THE TEMPLE SERVICE. The Solomonic temple was primarily intended to be a Yahweh-sanc tuary, as is evident from I. Kings viii. 13. But during the period of the Davidic dynasty many other divinities were worshiped in it. (See e.g. Ezek. II. Kings xviii., xx.) The temple of Zerubbabel appears to have been devoted solely to Yahweh. In B.C. 168 the sanctuary was ded icated to Zeus Olympias and remained a Zeus temple for three years (1. Mace. i. 54; iv. 52). The magnificent temple of Herod was until the fall of Jerusalem the great centre of the Jewish sacrificial cult, having no rival except Onias's Temple (q.v.) at Leontopolis, and was devoted exclusively to the imageless worship of Yahweh.
In the regal period the King was the chief priest officiating in the temple. Whether there was a ceremony corresponding to the 'seizing of the hands of Bel' by the Babylonian kings, can not be determined. But the annual entrance into the Holy of Ilolies by the high priest of the Persian period may have developed out of such a custom. David set the example of appointing his own sons as priests (II. Sam. xviii. 8). There was no distinction yet between priests and Le vites. Even in the Dcuteronomic code, introduced about B.c. 620, the Levitcs are priests whose func tion it is to ofTer sacrifices. In the Persian period a high priest was at the head of the hierarchy; and only families claiming descent from Aaron were permitted to offer sacrifices. The Levites were a class by themselves and were not allowed to present the sacrifices, while mu sicians and doorkeepers formed a still lower class. The Levites as well as the priests were divided into twenty-four 'courses.' Next to the high priest ranked the Segan, or captain of the temple police, then came the heads of the twenty four courses, and a large number of other officials. While in earlier times even the common people seem to have had access to the inner court, in later times the Levites and lower ministers were forbidden to enter it. Non-Israelites were not permitted to enter any part of the temple, but representatives of the people of Israel were re quired to attend in turn the daily offerings in the outer court.
The Tamid, or the daily offering, presented every morning and evening, was the most im portant of the many sacrifices of a public charac ter. The number of sacrifices was increased on Sabbaths and festivals. The ceremony was pre
ceded by lustrations and solemn choice of olli ciating priests. It consisted of the slaughter of the victim, the sprinkling of the blood on the altar, the removing of the blood from the altar of incense in the Holy Place, the trimming of the lamps on the candlesticks, the carrying of the dif ferent parts of the victim to the foot of the altar, the presentation of the flour-offering, the baked meal, and the libations of wine. During the cele bration of this sacrificial service, the Shema Is rael (Deut. vi. 4-9; xi. 13-21; and Num. xv. 37-41), the Ten Commandments, and three bless ings were pronounced by the priests. The offer ing of incense was accompanied with prayer. Then the Levitic choir, to the accompaniment of stringed instruments, sang the psalm of the day, divided into three sections. At the end of each, priests blew three blasts on the silver trumpets, and the people prostrated themselves. This ritu al goes back at least to Maceabean times, and the music and singing no doubt formed a part of the daily service long before sections of the present Psalter were in use. After the public sacrifice, private sacrifices began.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. The literature of the Temple Bibliography. The literature of the Temple is considerable. Among attempts to restore it one of the earliest is that of Villalpandus in Pradi's In Ezcchielum Explicationcs (1596). Of recent discussions and restorations we may mention Meyer, Der Tempel Salomos (Berlin, 1830) ; Canina, Ricerche sell' architettura degli antichi Giudei (Rome, 1845) ; De Vogue, Le temple de Jerusalem, (Paris, 1866) ; Edersheim, The Temple, Its Ministry and Services in the Time of Christ (London, 1874) ; Fcrgusson, Temples of the Jews andOther Buildings omthe Harem Area (ib., 1874) ; Robins, article in British. Architect (January, 1886) ; and the elaborate and superbly illustrated discussion of the first and second temples in Perrot and Chipiez, Histoire de Part en Judee, etc. (Paris, 1889). The restoration of Zerub babel's temple, by Chipiez, in this work, is a re markable example of constructive archaeology. See also Friedrich. Tempel and Palest Salomos (Innsbruck. 1887) : Schmidt, Solomon's Temple in the Light of Other Oriental Temples (Chicago, 1902).