Herod's Temple
Now When
David was king, he asked God if he could build a temple (1 Chronicles
17:1–15). God told him no but allowed him to gather the materials his
son Solomon would need to build it (1 Chronicles 22:2–5). Solomon’s
temple was destroyed and ransacked by the Babylonians in 586 BC (2
Kings 25:9). King Cyrus of Persia allowed the temple to be rebuilt
(Ezra 1:2) under the leadership of Zerubbabel.
Over the next four hundred years, a series of Gentile rulers
alternatingly built up and defiled the second temple. The cycle
culminated in a 39 BC battle in which King Herod took control of the
temple, slaughtering many of the priests and defenders in the process,
but also keeping the Roman soldiers from entering the sanctuary. Herod
proposed to renovate the temple in 20—19 BC, his reason being the
post-exilic temple was sixty cubits shorter than Solomon’s original.
Despite the Jews’ fears that he meant to tear it down and never
rebuild, the main work on the temple was completed in one-and-a-half
years, and the outer courtyard in eight years. Finishing touches
continued until AD 63. Herod’s temple, then, was a restoration and
expansion of Zerubbabel’s second temple.
On the eastern edge of Jerusalem, just west of Gethsemane and northwest
of the Kidron Valley, sat the temple of Herod. The dimensions of
Herod’s temple court were 1,550 feet by 1,000 feet—about 35 acres. On
the far northwest corner sat Antonia Fortress, the home of the temple
garrison that stayed alert for disturbances in the temple—disturbances
that the governor was quick to quell so as not to attract unwanted
attention from Rome.
Two gates provided entry into the court of Herod’s temple from the
south; four from the west; and one, the Golden Gate, from the east;
also, an underground passage led to the court from Antonia Fortress.
Just inside the walls ran porticoes—roofed walkways flanked on the
outside by the great walls and the inside by rows of tall marble
pillars. The northern approach to the temple was the most level and
easiest to climb, but the southern gates (the double Huldah and the
triple Huldah) were the most frequently used. Because a ravine lined
the southern wall, great staircases led to the actual gates. Tunnels
passed through and into a honeycombed underground area called
“Solomon’s Stable.” More stairs led up to the southern section of the
Court of the Gentiles. The eastern portico was named for King Solomon,
and it was somewhere along this wall that the twelve-year-old Jesus
debated with the scholars (Luke 2:46). It’s possible that the highest
corner of the eastern wall was where Satan took Jesus in Matthew 4:5.
Herod’s temple sat skewed in the center of the large courtyard so that
its entrance might better face due east. A balustrade—a low wall of
stone posts and caps—defined the inner boundary of the Court of
Gentiles. It was this courtyard, between the balustrade and the outer
walls, where Gentiles could go to worship. It was also this court where
Jesus drove out the money changers in Matthew 21:12. It was unlawful
for any Gentile to go past the balustrade, an offense punishable by
death (see Acts 21:27–32).
Within the Court of the Gentiles, getting closer to Herod’s temple, was
the Court of the Women, accessed through the Beautiful Gate. Here were
thirteen trumpet-shaped containers for voluntary offerings. Into one of
these a widow donated her last two mites, an act that Jesus noticed in
Mark 12:41–44.
On the west side of the Court of the Women were fifteen steps that led
up to the Gate of Nicanor, where Mary brought the Baby Jesus at the
time of His presentation (Luke 2:22–24). Passing through the Nicanor
Gate would lead one into the Court of Israel, accessible only to
ceremonially clean Jewish men. A low balustrade and another staircase
separated the Court of Israel from the Court of the Priests; three
gates, one each from the south, west, and north, provided priests more
direct access from the outer courtyard.
In the Court of Priests was the altar for the burnt offerings.
Forty-five feet on each side and twenty-two feet high, the altar was
made of uncarved stone. In an earlier time, the nearby area where the
animals were slaughtered was fitted with a trough of running water, fed
by a spring and underground cisterns to wash away the blood. It’s
possible this was retained in Herod’s restoration. Also in the Court of
Priests was a large basin called the brazen sea or the laver, resting
upon twelve bulls cast in bronze. Beyond these fixtures was yet another
staircase leading to a curtain embroidered with a map of the known
world that covered the entrance to the temple proper. Only the priest
on duty was allowed to advance beyond that curtain.
Inside Herod’s temple things were set up similarly to the tabernacle of
Moses. Beyond the first veil was a hall containing the golden altar of
incense, the golden table of showbread, and the golden lampstand. It
was this lampstand, the seven-armed menorah, which was said to have
miraculously stayed lit during the eight-day rededication of the temple
after the Maccabean victory in the second century BC.
Only the high priest could go beyond the final veil to the Holy of
Holies, and that only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. The floor,
walls, and ceiling of this room were plated with gold. Because the Ark
of the Covenant had been lost years before, Herod’s temple had no
furnishings in the Holy of Holies, although it is possible a stone held
the place of the ark. It was this veil, leading into the Holy of
Holies, that tore from the top down when Jesus was crucified (Matthew
27:51). Around the Holy of Holies, to the south, west, and north, were
three stories of interconnected rooms. Openings from the story
immediately above the Holy of Holies allowed workers to be lowered into
that room to make repairs without touching the floor.
Herod’s temple lasted until AD 70, which marked the end of the second
temple era. At that time, after a long war between the Jewish Zealots
and the Roman authorities, four Roman legions, led by Titus, besieged
Jerusalem and burned down the temple. As the temple burned, the gold
and silver ornamentation melted and seeped between the cracks in the
stones. In their zeal for a stipend, the Roman soldiers took the temple
apart, stone by stone, fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:1–3.
The Jewish people were scattered in the Diaspora, and did not return en
masse to Israel until after World War II. The temple mount, where
Herod’s temple stood, is now home to the Islamic Dome of the Rock. All
that remains of Herod’s work on the temple mount is the Western Wall, a
1,600-foot-long portion of the retaining wall Herod had constructed to
expand the temple mount.
Herod’s temple, destroyed along with the rest of Jerusalem by the
Romans in AD 70, contained four separate “courts,” separated from one
another and each designed for a different purpose: the Court of the
Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of Israel (or the Court of
Men), and the Court of Priests. The Court of the Gentiles is referred
to as “the outer court” in Revelation 11:2.
The Court of the Gentiles was the outermost courtyard and the only area
of the temple where non-Jews were allowed. As its name implies, the
Court of the Gentiles was accessible to Gentiles, foreigners, and those
who were considered impure. There, worshippers could mill about,
exchange money, and even buy animals for sacrifices. It was from the
Court of the Gentiles that Jesus, on two occasions (John 2:11–12;
Matthew 21:17–23), drove out the money changers, declaring, “It is
written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it
a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:13). The Court of the Women, the only
area of the temple complex in which women could worship, contained the
poor boxes. One of these boxes was where the poor widow offered her two
mites (Luke 21:1–4). Ceremonially clean Jewish men could enter the
Court of Israel, and the Court of Priests, where the altar stood, was
accessible only to Levitical priests.
Non-Jews were allowed to enter the Court of the Gentiles, but they were
forbidden to go any farther than the outer court. The inner temple
courtyards were enclosed by a balustrade, and at the entrances to it
notices were posted in both Greek and Latin, warning foreigners and
uncircumcised persons that crossing into one of the other courtyards
was punishable by death. One of those ancient notices is now on display
in a museum in Istanbul. On Paul’s last visit to Jerusalem, some Jews
stirred up a crowd and grabbed Paul in the temple, alleging that he had
taken Trophimus, a Gentile, into one of the forbidden courtyards (Acts
21:27–29). Paul was innocent of the charge, but the mob beat him with
the intent to kill him; it was the quick action of a Roman garrison
commander that preserved Paul’s life on that occasion (verses 30–34).
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