with which God viewed this resolution formed by his devoted servant, he, however, saw fit, in his infinite wisdom, to reserve the execution of David's purpose to be effected by his son. "Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in. When thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name." (1 Chron. xvii. 4; 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13.) The attention of David was now directed towards expediting the erection of the sacred edifice, by providing materials for its building by his son. The preparations which he made for this purpose, as well as his impressive charge to Solomon concerning the work, is detailed in the xxii chapter of the first book of Chronicles. The beautiful simplicity of the language, and the intensity of desire which it bespeaks on the part of the man "after God's own heart," will plead our apology for transcribing it here.

"And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight; also cedar trees in abundance for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar-wood to David. And David said, • Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it.' So David prepared abundantly before his death. Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God: but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house for my name, and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever. Now, my son, the Lord be with thee, and prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee. Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God. Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel : be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed. Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto. Moreover, there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for

every manner of work. Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.' David also commanded all the princes of Israel, to help Solomon his son, saying, 'Is not the Lord your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God: arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.'"

Upon the accession of Solomon to the throne of David, his attention was directed towards accomplishing the great object of his father's wishes. "And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the Lord, and an house for his kingdom. And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men, to bear burdens, and four thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them." (2 Chron. ii. 1, 2.)

The foundations of this superb edifice were laid A. M. 2292, ante A. D. 1012; and was completed A. M. 3000, ante A. D. 1004. A period of only seven years and a half! The place chosen for the site of this building was mount Moriah, on the east of Jerusalem, over against the mount of Olives. Its entrance stood in that direction, and the most holy and most retired part, was toward the west. The first book of Kings and the second of Chronicles give a minute description of the temple properly so called; that is, the Sanctum, the Sanctuary, and the apartments attached to them; the one account supplying the deficiencies of the other.* It will be perceived that these accounts give scarcely any description of the courts and areas, which made a principal part of the grandeur of this edifice; the omissions, however, are supplied by Ezekiel in the exact plan he has described of these necessary parts. Several learned men have written descriptions of this splendid and unrivalled building, but the discrepancies discoverable in the several accounts shew the improbability of arriving at certainty in a matter where we have only a verbal description for our guide: we shall not, therefore, add to the number of accounts, destitute of the probability of arriving at greater certainty. The Temple of Solomon retained its pristine splendour and beauty only thirty-three or thirty-four years, when its treasures were carried away by Shishak king of Egypt: and after undergoing subsequent profanations and pillages, was finally plundered and burnt by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, A. M. 3416, ante A. D. 584. (2 Kings xxv. 13-15; Chron. xxxvi. 17—20.)

The temple continued in ruins fifty-two years, till the first year of Cyrus, at Babylon, A. M. 3468, ante A. D. 536. Cyrus then

*The Sacred text, read in the following order, will supply the entire description of Solomon's temple, 2 Chron. iii. 1; 1 Kings vi. 1; 2 Chron. iii. 2-10; 1 Kings vi. 4-9; 15-29; 2 Chron. iii. 13, 14; 1 Kings vi. 29—37; vii. 13—23; 2 Chron. iv. 1; 1 Kings vii. 23-51; 2 Chron. iv. 8-11; 1 Kings vi. 9-15. 51, 37, 38, 2, 3; 2 Chron. iii. 10-13; 15-17; iv. 2-8; 11-22.

permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple of the Lord. (Ezra i.) The following year they laid the foundations of the second temple; but in about a year's time Cyrus forbad the further prosecution of the work. (Ezra iv. 5.) After the death of Cyrus and Cambyses, it was again forbidden by the Magian, who succeeded Cambyses, and whom Scripture calls Artaxerxes. A. M. 3483, ante A. D. 521. (Ezra iv. 7-18.) Lastly, these prohibitions being removed under Darius, son of Hystaspes, the temple was finished by Zerubbabel, and dedicated four years afterwards (A. M. 3489, ante, B. C. 515.), twenty years after the return from the captivity.* (Ezra. i—vi.) This second temple, or as it is called, the Temple of Zerubbabel, fell vastly short of the magnificence of that of Solomon, as appears from the weeping of the aged men who had beheld the former structure in all its grandeur (Ezra. iii. 12.), as well as the address of the prophet Haggai to the people: "Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing in comparison of it?" (Hag. ii. 3.) The Jews say the second temple was deficient in five remarkable things which constituted the chief glory of the first: these were, the ark and mercy-seat-the shechinah or manifestation ofthe Divine presence in the holy of holies-the sacred fire on the altar, which had been first kindled from heaven-urim and thummim-and the spirit of prophecy. But the second temple surpassed the first in glory, being honoured by the frequent presence of the "messenger of the covenant" -the Lord Jesus Christ, agreeably to the prediction of Haggai. (ii. 9.)

This temple was polluted by order of Antiochus Epiphanes, A. M. 3837, the ordinary sacrifices were discontinued, and the idol of Jupiter Olympius was set up near the altar. It continued in this condition three years, when it was purified by Judas Maccabeus, and the sacrifices were restored.

To gain the affection of the Jews, and humour his own pride, Herod the Great, about A. M. 3987, began to repair, or rather to rebuild this second temple, which had become decayed in the lapse of five centuries. In this work he employed eighteen thousand workmen, and spared no expense to render it equal, if not superior, in magnitude, splendour, and beauty to any thing in existence. In about nine years he finished the principal parts of it; but forty-six after, when our Saviour had begun his public ministry, it was not quite finished; indeed, till the beginning of their fatal wars with the Romans the Jews still added to its buildings.†

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

Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xl. c. 4.

† Joseph. Ant. lib. xx. c. 8.

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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 temple was erected upon 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.+

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 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.

Each of these gates had two doors, the height of which was thirty cubits, and their breadth fifteen. They had within spaces of thirty cubits, and on each side rooms built like towers, whose height was above forty cubits.

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 inclosure, 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, be

* Horne's Introd. vol. iii. p. 228.

† Antiq. Jud. lib. xv. § 5.

cause 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.† (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 TTEрvytov, 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 shew him the grandeur of its various buildings, of which, grand as they 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

* Antiq. Jud. lib. xv. c. xi. § 3. + 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. Jennings's Jewish Antiq. p. 267.