It is remarkable that after the temple was finished it was not consecrated by the high-priest, but by a layman, by the king in person, by means of ex- I tempore prayers and sacrifices. The temple re mained the centre of public worship for all the Israelites only till the death of Solomon, after which ten tribes forsook this sanctuary. But even in the kingdom of Judah it was from time to time desecrated by altars erected to idols. For instance, , Manasseh built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he caused his son to pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with fami liar spirits and wizards : he wrought much wicked ness in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house,' etc. Thus we find also that king Josiah commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, to re move the idols of Baal and Asherah from the house of the Lord (2 Kings xxiii. 4, 13) : And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down and brake thcm down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.' In fact, we are informed that in spite of the better means of public devotion which the sanctuaty undoubtedly afforded, the national morals declined so much that t he chosen nation became worse than the idolaters whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel (2 Kings xxi. 9)—a clear proof that the pos session of external means is not a guarantee for their right use. It appears also that, during the
times when it was fashionable at court to worship Baal, the temple stood desolate, and that its repairs were neglected (see 2 Kings xii. 6, 7). We further learn that the cost of the repairs was defrayed chiefly by voluntary contribution, by offerings, and by redemption money (2 Kings xii. 4, 5)- The original cost of the temple seems to have been de frayed by royal bounty, and in great measure by treasurcs collected by David for that purpose.
There was a treasury in the temple, in which much precious metal was collected for the mainten ance of public worship. The gold and silver of the temple was, however, frequently applied to political purposes (i Kings xv. IS, seq. ; 2 Kings xii. 18 ; xvi. 8 ; xviii. 15). The treasury of the temple was repeatedly plundered by foreign in vaders. For instance, by Shishak (i Kings xiv. 26) ; by Jehoash, king of Israel (2 Kings xiv. 14) ; by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxiv. 13) ; and lastly, again by Nebuchadnezzar, who, having removed the valuable contcnts, caused the temple to be burned down (2 Kings xxv. 9, seq.), B.C. 588. The building had stood since its completion 417 or 418 years (Josephus has 47o, and Ruffinus 37o years). Thus terminated what the later Jews called nnrn rvz, the first house.
In many writers on the temple the Biblical state ments concerning the first, or Solomon's temple, are confounded not merely with the temple in the prophetic visions of Ezekiel, but also with descrip tions of the temple erected by Zerubbabel, and even with the later structures of IIerod. This con fusion we have endeavoured to avoid in the fore going statements.