Temple in Jerusalem

Herod's Temple as imagined in the Holyland Model of Jerusalem. It is currently situated adjacent to the Shrine of the Book exhibit at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple (Hebrew: בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ‎, Modern: Bet HaMikdash, Tiberian: Beṯ HamMiqdāš, Ashkenazi: Beis HaMikdosh; Arabic: بيت القدس‎: Beit al-Quds or بيت المقدس: Beit al-Maqdis ; Ge'ez: ቤተ መቅደስ: Betä Mäqdäs) was one of a series of structures which were located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. These successive temples stood at this location and functioned as a site of ancient Israelite and later Jewish worship.

Etymology

The Hebrew name given in the Hebrew Bible for the building complex is either Beit YHWH (House of Yahweh, or Jehovah), Beit HaElohim "House of God," or simply Beiti "my house", Beitekhah "your house" etc. The term hekhal "hall" or main building is often translated "temple" in older English Bibles. In rabbinical literature the temple is Beit HaMikdash, "The Sanctified House", and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name.

First or Solomon's Temple

Main article: Solomon's Temple

The Hebrew Bible says that the First Temple was built in 957 BCE[1] by King Solomon .[2] According to the Book of Deuteronomy, as the sole place of Israelite sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:2-27), the Temple replaced the Tabernacle constructed in the Sinai Desert under the auspices of Moses, as well as local sanctuaries, and altars in the hills.[3] This temple was sacked a few decades later by Shoshenq I, Pharaoh of Egypt.

Although efforts were made at partial reconstruction, it was only in 835 BCE when Jehoash, King of Judah in the second year of his reign invested considerable sums in reconstruction, only to have it stripped again for Sennacherib, King of Assyria c. 700 BCE. The First Temple was totally destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE when they sacked the city.[4]

Second Temple

Main article: Second Temple

According to the Book of Ezra, construction of the Second Temple was authorized by Cyrus the Great and began in 538 BCE, after the fall of the Babylonian Empire the year before. It was completed 23 years later, on the third day of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the Great (12 March 515 BCE),[5] dedicated by the Jewish governor Zerubbabel. Despite the fact that the new temple was not as extravagant or imposing as its predecessor, it still dominated the Jerusalem skyline and remained an important structure throughout the time of Persian suzerainty. The temple narrowly avoided being destroyed again in 332 BCE when the Jews refused to acknowledge the deification of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Alexander was allegedly "turned from his anger" at the last minute by astute diplomacy and flattery. After the death of Alexander on 13 June 323 BCE, and the dismembering of his empire, the Ptolemies came to rule over Judea and the Temple. Under the Ptolemies, the Jews were given many civil liberties and lived content under their rule. However, when the Ptolemaic army was defeated at Panium by Antiochus III of the Seleucids in 198 BCE, this policy changed. Antiochus wanted to Hellenize the Jews, attempting to introduce the Greek pantheon into the temple. A rebellion ensued and was brutally crushed, but no further action by Antiochus was taken. When Antiochus died in 187 BCE at Luristan, his son Seleucus IV Philopator succeeded him. However, his policies never took effect in Judea, since he was assassinated the year after his ascension.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes succeeded his older brother to the Seleucid throne and immediately adopted his father's previous policy of universal Hellenisation. The Jews rebelled again and Antiochus, in a rage, retaliated in force. Considering the previous episodes of discontent, the Jews became incensed when the religious observances of Sabbath and circumcision were officially outlawed. When Antiochus erected a statue of Zeus in their temple and Hellenic priests began sacrificing pigs (the usual sacrifice offered to the Greek gods in the Hellenic religion), their anger began to spiral. When a Greek official ordered a Jewish priest to perform a Hellenic sacrifice, the priest (Mattathias) killed him. In 167 BCE, the Jews rose up en masse behind Mattathias and his five sons to fight and win their freedom from Seleucid authority. Mattathias' son Judas Maccabaeus, now called "The Hammer", re-dedicated the temple in 165 BCE and the Jews celebrate this event to this day as a major part of the festival of Hanukkah.

The temple was rededicated under Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BCE.[2] During the Roman era, Pompey entered (and thereby desecrated) the Holy of Holies in 63 BCE, but left the Temple intact.[6][7][8] In 54 BCE, Crassus looted the Temple treasury,[9][10] only for him to die the year after at the Battle of Carrhae against Parthia. According to folklore he was executed by having molten gold poured down his throat. When news of this reached the Jews, they revolted again, only to be put down in 43 BCE.

Around 20 BCE, the building was renovated and expanded by Herod the Great, and became known as Herod's Temple. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE during the Siege of Jerusalem. During the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans in 132–135 CE, Simon bar Kokhba and Rabbi Akiva wanted to rebuild the Temple, but bar Kokhba's revolt failed and the Jews were banned from Jerusalem (except for Tisha B'Av) by the Roman Empire. The emperor Julian allowed to have the Temple rebuilt but the Galilee earthquake of 363 ended all attempts ever since.

After the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the 7th century, Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ordered the construction of an Islamic shrine, the Dome of the Rock, on the site of the Temple. The shrine has stood on the mount since 691 CE; the al-Aqsa Mosque, from roughly the same period, also stands in the Temple courtyard.

Recent history

The Temple Mount, along with the entire Old City of Jerusalem, was captured from Jordan by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War, allowing Jews once again to pray at the holy site. Jordan had occupied East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount immediately following Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. Israel officially unified East Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, with the rest of Jerusalem in 1980 under the Jerusalem Law, though United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 declared the Jerusalem Law to be in violation of international law.[11] The Muslim Waqf, based in Jordan, has administrative control of the Temple Mount.

Location

There are four theories as to where the Temple stood; where the Dome of the Rock is now located, to the north of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Asher Kaufman), to the east of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Joseph Patrich of the Hebrew University).[12] and to the south of the Temple Mount on Mount Ophel.[13][14][15]

Physical layout

Remnants of the 1st century Stairs of Ascent, discovered by archaeologist Benjamin Mazar, to the entrance of the Temple Courtyard. Pilgrims coming to make sacrifices at the Temple would have entered and exited by this stairway.

The Temple of Solomon or First Temple consisted of three main elements:

and the Temple building itself, with

In the case of the last and most elaborate structure, the Herodian Temple, the structure consisted of the wider Temple precinct, the restricted Temple courts, and the Temple building itself:

The Temple edifice had three distinct chambers:

According to the Talmud, the Women's Court was to the east and the main area of the Temple to the west.[16] The main area contained the butchering area for the sacrifices and the Outer Altar on which portions of most offerings were burned. An edifice contained the ulam (antechamber), the hekhal (the "sanctuary"), and the Holy of Holies. The sanctuary and the Holy of Holies were separated by a wall in the First Temple and by two curtains in the Second Temple. The sanctuary contained the seven branched candlestick, the table of showbread and the Incense Altar.

The main courtyard had thirteen gates. On the south side, beginning with the southwest corner, there were four gates:

On the north side, beginning with the northwest corner, there were four gates:

On the east side was Shaar Nikanor, between the Women's Courtyard and the main Temple Courtyard, which had two minor doorways, one on its right and one on its left. On the western wall, which was relatively unimportant, there were two gates that did not have any name.

The Mishnah lists concentric circles of holiness surrounding the Temple: Holy of Holies; Sanctuary; Vestibule; Court of the Priests; Court of the Israelites; Court of the Women; Temple Mount; the walled city of Jerusalem; all the walled cities of the Land of Israel; and the borders of the Land of Israel.

Temple services

Model of Second Temple made by Michael Osnis from Kedumim.
Main articles: Korban and Ketoret

The Temple was the place where offerings described in the course of the Hebrew Bible were carried out, including daily morning and afternoon offerings and special offerings on Sabbath and Jewish holidays. Levites recited Psalms at appropriate moments during the offerings, including the Psalm of the Day, special psalms for the new month, and other occasions, the Hallel during major Jewish holidays, and psalms for special sacrifices such as the "Psalm for the Thanksgiving Offering" (Psalm 100).

As part of the daily offering, a prayer service was performed in the Temple which was used as the basis of the traditional Jewish (morning) service recited to this day, including well-known prayers such as the Shema, and the Priestly Blessing. The Mishna describes it as follows:

The superintendent said to them, bless one benediction! and they blessed, and read the Ten Commandments, and the Shema, "And it shall come to pass if you will hearken", and "And [God] spoke...". They pronounced three benedictions with the people present: "True and firm", and the "Avodah" "Accept, Lord our God, the service of your people Israel, and the fire-offerings of Israel and their prayer receive with favor. Blessed is He who receives the service of His people Israel with favor" (similar to what is today the 17th blessing of the Amidah), and the Priestly Blessing, and on the Sabbath they recited one blessing; "May He who causes His name to dwell in this House, cause to dwell among you love and brotherliness, peace and friendship" on behalf of the weekly Priestly Guard that departed.
— Mishna Tamid 5:1

In the Talmud

The Talmud (Yoma 9b) provides traditional theological reasons for the destruction: "Why was the first Temple destroyed? Because the three cardinal sins were rampant in society: idol worship, licentiousness, and murder… And why then was the second Temple – wherein the society was involved in Torah, commandments and acts of kindness – destroyed? Because gratuitous hatred was rampant in society. This teaches you that gratuitous hatred is equal in severity to the three cardinal sins: idol worship, licentiousness, and murder."[18][19]

Role in contemporary Jewish services

Main article: Jewish services

Part of the traditional Jewish morning service, the part surrounding the Shema prayer, is essentially unchanged from the daily worship service performed in the Temple. In addition, the Amidah prayer traditionally replaces the Temple's daily tamid and special-occasion Mussaf (additional) offerings (there are separate versions for the different types of sacrifices). They are recited during the times their corresponding offerings were performed in the Temple.

The Temple is mentioned extensively in Orthodox services. Conservative Judaism retains mentions of the Temple and its restoration, but removes references to the sacrifices. References to sacrifices on holidays are made in the past tense, and petitions for their restoration are removed. Mentions in Orthodox Jewish services include:

The destruction of the Temple is mourned on the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av. Three other minor fasts (Tenth of Tevet, 17th of Tammuz, and Third of Tishrei), also mourn events leading to or following the destruction of the Temple. There are also mourning practices which are observed at all times, for example, the requirement to leave part of the house unplastered.

In other religions

Christianity

The Temple is mentioned many times in the New Testament. In these scriptures, Jesus prays there (Mark 11:12–19) and chases away money changers and other merchants from the courtyard, turning over their tables and accusing them of desecrating a sacred place with secular ways. According to the New Testament Gospels, it was to the Temple Court that Jesus was brought as a child, to be presented at the Temple (Luke 2:22) and to attend festivals (Luke 2:41). Jerusalem historian Dan Mazar reported in the Jerusalem Christian Review on the numerous archaeological discoveries made at this location by his grandfather, Prof. Benjamin Mazar, which included the 1st century stairs of ascent, where Jesus and his disciples preached, as well as the "mikvaot" (or baptismals) used by both Christian and Jewish pilgrims. The events of Pentecost, which are recorded in the Book of Acts, also took place at this location. At the area in which Jesus cleanses the Temple of the moneychangers, chasing various commercial traders of doves necessary for the sacrificial rituals away from the sacred precincts (Mark 11), remarkable findings were uncovered by the elder Mazar, such as a 1st-century vessel with the Hebrew word "Korban", meaning sacrifice(s). It was believed by Benjamin Mazar that inside this vessel, merchants would have stored the sacrifices sold at the Temple Court.[20]

Jesus predicts the destruction of the Second Temple (Matthew 24:2) and allegorically compares his body to a Temple that will be torn down and raised up again in three days. This idea, of the Temple as the body of Christ, became a rich and multi-layered theme in medieval Christian thought (where Temple/body can be the heavenly body of Christ, the ecclesial body of the Church, and the Eucharistic body on the altar).[21]

Islam

The Temple Mount bears significance in Islam as it acted as a sanctuary for many Hebrew prophets. Islamic tradition says that a temple was first built on the Temple Mount by Jacob and later renovated by Solomon, son of David. In addition, it is considered to be the site of Muhammad's Night Journey and his ascent into Heaven (Isra and Mi'raj), one of the most significant events recounted in the Qur'an.

According to Muslim scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr, professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, Jerusalem has the significance as a holy site for Muslims primarily in three ways.[22] First, while in Mecca, Muhammad used the Temple in Jerusalem as his first qiblah (prayer direction); then, after Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina, Allah permitted his prophet to turn towards Mecca in prayer sixteen months after he arrived (Sura 2:144, 149-150). Second, while Muhammad was still living in Mecca, he reports that he took a Night Journey to Bait-ul-Maqdis (i.e. Temple in Jerusalem) which is considered as a very auspicious event in Islam known as Isra. The third factor, says Nasr, is the Muslim belief in the Second Coming of Christ to Bait-ul-Maqdis (i.e. Temple in Jerusalem).

Imam Abdul Hadi Palazzi, leader of Italian Muslim Assembly, quotes the Qur'an to support Judaism's special connection to the Temple Mount. According to Palazzi, "The most authoritative Islamic sources affirm the Temples". He adds that Jerusalem is sacred to Muslims because of its prior holiness to Jews and its standing as home to the biblical prophets and kings David and Solomon, all of whom he says are sacred figures in Islam. He claims that the Qur'an "expressly recognizes that Jerusalem plays the same role for Jews that Mecca has for Muslims".[23]

In his 2007 book, The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City, Dore Gold calls assertions that the Temple in Jerusalem never existed or was not located on the Mount "Temple Denial". David Hazony has described the phenomenon as "a campaign of intellectual erasure [by Palestinian leaders, writers, and scholars] ... aimed at undermining the Jewish claim to any part of the land" and compared the phenomenon to Holocaust denial.[24]

Archaeological evidence

The Trumpeting Place inscription, a stone (2.43×1 m) with Hebrew writing "To the Trumpeting Place" uncovered during archaeological excavations by Benjamin Mazar at the southern foot of the Temple Mount is believed to be a part of the complex of the Second Temple.

Archaeological excavations have found dozens of ritual immersion or baptismal pools dating to the First Temple in this area surrounding the Temple Mount. [25]

Building a Third Temple

Main article: Third Temple

Ever since the Second Temple's destruction, a prayer for the construction of a Third Temple has been a formal and, by some authorities, optional part of the thrice-daily Jewish prayer services. However, the question of whether and when to construct the Third Temple is disputed both within the Jewish community and without; groups within Judaism argue both for and against construction of a new Temple, while the expansion of Abrahamic religion since the 1st century CE has made the issue contentious within Christian and Islamic thought as well. Furthermore, the complicated political status of Jerusalem makes reconstruction difficult, while Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock have been constructed at the traditional physical location of the Temple. When the Umayyad Caliph Abdel-Malik ibn Marwan built the Dome of the Rock, some reports indicated that the Jews were filled with elation. Some even believed that this Islamic shrine was the third temple. For a century, Jews had full access to this holiest of sites.

In 363 CE, the Roman emperor Julian ordered Alypius of Antioch to rebuild the Temple as part of his campaign to strengthen non-Christian religions.[26] The attempt failed, perhaps due to sabotage, an accidental fire, or an earthquake in Galilee.

See also

References

  1. ↑ New American Heritage Dictionary, entry: 'Temple'
  2. 1 2 "Temple, the." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
  3. ↑ Durant, Will. Our Oriental Heritage. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1954. p. 307. See 1 Kings 3:2.
  4. ↑ New American Oxford Dictionary:Temple
  5. ↑ Philip E. Goble, ed. (February 2003). The Orthodox Jewish Bible: Tanakh and Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha. AFI International Publishers. p. 751. ISBN 978-0-939341-04-7. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  6. ↑ Josephus, The New Complete Works, translated by William Whiston, Kregel Publications, 1999, "Antiquites" Book 14:4, p.459-460
  7. ↑ Michael Grant, The Jews in the Roman World, Barnes & Noble, 1973, p.54
  8. ↑ Peter Richardson, Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans, Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1996, p.98-99
  9. ↑ Josephus, The New Complete Works, translated by William Whiston, Kregel Publications, 1999, "Antiquites" Book 14:7, p.463
  10. ↑ Michael Grant, The Jews in the Roman World, Barnes & Noble, 1973, p.58
  11. ↑ Ibn Kathir (2008). "Stories of the Prophets", p. 164-165 (Hi by Rafiq Abdur Rahman, Idara Isha'at-e-diniyat publishers, India ed.). ISBN 81-7101-558-1.
  12. ↑ See article in the World Jewish Digest, April 2007
  13. ↑ Buchanan, George Wesley (August 2011). "Misunderstandings about Jerusalem's Temple Mount". Magazine. Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs. pp. 16, 64. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  14. ↑ Martin, Ernest L. '"The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot."(2000). p.iv ISBN 0-945657-95-1
  15. ↑ Gladstone, Rick (8 October 2015). "Historical Certainty Proves Elusive at Jerusalem’s Holiest Place". Newspaper. The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  16. ↑ Mishna Tractate Midos.
  17. ↑ Sheyibaneh Beit Hamikdash: Women in the Azara?
  18. ↑ Gratuitous Hatred – What is it and Why is it so bad?
  19. ↑ Gratuitous hatred
  20. ↑ By Dan Mazar published in Vol. 12 Issue 8 of Jerusalem Christian Review newspaper.
  21. ↑ See Jennifer A. Harris, "The Body as Temple in the High Middle Ages", in Albert I. Baumgarten ed., Sacrifice in Religious Experience, Leiden, 2002, pp. 233–256.
  22. ↑ "The Spiritual Significance of Jerusalem: The Islamic Vision. The Islamic Quarterly. 4 (1998): pp.233-242
  23. ↑ Margolis, David (February 23, 2001). "The Muslim Zionist". Los Angeles Jewish Journal.
  24. ↑ Hazony, David. "Temple Denial In the Holy City", The New York Sun, March 7, 2007.
  25. ↑ http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.681589
  26. ↑ Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 23.1.2–3.

Further reading

External links

Coordinates: 31°46′40″N 35°14′08″E / 31.77765°N 35.23547°E / 31.77765; 35.23547

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