The sacred utensils were of the same description and occupied the same relative position as in the tabernacle : but some of them were large-,as the altar, candlestick, &c., in proportion to the more extensive establishment to which they belonged. The principal of the uew utensils was the great brazen laver for ablutions, which rested on the Locke of twelve oxen of the same metal.
The inner sanctuary was separated from the holy place by a rich curtain or veil. The whole of the interior was wainscoted with cedar, carved with figures of cherubim, palm-trees, and flowers, and then overlaid with the finest gold. The doors were also covered with gold : all the utensils in the house were of that metal ; and even the floor appears to have been overlaid with gold (1 Kings, vi. 30). It is this lavish expenditure of precious metal upon the building, and the elaborate workmanship bestowed upon it, which, rather than its architectural effect, accounts for the reports of its surpassing ma,girifi cence, and for the immense wealth consumed in its erection. Tho popular impression concerning it, however, being based rather upon the exaggerated statements of Josephus than upon the more sober accounts In Scripture, does, no doubt, greatly exceed the truth. More might be said of its richness than of its grandeur. Its wealth is indeed attested by the spoliation of successive kings and conquerors; and it may be well to remember that this was not, as in other nations, one of many temples, but was the sole temple of the whole nation, and in the production of which the whole nation could therefore concen trate its resources.
The Temple of Solomon retained its pristine splendour only for forty years, when its treasures were plundered by Shislaalc, king of Egypt. After undergoing various other profanations and pillages, it was finally destroyed by the Chaldteaus under Nebuchadnezzar, n.c. 538, after having stood 417 years. After the Captivity, the temple was rebuilt, on the tame plan, and on a more extensive scale, but with greatly diminished splendour. This temple stood until seine years before the birth of Christ, when Tiered the Great, to propitiate his subjects, whom most of the measures of his reign had tended to exasperate, undertook to rebuild it on a larger scale and with greater magnificence. In nine years, during which 80,000 workmen were constantly employed, he accomplished his original design; and pro duced a fabric, which, while the same in its essential characteristics, much supassed the Temple of Solomon in extent and architecture, although the precious metal may have been less lavishly displayed in the interior decorations. Many years after, the Jews kept workmen employed in embellishing the pile, and in the erection of additional buildings (John, ii. 20). In A.D. 64, nothing remained to be done ; but six years later (a.n. 70) the temple and city were involved in one common ruin.