HOW HEROD REBUILT THE TEMPLE AND RAISED IT HIGHER AND MADE IT MORE MAGNIFICENT THAN IT WAS BEFORE; AS ALSO CONCERNING THAT TOWER WHICH HE CALLED ANTONIA. FJAJ 15.77
1. AND now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, and after the
acts already mentioned, undertook a very great work, that is, to build
of himself the temple of God, (22)
We may here observe, that the fancy of the modern Jews, in calling this
temple, which was really the third of their temples, the second temple,
followed so long by later Christians, seems to be without any solid foundation.
The reason why the Christians here followed the Jews is, because of the
prophecy of Haggai, 2:6-9, which they expound of the Messiah's coning to
the second or Zorobabel's temple, of which they suppose this of Herod to
be only a continuation; which is meant, I think, of his coming to the fourth
and last temple, of that future, largest, and most glorious one, described
by Ezekiel; whence I take the former notion, how general soever, to be
a great mistake. See Lit. Accorap. of Proph. p. 2.
and make it larger in compass, and to raise it to a most magnificent altitude,
as esteeming it to be the most glorious of all his actions, as it really
was, to bring it to perfection; and that this would be sufficient for an
everlasting memorial of him; but as he knew the multitude were not ready
nor willing to assist him in so vast a design, he thought to prepare them
first by making a speech to them, and then set about the work itself; so
he called them together, and spake thus to them: "I think I need not
speak to you, my countrymen, about such other works as I have done since
I came to the kingdom, although I may say they have been performed in such
a manner as to bring more security to you than glory to myself; for I have
neither been negligent in the most difficult times about what tended to
ease your necessities, nor have the buildings
I have made been so proper
to preserve me as yourselves from injuries; and I imagine that, with God's
assistance, I have advanced the nation of the Jews to a degree of happiness
which they never had before; and for the particular edifices belonging
to your own country, and your own cities, as also to those cities that
we have lately acquired, which we have erected and greatly adorned, and
thereby augmented the dignity of your nation, it seems to me a needless
task to enumerate them to you, since you well know them yourselves; but
as to that undertaking which I have a mind to set about at present, and
which will be a work of the greatest piety and excellence that can possibly
be undertaken by us, I will now declare it to you
Our fathers, indeed,
when they were returned from Babylon, built this temple to God Almighty,
yet does it want sixty cubits of its largeness in altitude; for so much
did that first temple which Solomon built exceed this temple; nor let any
one condemn our fathers for their negligence or want of piety herein, for
it was not their fault that the temple was no higher; for they were Cyrus,
and Darius the son of Hystaspes, who determined the measures for its rebuilding;
and it hath been by reason of the subjection of those fathers of ours to
them and to their posterity, and after them to the Macedonians, that they
had not the opportunity to follow the original model of this pious edifice,
nor could raise it to its ancient altitude; but since I am now, by God's
will, your governor, and I have had peace a long time, and have gained
great riches and large revenues, and, what is the principal filing of all,
I am at amity with and well regarded by the Romans, who, if I may so say,
are the rulers of the whole world, I will do my endeavor to correct that
imperfection, which hath arisen from the necessity of our affairs, and
the slavery we have been under formerly, and to make a thankful return,
after the most pious manner, to God, for what blessings I have received
from him, by giving me this kingdom, and that by rendering his temple as
complete as I am able." FJAJ 15.78
2. And this was the speech which Herod made to them; but still this
speech aftrighted many of the people, as being unexpected by them; and
because it seemed incredible, it did not encourage them, but put a damp
upon them, for they were afraid that he would pull down the whole edifice,
and not be able to bring his intentions to perfection for its rebuilding;
and this danger appeared to them to be very great, and the vastness of
the undertaking to be such as could hardly be accomplished
But while they
were in this disposition, the king encouraged them, and told them he would
not pull down their temple till all things were gotten ready for building
it up entirely again
And as he promised them this beforehand, so he did
not break his word with them, but got ready a thousand waggons, that were
to bring stones for the building, and chose out ten thousand of the most
skillful workmen, and bought a thousand sacerdotal garments for as many
of the priests, and had some of them taught the arts of stone-cutters,
and others of carpenters, and then began to build; but this not till every
thing was well prepared for the work. FJAJ 15.79
3. So Herod took away the old foundations, and laid others, and erected
the temple upon them, being in length a hundred cubits, and in height twenty
additional cubits, which [twenty], upon the sinking of their foundations
(23)
Some of our modem students in architecture have made a strange blunder
here, when they imagine that Josephus affirms the entire foundations of
the temple or holy house sunk down into the rocky mountain on which it
stood no less than twenty cubits, whereas he is clear that they were the
foundations of the additional twenty cubits only above the hundred (made
perhaps weak on purpose, and only for show and grandeur) that sunk or fell
down, as Dr. Hudson rightly understands him; nor is the thing itself possible
in the other sense. Agrippa's preparation for building the inner parts
of the temple twenty cubits higher (History of the War, B. V. ch. 1. sect.
5) must in all probability refer to this matter, since Josephus says here,
that this which had fallen down was designed to be raised up again under
Nero, under whom Agrippa made that preparation. But what Josephus says
presently, that Solomon was the first king of the Jews, appears by the
parallel place, Antiq. B. XX. ch. 9. sect. 7, and other places, to be meant
only the first of David's posterity, and the first builder of the temple.
fell down; and this part it was that we resolved to raise again in the
days of Nero
Now the temple was built of stones that were white and strong,
and each of their length was twenty-five cubits, their height was eight,
and their breadth about twelve; and the whole structure, as also the structure
of the royal cloister, was on each side much lower, but the middle was
much higher, till they were visible to those that dwelt in the country
for a great many furlongs, but chiefly to such as lived over against them,
and those that approached to them
The temple had doors also at the entrance,
and lintels over them, of the same height with the temple itself
They
were adorned with embroidered veils, with their flowers of purple, and
pillars interwoven; and over these, but under the crown-work, was spread
out a golden vine, with its branches hanging down from a great height,
the largeness and fine workmanship of which was a surprising sight to the
spectators, to see what vast materials there were, and with what great
skill the workmanship was done
He also encompassed the entire temple with
very large cloisters, contriving them to be in a due proportion thereto;
and he laid out larger sums of money upon them than had been done before
him, till it seemed that no one else had so greatly adorned the temple
as he had done
There was a large wall to both the cloisters, which wall
was itself the most prodigious work that was ever heard of by man
The
hill was a rocky ascent, that declined by degrees towards the east parts
of the city, till it came to an elevated level
This hill it was which
Solomon, who was the first of our kings, by Divine revelation, encompassed
with a wall; it was of excellent workmanship upwards, and round the top
of it
He also built a wall below, beginning at the bottom, which was encompassed
by a deep valley; and at the south side he laid rocks together, and bound
them one to another with lead, and included some of the inner parts, till
it proceeded to a great height, and till both the largeness of the square
edifice and its altitude were immense, and till the vastness of the stones
in the front were plainly visible on the outside, yet so that the inward
parts were fastened together with iron, and preserved the joints immovable
for all future times
When this work [for the foundation] was done in this
manner, and joined together as part of the hill itself to the very top
of it, he wrought it all into one outward surface, and filled up the hollow
places which were about the wall, and made it a level on the external upper
surface, and a smooth level also
This hill was walled all round, and in
compass four furlongs, [the distance of] each angle containing in length
a furlong: but within this wall, and on the very top of all, there ran
another wall of stone also, having, on the east quarter, a double cloister,
of the same length with the wall; in the midst of which was the temple
itself
This cloister looked to the gates of the temple; and it had been
adorned by many kings in former times; and round about the entire temple
were fixed the spoils taken from barbarous nations; all these had been
dedicated to the temple by Herod, with the addition of those he had taken
from the Arabians. FJAJ 15.80
4. Now on the north side [of the temple] was built a citadel, whose
walls were square, and strong, and of extraordinary firmness
This citadel
was built by the kings of the Asamonean race, who were also high priests
before Herod, and they called it the Tower, in which were reposited the
vestments of the high priest, which the high priest only put on at the
time when he was to offer sacrifice
These vestments king Herod kept in
that place; and after his death they were under the power of the Romans,
until the time of Tiberius Caesar; under whose reign Vitellius, the president
of Syria, when he once came to Jerusalem, and had been most magnificently
received by the multitude, he had a mind to make them some requital for
the kindness they had shewn him; so, upon their petition to have those
holy vestments in their own power, he wrote about them to Tiberius Caesar,
who granted his request: and this their power over the sacerdotal vestments
continued with the Jews till the death of king Agrippa; but after that,
Cassius Longinus, who was president of Syria, and Cuspius Fadus, who was
procurator of Judea, enjoined the Jews to reposit those vestments in the
tower of Antonia, for that they ought to have them in their power, as they
formerly had
However, the Jews sent ambassadors to Claudius Caesar, to
intercede with him for them; upon whose coming, king Agrippa, junior, being
then at Rome, asked for and obtained the power over them from the emperor,
who gave command to Vitellius, who was then commander in Syria, to give
it them accordingly
Before that time they were kept under the seal of
the high priest, and of the treasurers of the temple; which treasurers,
the day before a festival, went up to the Roman captain of the temple guards,
and viewed their own seal, and received the vestments; and again, when
the festival was over, they brought it to the same place, and showed the
captain of the temple guards their seal, which corresponded with his seal,
and reposited them there
And that these things were so, the afflictions
that happened to us afterwards [about them] are sufficient evidence
But
for the tower itself, when Herod the king of the Jews had fortified it
more firmly than before, in order to secure and guard the temple, he gratified
Antonius, who was his friend, and the Roman ruler, and then gave it the
name of the Tower of Antonia. FJAJ 15.81
5. Now in the western quarters of the enclosure of the temple there
were four gates; the first led to the king's palace, and went to a passage
over the intermediate valley; two more led to the suburbs of the city;
and the last led to the other city, where the road descended down into
the valley by a great number of steps, and thence up again by the ascent
for the city lay over against the temple in the manner of a theater, and
was encompassed with a deep valley along the entire south quarter; but
the fourth front of the temple, which was southward, had indeed itself
gates in its middle, as also it had the royal cloisters, with three walks,
which reached in length from the east valley unto that on the west, for
it was impossible it should reach any farther: and this cloister deserves
to be mentioned better than any other under the sun; for while the valley
was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen, if you looked from above
into the depth, this further vastly high elevation of the cloister stood
upon that height, insomuch that if any one looked down from the top of
the battlements, or down both those altitudes, he would be giddy, while
his sight could not reach to such an immense depth
This cloister had pillars
that stood in four rows one over against the other all along, for the fourth
row was interwoven into the wall, which [also was built of stone]; and
the thickness of each pillar was such, that three men might, with their
arms extended, fathom it round, and join their hands again, while its length
was twenty-seven feet, with a double spiral at its basis; and the number
of all the pillars [in that court] was a hundred and sixty-two
Their chapiters
were made with sculptures after the Corinthian order, and caused an amazement
[to the spectators], by reason of the grandeur of the whole
These four
rows of pillars included three intervals for walking in the middle of this
cloister; two of which walks were made parallel to each other, and were
contrived after the same manner; the breadth of each of them was thirty
feet, the length was a furlong, and the height fifty feet; but the breadth
of the middle part of the cloister was one and a half of the other, and
the height was double, for it was much higher than those on each side;
but the roofs were adorned with deep sculptures in wood, representing many
sorts of figures
The middle was much higher than the rest, and the wall
of the front was adorned with beams, resting upon pillars, that were interwoven
into it, and that front was all of polished stone, insomuch that its fineness,
to such as had not seen it, was incredible, and to such as had seen it,
was greatly amazing
Thus was the first enclosure
In the midst of which,
and not far from it, was the second, to be gone up to by a few steps: this
was encompassed by a stone wall for a partition, with an inscription, which
forbade any foreigner to go in under pain of death
Now this inner enclosure
had on its southern and northern quarters three gates [equally] distant
one from another; but on the east quarter, towards the sun-rising, there
was one large gate, through which such as were pure came in, together with
their wives; but the temple further inward in that gate was not allowed
to the women; but still more inward was there a third [court of the] temple,
whereinto it was not lawful for any but the priests alone to enter
The
temple itself was within this; and before that temple was the altar, upon
which we offer our sacrifices and burnt-offerings to God
Into none of
these three did king Herod enter, (24)
"Into none Of these three did king Herod enter," i.e. 1. Not
into the court of the priests; 2. Nor into the holy house itself; 3. Nor
into the separate place belonging to the altar, as the words following
imply; for none but priests, or their attendants the Levites, might come
into any of them. See Antiq. B. XVI. ch. 4. sect. 6, when Herod goes into
the temple, and makes a speech in it to the people, but that could only
be into the court of Israel, whither the people could come to hear him.
for he was forbidden, because he was not a priest
However, he took care
of the cloisters and the outer enclosures, and these he built in eight
years. FJAJ 15.82
6. But the temple itself was built by the priests in a year and six
months; upon which all the people were full of joy; and presently they
returned thanks, in the first place, to God; and in the next place, for
the alacrity the king had showed
They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding
of the temple: and for the king, he sacrificed three hundred oxen to God,
as did the rest every one according to his ability; the number of which
sacrifices is not possible to set down, for it cannot be that we should
truly relate it; for at the same time with this celebration for the work
about the temple fell also the day of the king's inauguration, which he
kept of an old custom as a festival, and it now coincided with the other,
which coincidence of them both made the festival most illustrious. FJAJ 15.83
7. There was also an occult passage built for the king; it led from
Antonia to the inner temple, at its eastern gate; over which he also erected
for himself a tower, that he might have the opportunity of a subterraneous
ascent to the temple, in order to guard against any sedition which might
be made by the people against their kings
It is also reported, (25)
This tradition which Josephus here mentions, as delivered down from fathers
to their children, of this particular remarkable circumstance relating
to the building of Herod's temple, is a demonstration that such its building
was a known thing in Judea at this time. He was born about forty-six years
after it is related to have been finished, and might himself have seen
and spoken with some of the builders themselves, and with a great number
of those that had seen it building. The doubt therefore about the truth
of this history of the pulling down and rebuilding this temple by Herod,
which some weak people have indulged, was not then much greater than it
soon may be, whether or not our St. Paul's church in London was burnt down
in the fire of London, A.D. 1666, and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren a
little afterward.
that during the time that the temple was building, it did not rain in the
daytime, but that the showers fell in the nights, so that the work was
not hindered
And this our fathers have delivered to us; nor is it incredible,
if any one have regard to the manifestations of God
And thus was performed
the work of the rebuilding of the temple. FJAJ 15.84