The Temple in the Days of our Savior Described, Chapter 11
CHAP. XI. The meaſures and platforme of the Temple, as it ſtood in the time of our Saviour.
HEROD (ſirnamed the great)[a]Joſ. ant. lib. 14. cap. 17. when he was a young gallant, before hee came to be King had ſlain one Ezekias, and ſome others with him, for which he was called before the Sanbedrin to be judged for killing a man: where ſome of the Councell fearing him, and ſome favouring him, and not executing juſtice as he had deſerved, Shammai the Vice-preſident of the Councell, did boldly and plainly tell them, before his face, That whereas they were ſo favourable and partiall to him now, the time would come when he would not ſhew them ſuch favour, but ſhould kill them. And ſo Herod did, when he was King afterward, deſtroying the whole Sanhedrin, unleſſe it were two men, Hillel the Preſident, and Shammai the Vice-preſident who had been ſo plain with him. And afterwards, as it were in way of expiation of this horrid fact,[b]Iuckaſin fol. 19. hee was perſwaded by Baba ben Bota to repair the Temple, which hee did ſo thoroughly, that[c]Ioſ. Ant. lib. 15. cap. 14. hee made it foreign, Larger in compaſſe, and moſt glorious in height, taking doan the old foundations, and laying new. This worke he began in the eighteenth yeer of his reigne, and in 8 yeares he finiſhed it (ſome nine yeers before our Saviours birth:) in all which time, if you will beleeve the Jews, they will tell you,[d]Iuchaſin ubi ſup. that it never rained in the day time left the work ſhould bee hindred. The ſumptuouſneſſe of this building the ſame Authours in the Treatiſe[e]Succah per. … in Gemara. Succah in the Gemara do magnifie in theſe expreſſions. He that never ſaw Jeruſalem in her glory, never ſaw lovely City. And hee that never ſaw the Sanctuary with its buildings, never ſaw goodly buildings. Rab. Haſda ſaith, It was Herods building, And of what did he build it? Rabba ſaith Of goodly ſtone and marble. And ſome ſay, foreign of marble painted or full of curious veins and divers colours. foreign, one border or edge went in and another out; which the gloſſe expreſſeth thus, foreign; It ſeemed like the wavings of the ſea, one rowe of ſtones did ſo curiouſly goe in, and another come out.
The meaſures of this Temple, as it ſtood in our Saviours time, and till the deſtruction of Jeruſalem was foreign [f]Mid. per. 4An hundred cubits long, an hundred cubits broad, and an hundred cubits high: And yet not an exact cube, but very far from it, as we ſhall ſhew ere long, for it narrowed ſo behind, ſaith[g]Mid. ibid. Maym. in Beth habbech. per. 4. & 5. the Talmud and Maymony, that it did carry the proportion of a Lion.
The form and faſhion of this pile on the outſide (for of that only we will take a ſurvey as yet) was thus. It was built of white marble (as[h]Joſ. ubi ſup. Joſephus ſaith) in which were ſuch veins and colours as are ſpoken of before; the ſtones of a cize and bigneſſe unto admiration, and the walls roſe to that great height of an hundred cubits by theſe diſtinctive meaſures.
1.[i]Mid. ibid. foreign the foundation ſix cubits high: not in the ground (though there was alſo a foundation laid deep enough) but from the ground 6 cubits upwards. As it is commonly ſeen in ſtone buildings of a great pile, that neer the ground, the fabrick is made thicker then the wall above, to ſupport the whole weight the better, even ſo was it here for ſix cubits height.
2. foreign. The height of the wall forty cubits. That is, from this foundation the wall roſe 40 cubits plain, without any juttings, borderings or ſtandings out as there was elſewhere. And then was
3. foreign A carved and curiouſly wrought border, of a cubit broad. I tranſlate foreign a curious wrought border, upon the warrant of R. Nathan [k]Aruch. in foreign.who partly out of the Talmud, and partly out of the[l]Chal. par. in 2 Sam. 7.2. Chaldee Paraphraſt render it foreign Picturing or Pourtraying (with which there is the concurrency of[m]R. Obad de Bartin. in. Mid. in loc. Bartenora, who ſaith, it was called foreign becauſe it was gilt with gold and graven with curious ingravery: It may be along the length of the building the ſtones were ſo laid in and out as to reſemble the waving of the ſea, as the … almud ſpeaks, but there was no croſſing border (as it may be called) till the wall came to this height: Above this imbroidered border was
4. foreign A ledge or gutter to take off the raine, and to carry it cleer from dropping upon the wall below foreign [n]Maym. ubi ſup.The height of two cubits was prepared for the droppings to come in there, for ſo doth ſenſe and neceſſity cauſe the word to be interpreted, though Baal Aruch tell us, that there be ſome that give it another conſtruction; when we have obſerved the two next particulars above this, wee ſhall underſtand what this was the better.
5. foreign The timber or place for the laying on of the roofe, a cubit.
6. foreign The roofe it ſelfe a cubit. The word foreign is of ſome difficult conſtruction: It ſeemeth to be derived,[o]Aruch in voce. as R. Nathan giveth intimation, from that word, Neh. 3.8. foreign which our Engliſh hath rendred; They fortified [p]R. Sol. & Ah. Ezr. in Neh. 3.8.and R. Solomon, They raiſed with earth. And there Aben Ezra ſpeaks of this very word that we have in hand, and ſaith that foreign there and the word we have before us, are both of the ſame ſenſe: and ſo the ſame, word foreign is uſed againe, Neb. 4.2. And he telleth us withall that there are ſome that do render that clauſe foreign, Exod. 23.5. according to this conſtruction: If thou ſee the Aſſe of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, Thou ſhalt ſurely raiſe him with him.
But as for our word foreign which is not to be found in ſcripture, but uſed by the Talmudick writers, we muſt have recourſe to the Talmud for the meaning of it: And there as Aruch pointeth us to the places we find it ſpoken of and handled in the Treatiſe Baba Mezia, and Baba Bathra. In the former Tract are theſe words,[q]Baba Mezia per. 10. Is a houſe and a chamber over it in two mens puſſeſſion? and the chamber over goes to decay: if the Owner of the houſe (below) will not help to repair it: let him that owes the chamber, goe and dwell below till he do repaire: R. Joſe ſaith, the Owner of the lower roome is to lay on the roofe-timber, and the Owner of the upper roome the foreign. And in the other Tract are theſe words[r]Baba bathra per. 2. A man ſhall not ſet up a furnace (or oven) within a houſe unleſſe there be the ſpace of ſour cubits over it (namely, for feare the flame ſhould catch in the roofe or floore above) And if he do … up a ſurnace in an upper roome, it is neceſſary that there be a foreign of three fingers thick under it. And the reaſon is alſo given for fear of danger of fire.
Now the Gemara upon the former place in explanation of the word, and Aruch in explanation of the Gemara ſay, that it was a cruſtedneſſe made of divers materialls, as reeds, chall… ſtones and ſuch like plaiſtering; which it ſeemeth by the former place cited was laid on the top of the houſe in ſtead of leads to keep out wet, and by the latter, to be made under their furnaces in upper roomes to prevent fire, burning downward. And the determination of R. Ioſe (that the dweller below ſhould lay on the rooofe, and the dweller above the foreign, ſeems to reſult to nothing elſe but this, that the one ſhould lay on the timber of the roofe, and the other a cover of plaiſter to be laid on the roof upon reeds, of ſuch materialls tempered together as ſhould keep out the rain from dropping through: And ſo do I underſtand the word in our worke that we are viewing; that this was a thick well wrought plaiſter of materialls to compact, that being once grown hard was as a ſtone, and this was as leads on the roof to keep out wet; the uſe of ſheets of lead being either unknowne to them, or lead being ſcarce and not to be had: And thus are we come up to the lower leads; for ſo let me call them, as being an expreſſion beſt knowne among us.
And here let us take in a paſſage of Joſephus. Hee ſpeaking of the meaſures of the Temple, and of the ſtones of which it was built, ſaith, that they were 25 cubits long, 8 cubits high, and 12 broad[s]An. lib. 15. cap. 14. foreign ſaith he, foreign &c. It was made after the faſhion of the royall cloiſter, lower on either ſide, and higheſt in the middle, ſo that it was to be ſeen many furlongs off, &c. Now the Cloiſter royall was ſo built (as was obſerved before) that three walkes running along together, roofed over and born upon pillars, the roofe of the middle was raiſed far higher then the two of eithenſi dit.
And ſo wee are by Joſephus to underſtand accordingly of the Temple. It was indeed of a 100 cubits high, but not ſo as riſing in an equall ſquare, from the bottome to the top, but riſing ſquare fifty one cubits, as hath been proportioned out: The main foundation 6 cubits high: the wall plaine about it 40 cubits, a carved border above that one cubit; the place for caſting of the raines two cubits; above that the floore laying on one cubit thick, and the plaiſter cover one cubit thick; but then the riſe of the building grew narrower; for from thence it was carryed up ſo towards the middle, as that there were left leads, as one may call them, on the North and South ſides all along, from the Eaſt unto the Weſt: A familiar example of this for the better underſtanding of it we have in the building of exceeding many of our Churches: the pile riſeth of a like breadth to the lower leads, and then it riſeth only in the middle, to the height or roofe of the Church: And ſo was it with the Temple: Goe either to Eaſt or Weſt end, and ſtand in the middle and looke up, and it was 100 cubits, but goe any whit like toward the right or left hand, and it was but half ſo high, for there were the lower leads. Leads I cannot but call them, for that language is beſt underſtood amongſt us, though they were not covered with lead (a covering not ſo well known in thoſe times as now) but with a plaiſter or parget of a cubit thick, and ſo ſtrongly wrought, and tempered, as that it differed not from the hardneſſe of ſtone.
We muſt not forget foreign that we paſſed over even now, but muſt looke back upon it a little, before we leave theſe leads, or this firſt riſing that we are now upon. For the paſſing away of the rains that dropped off this roof, that they ſhould not run down along the wall, and ſo both moulder & deface the ſtones, there was immediately above the imbroidered border that was ſpoken of, a row of ſtones that jutted out of the building more then their fellows, which were neatly and artificially guttered or riggeted, and as artificially jointed together in the guttering (that no rain ſhould drop through) the rigget laid juſt under the edge of the leads, (or ſpouts from the leads) that caſt off the raines, that the droppings falling therein were conveyed away to either end of that ſide on which they were, and ſo ſent to the ground either in pipes, or in a great fal from theſe gutters.
And now to follow the building up ſtil to its perfect heights conceive it to be narrowed now to half the breadth, and ſo to riſe in the middle of the pile, as that the leads on either ſide were 25 cubits broad.
1. foreign: The height of the roome above, or the riſing above the leads in a ſtraight wall was 40 cubits: this is called foreign, or an upper roome, becauſe it was directly over the holy and moſt holy places.
2. foreign Another carved or ingraven border: ſuch a one as was mentioned before, the breadth of one cubit.
3. foreign, The gutter 2 cubits as before, for putting off rains, not that this gutter was two cubits deep, but that it was two cubits from thoſe gutters to the laying on of the roof.
4. foreign. The floore or roofe, a cubit.
5. foreign, The plaiſter cover, a cubit.
6. foreign, The battlements three aubits; This word is uſed, Deut. 22.8. and[t]Aben Ezr. in Deut. 22. not elſewhere in Scripture, and yet ſaith Aben Ezra, is the ſenſe of it plain enough from the Text. And ſo indeed it is, for the Lord there enjoineth, that when a man buildeth a new houſe he ſhould make foreign battlements, leſt any one ſhould fall off, and ſo bring bloud upon his houſe; The roofes of their houſes were flat in thoſe Countreys. Joſ. 2.6. 2 Sam. 16.22. Act. 10.…9, &c. and there they uſed to walke, 1 Sam. 9.25. and therefore leſt any ſhould fall off, they were to make battlements round about,[u]D. Kime. in Mid. 10 handbreadths, or 2 common cubits high at the leaſt, leſt any one ſhould fall off, and be ſhine or maimed: ſo howſoever it may be well ſuppoſed, that they walked not upon the Temple roofe ſo ordinarily as they did upon their own houſes (nor was the Temple roofe altogether ſo flat as their roofes) yet were battlements alſo made to it, partly, becauſe it ſhould not come ſhort of the beauty of other buildings, and partly becauſe there was occaſion ſometimes to goe upon the roofe of it.
7. foreign, The ſcarcrow, one cubit; what this was, let us firſt take R. Nathans [v]Aruc. in foreigninformation for it. Becauſe, ſaith he, of the holyneſſe of the firſt Temple, and the divine glory dwelling there birds ſlew not on it at all: But as for the ſecond Temple, they feared, that the holyneſſe of it ſhould not be as the holyneſſe of the firſt; and leſt birds ſhould fly over it, and leave ſome defilement upon it, therefore they ſet up a picture, to cauſe birds to keep off the roofe of the Temple, and they called it, foreign the ſcarſcrow, as meaning, that it keeps the Ravens from flying upon the Temple roofe, and this image or picture was ſuch a one as they uſe to ſet upon corn: But by other of the Jews it is defined to be[x]Maym. in Beth babbechir. per. 4. foreign, A pike of iron like a rapier of a cubit high, upon the top of the battlements round about, made that birds might not light upon it. And by ſome again concluded, that there were no ſuch thing as either the one or other[y]R. Iudah in Mid. perk. 4. but only that the battlement was 4 cubits high: But howſoever it may be a fancy not to be fancyed, that there was or could be any ſuch courſe taken as to keep birds off the roof of the Temple, (ſee Pſal. 84.34.) yet upon the ſo concurrent teſtimony of the Hebrew writers as is to be found, joined with the thought of what an ornament it would add to the building it ſelfe, it may very well be concluded, that there were pinnacles upon the battlements round about: as Kings Colledge Chappel in Cambridge is decked in the like manner to its great beauty. foreign is conſtrued according to this ſenſe by divers Expoſitors, Mat. 4 5. The roofe was not a perfect flat, as was the roofe of other houſes, but riſing in the middle foreign [z]Semajah in Mid.till the very creſt of the middle came up as high as the height of the battlement; as Kings Colledge Chappell may be herein a parallel alſo; And the like battlements and pinacles are likewiſe to be allotted to the lower leads.