, and its distance from the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea fifteen miles. N. C. B.—It is exactly on the water-shed of the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, 2,650 feet above the level of the former. Built on the very backbone of the country—the summit of that long ridge which traverses the Holy Land from north to south, and only approachable by wild mountain roads—the position of the city was one of great natural strength. H. B. T.—The history of its many sieges and its capture by Titus confirm this statement. B.

PROFILE SECTION (EAST AND WEST) THROUGH JERUSALEM, TO THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.

Showing the comparative elevations of Zion, Moriah, and the Temple Platform, and the Mount of Olives; and the Rock-bed of the Brook Cedron, where the water is still flowing. (See page 512.) The breadthwise distances are indicated (also in feet) on the bottom line.

To the spectator down about the confluence of the valleys of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat is admirably revealed the elevated position of the city. From the depths of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat, Moriah appears truly a mountain, and Zion the acropolis and citadel of David. N. C. B.

The great depth of the valleys on the west of Zion and the east of Moriah, the relative elevation of the northern and southern portions of the city, and the superior altitude of the Mount of Olives, will be better understood by the following statement of of these several points above the junction of the valleys of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat:

To the summit of Moriah, 370 feet.

To the summit of Zion, 520 feet.

To the summit of the Mount of Olives, 670 feet.

To the northeast corner of city, 470 feet.

To the northwest corner of city, 570 feet. J. G. B.

ONE city literally lies heaped upon another. For Jerusalem stood no fewer than twenty-seven sieges—from Jebusites and Israelites, Egyptians and Assyrians, Greeks and Romans, Mohammedans and Christians. The last and twenty-seventh siege took place in 1244 by the wild Kharzemian hordes. The Jerusalem of our day may be considered the eighth; for even before the time of David there was a city there. The second was the city of Solomon, from B. C. 1000 to B. C. 597, four hundred years; the third that of Nehemiah, three hundred years; at length came the magnificent city of Herod; then that Roman city on the ruin Titus had made; followed by the Mohammedan, and that by a Christian; and now, for six hundred years, the modern city has stood on the ruins of those that preceded it. If we examine the

South Wall, East Angle. Mount of Olives in the Distance.

rubbish and débris, we have to determine, at every step, among the ruins of which city we are standing—Solomon, Nehemiah, Herod, Hadrian, Constantine, Omar, Godfrey, Saladin, Suleiman, each in turn represents a city. E. C. Gray.

By the repeated sinking of shafts on the sloping face of Ophel, it is established that the south wall is buried for more than half its depth, and that, if bared to its foundation, this wall would present an unbroken front of solid masonry of nearly 1,000 feet long and 150 feet in height. The wall, as it now stands, with less than half that height emerging from the ground, has always been regarded as a marvel. What must it have been when entirely exposed to view, and the tall erections of the Temple towering over it! No wonder that prophets and psalmists should have rejoiced in the walls and bulwarks of the Temple, and that Tacitus should have described it as “built after the fashion of a citadel” (Ps. 48 : 13). H. B. T.

All these buildings, porticos, columns, pinnacles, altar, and temple, have perished. The area alone remains, and the massive substructures that for 3,000 years have been sleeping in their courses. The preservation has been due to the ruin. Buildings so vast have been toppled down the slopes of the Moriah that the original defiles and valleys have been almost obliterated. What had been regarded as the original surface has been found to be débris from 70 to 90 feet deep. At the southwest corner of the area, débris has accumulated to a depth of not less than 125 feet—the accumulation of ages, made up of the ruins of successive Jerusalems; and here some of the most interesting discoveries have been made.

Here is the famous arch of Robinson. It is inferred to be the remains of a bridge which crossed the valley on arches, and connected Mount Moriah with the mountain opposite—the modern Zion. It is the skewback or abutment that slopes to receive the end of the arch.

Three courses remain. The stones are five or six feet thick, and 20 or 25 feet long. The valley here is 350 feet wide, and this must have been the length of the bridge, connecting the Temple with the royal palace on the other side. At a depth of 30 feet a worn pavement was found, worn by feet that passed over it in our Lord’s time. Lying on this pavement were the voussoirs, or wedge-like stones, belonging to the arch. Breaking through this pavement, and through 24 feet of débris beneath, they found a still more ancient roadway, and resting upon this, the key-stones of a still more ancient bridge. The explanation is probably reached; Robinson’s arch is the remains of the bridge that was standing at the siege of Jerusalem, upon which, at the eastern end of it, stood the Roman general Titus, holding a parley with the Jews, occupying the other end of the bridge. The older bridge, the remains of which were found beneath the pavement, belonged to the palmy days of Solomon. W. I. B.

Vicinity of Jerusalem.

OUT of the valley of Jehoshaphat, or Cedron of the Bible, eastwardly rises the MOUNT OF OLIVES, three hundred feet higher than Moriah. N. C. B.—It is not so much a mount as a somewhat elevated mass, having three rounded eminences, the whole running north and south for more than a mile, on a line with the eastern wall of the city. Of these three eminences, the central one is the Mount of Olives. The eminence on the south is called the Mount of Offence, from its being the seat of Solomon’s idol-worship. From the city to the summit of Olivet, approached by three paths, the distance is about half a mile. Across the valley of Hinnom, and directly south of Zion, is the Hill of Evil Counsel. J. G. B.

The building of the temple forms a great epoch in the history of the theocracy. With it not only does the Mosaic worship gain an important accession in solidity and splendor, and the people itself a fixed central sanctuary, inasmuch as the Lord sanctions the temple on its consecration in the most solemn manner as the place chosen by him for his name; but also with it an end is first made to the provisional state of Israel in the promised land, and the Divine assurance that he will “appoint a place for his people Israel, that they might dwell in a place of their own and move no more” (2 S. 7 : 10), is completely fulfilled. The importance of this epoch is indicated by this, that the time of building is determined not only by the year of Solomon’s reign, but also by the departure from Egypt. Four hundred and thirty years was Israel in Egypt (Ex. 12 : 40); four hundred and eighty years elapsed from the departure out of this land of bondage to the foundation of the temple. These two numbers form two fixed resting points for the chronology of the history of Israel in ancient times, for which the historical books of the Old Testament contain no uninterrupted era, while there is no solid ground either for shortening the four hundred and thirty years’ residence of Israel in Egypt with some critics to two hundred and fifteen years, or for lengthening the four hundred and eighty years from the departure out of Egypt to the building of the temple. Keil. (See pp. 32, 33.)

The erection of this splendid sanctuary was no doubt the greatest event, both in Jewish and Gentile eyes, in the history of the Holy City. It made Jerusalem what it had not been till then, the religious capital. The stronghold of the Jebusites now became the shrine and centre of the Jewish system. We find a sufficient indication of the profound importance which this undertaking assumed in Jewish eyes in the fact that four chapters of our history—and three of them of considerable length—are occupied with an account of the materials, proportions, arrangements, and consecration of this great sanctuary. To the historiographers of Israel it seemed meet that every measurement of the holy and beautiful house should be recorded with the greatest exactness, while the very vessels of service, “the pots and the shovels and the basins,” were judged worthy of a place in the sacred page. But these careful and detailed dimensions are not only proofs of the tender veneration with which the Jew regarded the Temple and its appointments; they are also (as Bahr has well shown) indications and expressions of the belief that this house, so “exceeding magnifical,” was for the Lord, and not for man. These exact measurements, these precise and symbolic numbers, all point to a place for the Divine Presence. At the same time it must be added here that, exact and detailed as is the description of this edifice, it is nevertheless so partial, and the account is, perhaps necessarily, so obscure as to leave us in considerable doubt as to what Solomon’s Temple was really like. In fact, though “more has been written regarding the temple at Jerusalem than in respect to any other building in the known world” (Fergusson), the authorities are not agreed as to its broad features, while as to matters of detail they are hopelessly divided. And the difficulty is enhanced by the fact that the temple was purely Jewish, so that no information as to its structure and arrangements can be derived from the contemporary architecture of Egyptians or Assyrians. In the absence of all analogies restoration is hopeless. Hammond.

Site of the Temple.

Of all the buildings of the Jerusalem of the Bible, scarce a recognizable trace remains above ground outside of the Temple platform. Eleven sieges and destructions have utterly erased all that was visible of the city of the Maccabees and Nehemiah, still more of the city of the Jewish monarchy, of David and Solomon. The platform, now called Haram esh Sherif, is a vast artificial work, raising the area nearly to a level with the central rock, which we suppose to have been the site of Araunah’s threshing floor and of the altar of burnt sacrifice in Solomon’s Temple, now crowned with a magnificent dome, called the Kubbet es Sakhra, or Dome of the Rock. The platform is supported by stupendous walls, built up from the slope of the hill on three sides. The enclosure is oblong, measuring 926 feet on its south face and 1530 feet on its east side; the northern and western sides being respectively a little longer. It seems that Solomon’s Palace originally stood at this south end of the platform, reaching about 600 feet from the east angle to the Double Gate; and that the tradition is right which calls this Triple Gate, consisting of three arches, each 25 feet high and 14 wide, the entrance to Solomon’s Stables, the great vaulted crypts which extend from these underneath the platform. Herod appears to have added the western third of the wall toward the Tyropæon, and on the whole he erected the magnificent colonnade, called the Royal Portico, which ran the whole length, with its pinnacles, 150 feet high, so that the spectator looked down 300 feet into the valley beneath, The Temple of Solomon would appear then to have been an oblong of over 900 feet by 600, with his palace, 600 by 300 feet, to the south of it; and a square of about 300 feet was added by Herod to complete the rectangle at the southwest, when the whole platform, including the site of the palace, was thrown into the Temple area, thus making it co-extensive with the present Haram Area. H. B. T.

The rugged top of the vast platform was levelled with immense labor; its sides, which to the east and south were precipitous, were faced with a wall of stone, built up perpendicular from the bottom of the valley, so as to appear to those who looked down of most terrific height; a work of prodigious skill and labor, as the immense stones were strongly mortised together and wedged into the rock. Around the whole area or esplanade, an irregular quadrangle, was a solid wall of considerable height and strength; within this was an open court, into which the Gentiles were either from the first or subsequently admitted. A second wall encompassed another quadrangle, called the court of the Israelites. Along this wall, on the inside, ran a portico or cloister, over which were chambers for different sacred purposes. Within this again another, probably a lower, wall, separated the court of the priests from that of the Israelites. To each court the ascent was by steps, so that the platform of the inner court was on a higher level than that of the outer. Milman.

Among the works undertaken for the temple were also the drains and water-supply, matters of the highest importance in the elaborate ceremonial of the worship. The depths of Mount Moriah were pierced by Solomon’s men, sometimes by shafts driven straight down or steeply sloping into the bowels of the mountain, sometimes by tunnels running from north to south not much above the level of the brook Kedron. One of these tunnels, leading from the Virgin’s Fount to the Pool of Siloam, is 1708 feet long, and presents at its southern end an inscription in old Hebrew which is thought to be of the age of Solomon. The value of these shafts and tunnels and tanks was very great. By one set the blood of sacrifices, the refuse, and the filth could be at once hurried out of sight into the heart of the rock, whence drains conveyed the whole to the Kedron and the Dead Sea. By another a copious supply of water could be brought from a distance. So honeycombed is the mountain with cisterns, that one of them, known as the Great Sea, would contain two million gallons, while the total storage provided probably exceeded five times that quantity. Perhaps the pools of Solomon, six miles off on the hill-sides above Bethlehem, as the three great tanks in Wadi Urtas are called, were built by the king’s orders for supplying the temple-hill. Although history is silent on the point, there is not known to have been any other king who had either power or wisdom sufficient to build these vast tanks; to lay a double set of pipes as far as Jerusalem, at a high level and a low level; and to tunnel the rocks, as they are found to be, even for miles in length. Sime.

The general plan of the Temple was identical with that of the Tabernacle. God was the architect of both; giving “patterns” of the one to Moses in the Mount, and of the other to David by the Spirit (1 Chron. 28: 12, 19). The House surpassed the Tent in size, being of exactly double dimensions, and in richness and permanence both of material and construction.

The locality of the sacred structure, and the time of its commencement. It was built upon the eminence of Moriah, northeastward of and somewhat lower than the hill of Zion. The ground had been purchased by David from Ornan the Jebusite, and was probably the identical place where Abraham would have offered Isaac as a sacrifice. The work of building was begun in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, three years having been occupied in preparation. The epoch was a remarkable one, it being the central point of human history, almost midway between the creation of man and the present time.

The area, the parts, proportions, and material of the Temple and its courts. To gain needed ground for the structures and courts the original area was extended by building up walls and buttresses and filling in with earth. This necessitated the laying of deep and strong foundations for walls and buildings. The whole space enclosed by the outer walls formed an oblong of 600 feet by 900. The main building comprised four parts, of which the Temple proper included three: The Porch; the greater house or Holy Place; and the Holy of Holies. The fourth part was a three-storied appendage on either side containing chambers for the uses of the priests. The Temple proper was an oblong square 105 feet (estimating the cubit at half a yard) from east to west, and 30 feet from north to south. Of its three parts, the Porch or entrance was 15 feet in depth, the Holy Place 60 feet, and the Most Holy Place 30 feet. Each of these parts had the full breadth of the structure, or 30 feet. The height of the Holy Place was 45 feet. That of the Most Holy Place was 30 feet, so that this

inmost apartment was a perfect cube, with equal length and breadth and height. The fourth part, or remaining portion of the entire structure, consisted of three stories of chambers built against the sides, but having no communication with the Temple proper. These stories were so constructed, by the narrowing of the side walls, that the three floors and roof rested upon offsets; and thus the Temple walls were unpierced. Their entire height, too, was considerably less than that of the Temple, so as to admit of windows near the ceiling of the Holy Place from which the smoke of incense and the vapor of lamps might escape. Thus the whole structure externally resembled an ordinary-sized church, with nave and side aisles. It was distinguished, not by magnitude, but by beauty of workmanship and costliness of materials. The walls of the building were of white stone. The interior surfaces of both Holy places, sides, ceiling, and floor, were lined with cedar-wood, which was overlaid with pure gold; the side walls being enriched with chasing and with precious stones. A pair of immense folding doors, whose golden surfaces were embossed with figures of cherubim, of foliage and flowers, formed the entrance from the porch to the Holy Place. And similar doors of smaller dimensions opened into the Holy of Holies. These doors were always open, while before the opening, and wholly concealing the inner Sanctuary, hung a richly-bordered gorgeous veil.

The Temple was placed on the westward side of the whole area, and on the same side of an inner Court, called the Court of the Priests, into which only servitors of the Temple were admitted. This Court was enclosed by a wall of cedar beams resting on a stone pediment. In it was the great sacrificial altar of brass, 30 feet square and 15 feet high, and the great circular laver, or “molten sea,” 15 feet in diameter at the brim and 7½ feet high, standing upon twelve brazen oxen. There were also ten smaller lavers for the washing of the burnt-offerings; the sea being used “for the priests to wash in.” Outside of this inner Court, covering the remainder of the enclosed area, was the “Great Court,” called also the Court of the Lord’s House, for all the people. One significant fact is carefully noted respecting the whole structure. The shaping, dressing, and fitting of a great part of the material, even to the setting of pins and bolts, was done in the Phœnician quarries or work shops, whence it was transported to Jerusalem by sea and land. Hence “there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building.”

Mainly the work of ornamentation was wrought in Jerusalem.

This Temple, it may be added, was seven years in building; it remained more than four hundred years, and was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar B.C. 588. The second Temple was built under the superintendence of Zerubbabel, and completed B.C. 516. This building, having become greatly dilapidated, was almost wholly rebuilt by Herod the Great. And his magnificent structure was utterly destroyed by Titus, A.D. 70. (We reproduce the Ground-plan of Herod’s Temple, and also various diagrams and statements bearing upon the topics of this and the preceding section, from New Testament, Vol. I. See pages 535-538 and 541.) B.

1. K. 6 : 5, 6, 8-10.** The temple was surrounded by three stories of chambers, each of which stories was five cubits high, so that there remained above ample space for introducing the windows, requisite more for ventilation than for the admission of light into the sanctuary. The lowest story of the chambers was five cubits, the middle six, and the third seven cubits wide. This difference of the width arose from the circumstance that the external walls of the Temple were so thick that they were made to recede one cubit after an elevation of five feet, so that the “rebatement” (or shoulder) in the wall of the temple gave a firm support to the beams which supported the second story, without being inserted into the wall of the sanctuary; which insertion was, perhaps, avoided not merely for architectural reasons, but also because it appeared to be irreverent. The third story was supported likewise by a similar rebatement, which afforded a still wider space for the chamber of the third story. These observations will render intelligible these biblical statements. Kit. Enc.

1. K. 6 : 7.** The historian here digresses for a moment to speak of the remarkable and, indeed, unprecedented way in which the temple was built. The stories were shaped and prepared beforehand in the quarry, so that there was nothing to do on their arrival in the temple area but to fit them into their place in the building. Where was this quarry? The general idea is that it was in the Lebanon. And it is not to be denied that the massive substructions and corner-stones of the temple may have been brought from the mountain, along with the wood; but the bulk of the stone, there can be no doubt, was found much nearer home. Some of it, according to the Mishna, came from Bethlehem; but we can hardly be mistaken in believing that for the most part it was quarried in Jerusalem itself, under the very temple rock, and out of the vast caverns recovered some years ago by Dr. Barclay (see his “City of the Great King”), the “Royal Caverns” of Josephus. See Quart. Journal, Pal. Explor. Fund (No. vii.), pp. 373, 374, and cf. p. 34. There are unmistakable evidences of these extensive caverns having served as a quarry. Not only are the walls cut straight, but rude masses are left here and there to support the roof, and, what is still more convincing, there are stones more or less cut out of the rock, and incisions are made where stones are to be quarried. There was no reason why the workmen should go far afield for stone when they had it, and of very excellent quality, at their own doors. Hammond.

Neither hammer nor axe was heard in that holy structure. There was nothing in Sion but silence and peace. Whatever tumults are abroad, it is fit there should be all quietness and sweet concord in the Church. O God, that the axes of schism, or the hammers of furious contentions, should be heard within thy sanctuary! Thy house is not built with blows: with blows it is beaten down. Oh, knit the hearts of thy servants together “in the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace;” that we may mind and speak the same things; that thou, who art the God of peace, mayest take pleasure to dwell under the quiet roof of our hearts. Bp. II.

The building up of the Church of God is a silent, hidden process. Outward visible agencies must be employed, but the real constructive forces are out of sight. Truth works secretly and silently in the souls of men. “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” Noise and show are out of harmony with the sanctity of it. Clamor and violence only hinder the work. Let us not mistake a restless, busy, fussy zeal for the externalities of Church life for true spiritual service. This is often in inverse ratio to the amount of real edification. The best machinery works with least friction and noise. The quiet, thoughtful workers, who move on steadily by the inspiration of their holy purpose, without much public recognition, may after all be the most efficient builders of the temple of God. Waite.

He may accomplish most whose useful results no man sees, who makes no noise, who resembles the silent forces of nature, and not he who will have everything finished up by a certain time or else consider nothing to be effected. The calmness and patience, the calculation on the distant future, the noiselessness, the unweariedness, which contribute largely to the success of some men’s labors, are qualities in which contemplation schools the mind. The thoughtful Christian will, as far as in him lies, construct a solid, durable, substantial edifice, or nothing at all. T. D. Woolsey.

1. K. 6 : 11-13.** God’s promise to Solomon and to the people of Israel. At this point the historian interrupts his description of the building to record the gracious promise made to the king during its erection. Hammond.—This word of the Lord Solomon received during the building of the temple. The Lord assures him that he will fulfil the promise made to David (2 S. 7) in regard to the building of the temple on condition that he will walk in his statutes, judgments, and commandments, which are enumerated in the law of Moses. This “word of the Lord” is a short Divine confirmation of that which his father David had impressed upon him in the transference of the kingdom with special reference to the building of the temple. Keil.—While these protracted works were progressing, the Lord in His mercy gave special encouragement alike to Solomon and to the people. The word of the Lord, which on this occasion came to the king no doubt through a prophet, not only fully confirmed the promise made to David, but also connected the “house” that was being built to the Lord with the ancient promise (Ex. 25 : 8 ; 29 : 45) that God would dwell in Israel as among His people. Thus it pointed king and people beyond that outward building which, rising in such magnificence, might have excited only national pride, to its spiritual meaning, and to the conditions under which alone it would fulfil its great purpose. A. E.

God told Solomon, by the mouth of his prophet, that, notwithstanding the great splendor and magnificence wherewith he intended to adorn this temple, it was, in itself, but a mere external thing; and that the Divine presence in it, and God’s acceptance of, and favor and protection bestowed upon its worshippers, should wholly depend upon the measures of their obedience to his Divine laws, agreeably to the conditional promise made to his father David. Pyle.—The temple was intended to be a solid and permanent dwelling-place for God in the midst of Israel, as distinguished from the frail and movable tent in which he had heretofore dwelt among them. If Solomon was faithful to God’s service, and, as is implied, if Israel was faithful likewise, the reality should correspond with the symbol. God’s dwelling in Israel should be as fixed and stable as this massive structure promised to be. W. H. G.—This was but the repetition of the ancient promise to

Moses. And what are all these promises, with all the marvellous manifestations that verified them, but typical foreshadowings of the richer grace by virtue of which the Church becomes “the habitation of God through the Spirit”? “The Most High dwells not in temples made with hands;” His dwelling-place is the fellowship of redeemed souls. Waite.

19-28. The Holy of Holies (“oracle”), or inner sanctuary, was divided from the rest of the temple by a partition of cedar, in the centre of which was a pair of folding-doors of olive wood, very richly carved with palm-trees, and open flowers, and cherubim,—the whole overlaid with gold. A like pair of folding-doors, of grander dimensions, also overlaid with gold, embossed in rich patterns of cherubim, and knops, and open flowers, formed the outer entrance. The door forming the entrance to the most Holy Place was left open, and the space covered, as is usual in the East, by a magnificent veil or curtain. Kit.

In the Holy of Holies were stood two colossal four winged cherubim of gold, facing each other, the twain inner wings of each meeting above the ark, and the twain outer wings of each reaching to the wall on either side. Curtained by the heavy, gorgeous veil (2 Chron. 3 : 14), this inner sanctuary, with its ark and cherubim, afterward its central refulgent glory symbolizing God’s personal presence, was utterly closed against the vision even of the priests, save of the High-Priest on the great day of Atonement. B.

Solomon not only preserved the original cherubim upon the ark, but the most holy place in the temple being much larger than the corresponding portion of the tabernacle, he made two colossal cherubim, which were placed, one on each side of the ark, with expanded wings, so that two wings touched each other over the ark, while the other two reached the opposite walls. Besides this, the figures of cherubim were multiplied in the golden enchasements which lined the temple. Not only so, but there were images of oxen supporting the brazen sea, and figures of lions designed upon the bases of the ten lavers in the court of the temple; while there were within, among the interior adornments of the fretted gold, figures of palm-trees, lilies, and pomegranates. Kit.

1. K. 7 : 15-22.** The Pillars before the House. The relative place and the uses of these lofty brazen shafts, with their rich capitals wreathed with adorning festoons, are not accurately determined. They seem to have been ornaments of the porch, which itself merely served as a fitting vestibule to the Temple. We may trace a significance in the names of these pillars, “Firmness” and “Stability,” as applying to the entering into God’s Spiritual House, since all that enter there are forever established in His strong and enduring Dwelling-place. B.—The meaning of the pillars evidently is, that God has here established His temple on a firm foundation, and that it is, therefore, to be no longer a travelling sanctuary like the tabernacle. It is just because Jehovah no longer dwells in a moving tent, but in a settled house, that the cherubim stand in the temple upon the floor of the Holy of Holies, and make the whole place the constant abode of the Divine presence. O.—Their significance is intimated in the names given them (verse 21), Jachin—He will establish; and Boaz—In him is strength. Spiritual strength and stability are to be had at the door of God’s temple, where we must wait for the gifts of grace, in the use of the means of grace. It was a memorandum to them of the strength and establishment of the temple of God among them. Let them keep close to God and duty, and they should never lose their dignities and privileges, but the grant should be confirmed and perpetuated to them. The Gospel church God will establish, and he will strengthen. H.

No features in Solomon’s temple have given rise to so much controversy as these two famous pillars; the beauty of which Jewish writers are never tired of recounting. They were marvels of the glyptic skill for which the Phonician workmen were distinguished. That these were symbolic is evident from their names, which may be rendered, “Stability” and “Strength.” The reference is not so much to the material building, but to the kingdom of God in Israel, which was embodied in the temple. They pointed then, and now, to the beauty and strength of the dwelling of God. The lilies and pomegranates adorning the pillars not only showed that there should be beauty in the worship of God, and that the noblest art should be consecrated to Him, but symbolized the truth declared in Ps. 96 : 6, “Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.” Strength needs beauty to adorn it. Beauty needs strength to support it. Emblems of stability and strength, yet exquisite in their beauty, let Jachin and Boaz, in the porch of the temple, remind us of what God would see in the Christian Church and in the Christian character. Rowland.

2. Chron. 4 : 1.** The altar of burnt-offering appears to have undergone changes in its history. That of the tabernacle, in material, size, and the provision made for approaching it, differed considerably from this one. E. C. B.

1. K. 7 : 27-40. Besides the great “molten sea” (verses 23-26), there were ten bases, or stands, of brass, on which were put ten lavers, to be filled with water for the service of the temple, because there would not be room at the molten sea for all that had occasion to wash there. The bases on which the lavers were fixed are very largely described here. They were curiously adorned, and set upon wheels, that the lavers might be removed as there was occasion; but, ordinarily, they stood in two rows, five on one side of the court and five on the other (verse 39). Each laver contained forty baths—that is, about ten barrels (verse 38). They must be very clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Spiritual priests and spiritual sacrifices must be washed in the laver of Christ’s blood, and of regeneration. We must wash often, for we daily contract pollution; cleanse our hands, and purify our hearts. Plentiful provision is made for our cleansing; so that if we have our lot forever among the unclean, it will be our own fault. H.

48,49. The outer sanctuary, where the priests ministered daily, contained the altar of incense, ten golden candlesticks, and ten tables, all richly wrought and overlaid. Thus it will be seen that, in the size and the number of the sacred utensils, as well as in the dimensions of the building and its parts, the Temple greatly surpassed the Tabernacle. B.

49. The number of candlesticks was multiplied to ten in Solomon’s temple; and they seem to have remained at that number until carried away by the Babylonian conquerors (Jer. 52 : 19). E. C. B.—Whether all these lamps were fully lit up on great occasions is now unknown. But seventy lights in all—for there were seven bowls for olive oil in each lamp—would have filled the golden house with unmatched brilliance. Sime.

2. Chron. 4 : 9. Besides the table of shewbread, which was the only table in the tabernacle, there were here ten golden tables, besides others of silver, on which were laid out above a hundred golden vases of various patterns, with the different utensils—the censers, spoons, snuffers, etc.—all of gold, used in the service of the temple. Kit.

1. K. 6 : 38. So was he seven years in building it. As Bul was the eighth month, and Zif the second, the house was precisely seven and a half years in building—a short period, if we consider the magnitude of the undertaking, but long enough, if we remember the enormous number of hands employed upon it, the preparations made by David, and the modest dimensions of the edifice. Hammond.

The temple itself was rather a monument of the wealth than the architectural skill and science of the people. It was a wonder of the world, from the splendor of its materials more than the grace, boldness, or majesty of its height and dimensions. It had neither the colossal magnitude of the Egyptian, the simple dignity and perfect proportional harmony of the Grecian, nor perhaps the fantastic grace and lightness of modern Oriental architecture. If the dimensions of the temple appear by no means imposing, it must be remembered that but a small part of the religious ceremonies took place within the walls. The Holy of Holies was entered only once a year, and that by the High-Priest alone. It was the secret and unapproachable shrine of the Divinity. The Holy Place, the body of the temple, admitted only the officiating priests. The open courts, called in popular language the temple, or rather the inner quadrangle, was in fact the great place of Divine worship. Here, under the open air, were celebrated the great public and national rites, the processions, the offerings, the sacrifices; here stood the great tank for ablution, and the high altar for burnt-offerings. But the costliness of the materials, the richness and variety of the details, amply compensated for the moderate dimensions of the building. It was such a sacred edifice as a traveller might have expected to find in El Dorado. The walls were of hewn stone, faced within with cedar which was richly carved with knops and flowers; the ceiling was of fir-tree. But in every part gold was lavished with the utmost profusion; within and without, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, in short, the whole house is described as overlaid with gold. The finest and purest—that of Parvaim, by some supposed to be Ceylon—was reserved for the sanctuary. Here the cherubim, which stood upon the covering of the ark, with their wings touching each wall, were entirely covered with gold. The sumptuous veil, of the richest materials and brightest colors, which divided the Holy of Holies from the holy place, was suspended on chains of gold. Cherubim, palm trees and flowers, the favorite ornaments, everywhere, covered with gilding, were wrought in almost all parts. The altar within the temple, and the table of shewbread, were likewise covered with the same precious metal. All the vessels, the ten candlesticks, five hundred basins, and all the rest of the sacrificial and other utensils, were of solid gold. M-lman.

Everything connected with the building of this great temple was thus on a scale of exceeding magnificence. With unstinting hand, labor was bestowed on the costliest stones, the rarest woods, the most curious designs, the most precious oils and spices, the boldest engineering. From far and near came tribute and trade profits to be lavished on the lordly building. Of one thing, however, not a word is said. Egypt and Babylon and Northern Syria had seen grand public buildings for religious or royal use before Solomon’s reign. But the builders did not scruple to inscribe on them long stories of their costly outlay, their piety, and their hopes. Or they erected pillars, on which were engraved boastful accounts of their greatness in peace and in war. Even on the great mosque built on the temple hill, and on that at Hebron, which is supposed to cover the Cave of Machpelah, inscriptions are found in abundance. But nothing of this boastfulness was allowed in the temple of Jerusalem. There were carvings of animals and flowers on the wood; there was no writing on the great, smooth stones. The silence of the historian on this head is most expressive. What the kings of other lands did in writing their names and greatness on the temples which they built, Solomon seems never to have thought of. He and his people were a book-writing, not a stone-writing people. “Memorial stones” appear at the beginning of Israel’s history as a nation, engraven with the names of the tribes. But the great stones of the temple were not memorial stones, and bore no inscription. A place so holy allowed no praise of man to be written on its walls, and no carvings of priests, or symbols, or ceremonies, such as the temple faces of other nations show to illustrate their faith, even when their books are silent. Sime.

THE GREAT ASSEMBLY CONVOKED. THE ARK BROUGHT FROM DAVID’S TENT. SACRIFICES OFFERED. THE ARK PLACED IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES. CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE BY THE GLORY CLOUD. ITS DEDICATION BY SOLOMON. HIS ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE.