This second Temple was erected on the site of the former, and probably after the same plan. According to the plan of Cyrus, the new Temple was sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide. It appears from Josephus that the height is to be understood of the porch, for we learn from the speech of Herod which he records that the sec ond Temple was sixty cubits lower than the first, whose porch was 120 cubits high (comp. Joseph. Antiq. xv. II. 1).
3. Temple of Herod. The Jewish exiles on their return from Babylon had mourned over the comparative insignificance of the temple of Zerub babel, which stood on Moriab for about five cen turies (Ezra 111:I2; Haggai ii:3, sa.). But when Herod the Great became king of Judaea the ma sonry was falling into decay.
(1) Cause of Its Erection. Herod had treated the Jews with severity and had become unpopular amongst his own subjects. In his old age he sought to reinstate himself in the good graces of the people. He was a man of taste in the art of masonry. and knowing the deep love of the Jew for their national sanctuary he sought to make himself popular by an offer to rebuild the Tem ple on Moriah. The result of his work was a proud edifice, which in many respects surpassed in the extent of its courts and the splendor of its decorations the ancient sanctuary of Solo mon, and rejoiced the heart of the nation.
(2) The Sanctum. Josephus tells us this was built by the priests in a year and a half. The Royal Cloisters were about six hundred feet in length, and were more spacious than York Min ster or Westminster Abbey. The Capitol at Rome and the Parthenon on Mars Hill could both have stood under the roof of the Stoa Basilica of Herod's Temple.
(3) The Temple Proper. The main part of the building was finished in about ten years, but the work of embellishment and the erection of the outer courts was continued throughout the whole period of Christ's life. In this edifice, as the scene of Christ's labors, was fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi (iii:t). A pinnacle of this temple was the scene of the Temptation, and the great polished blocks of stone attracted the at tention of the disciples (Mark xiii:t, 2).
(4) Courts and Halls. The whole of the structures belonging to the Temple were a stadium square, and consequently four stadia (or half a Roman mile) in circumference. The Temple was situated on the highest point, not quite in the center, but rather to the northwestern corner of tlfis square, and was surrounded by various courts, the innermost of which was higher than the next outward. which descended in terraces. The Temple, consequently, was visible from the town, notwithstanding its various high enclosures. The
outer court was called the mountain of the house (i Mace. xiii :52). According to Middoth (i:3) this mountain of the house had five gates, two to wards the south, and one towards each of the other quarters. The principal gate was that to wards the east. (See MORIAH.) Annexed to the outer wall were halls which surrounded the Tem ple, and were thirty cubits wide, except on the south side, where the royol hall seems to have been threefold, or three times wider than the other halls. The roofs of these halls were of cedar wood, and were supported by marble col umns twenty-five cubits high. The Levites re sided in these halls. There was also a synagogue where the Talmudic doctors might be asked ques tions, and where their decisions might be heard (Luke ii :46). These halls seem likewise to have formed a kind of lounge for religionists ; they appear to have been spacious enough to afford opportunities for religious teachers to address knots of hearers. Thus we find that Jesus had there various opportunities for addressing the people and refuting cavillers.
Here also the first Christians could daily assem ble with one accord (Acts ii :46). Within this outer court money changers and cattle dealers transacted a profitable business, especially dur ing the time of Passover. The priests took only shekels of full weight; that is, shekels of the sanctuary, even after the general currency had been deteriorated: hence the frequent opportunity of money changers to accommodate for agio the worshipers, most of whom arrived from abroad unprovided with the right coin. The profaneness to which this money changing and cattle dealing gave rise caused the indignation of our Lord, who suddenly expelled all these sharks from their stronghold of business (Matt. xxi :12, sq.; Mark xi:15-17; Luke xix :45, John (5) The Outer Court. The surface of this outer court was paved with stones of various col ors. A stone balustrade, which according to some statements was three cubits high, and according to Middoth ten hands high, was several steps higher up the mountain than this outer court. and prevented the too near approach of the heathens to the next court. For this purpose there were also erected columns at certain distances within this balustrade, on which there were Greek and Latin inscriptions, interdicting all heathens under penalty of death. to advance farther (Jo seph. De Bell. hid. vi. 2, 4; Philo, Opera, ii. 577). Compare Acts xxi :28, where Paul is accused of having brought Greeks into the Temple and thus having polluted the holy place.