The Temple in the Days of our Savior Described, Chapter 3
CHAP. III. The Eaſt gate of the Mountaine of the Houſe foreign Shuſhan gate. The Proſpect of Mount Olivet, and part of the City before it.
IN the ſurveying of the gates and buildings that were in this outmoſt wall, and virge of the holy ground, we will begin at the Eaſt quarter which faced Mount Olivet, and in which ſide of the ſquare there was only one gate: this and all other the gates, both in this wall and in the other that incompaſſed the Courts[a]Mid. per. 2. were twenty Cubits high and ten Cubits broad, as the Hebrew writers do conſtantly reckon.
In which account they and their Countryman Joſephus, who wrote in another language, do not differ (although that[b]Joſ…de Bell. lib. 5 c. 14. his conſtant meaſure that he gives of all the gates, be 30 Cubits high and 15 Cubits broad) but they do in this diverſity explaine the thing the better. The height of the whole gatehouſe of every gate, or of the pile where the gate was ſet, was 30 Cubits, and ſo it roſe 5 Cubits above the wall, but the very entrance of the gate, or the doore of it, was but 20 Cubits high. And ſo the very bredth of the entrance of the doors of every gate was but 10 Cubits, but the che…ks of the gate on either ſide was 2 Cubits and an halfe, and ſo the bredth of the whole pile, was 15 Cubits in all: The height of this Eaſt gate only came ſhort of the reſt, 4 Cubits, for[c]Maym. in Beth habbekirah per. 6. Gl…ſſ. in Mid. it roſe but but 6 cubits above the entry or light that was paſſed through, whereas the reſt did riſe ten, and ſo it roſe but one cubit above the height of the wall, whereas the reſt did five; and the reaſon was given immediately before, becauſe the Prieſt that burned the red Cow on Mount Olivet might looke over it upon the Temple; for ſo they conceive that command bound him when he ſprinkled her bloud. He ſhall ſprinkle of her bloud directly before the Tabernacle of the Congregation ſeven times, Numb. 19.4. Obſerve Chriſt and his Diſciples, having gone out of this gate from the Temple, now ſitting upon Mount Olivet before this gate, and looking back on the ſumptuous building of the Temple, and Chriſt diſcourſing concerning their ruine, Mat. 24.1, 2, 3, &c.
This gate ſtood not juſt in the very middeſt of this Eaſtern wall, as if it had 245 cubits of the wall on either ſide it, but it ſtood more toward the North, becauſe it was to ſtand directly in the front, or over againſt the porch of the Temple. Now the Altar being pitched and fixed ſo by a divine appointment, that the Mountain did not allow an equal ſpace of ground on either ſide it, they were forced to build the Temple ſo, as to ſtand in its proper parallel with the Altar, and to caſt the Courts ſo, as that foreign [d]Mid. ubi ſupr.The greateſt ſpace of the Mount was on the South, the ſecond on the Eaſt, the third on the North, and the leaſt Weſtward.
[e]Id.per. 1Upon this Eaſt gate was pourtraied and pictured the reſemblance of the City Shuſhan, the royall Seat of the Perſian Monarchy, and the gate it ſelfe, at leaſt ſome part of it was called by this name, foreign The Talmud ſaith[f]Kelim. per. 17. There were two ſorts of Cubits in Shuſhan, the Palace, one which exceeded the cubit of Moſes half a finger, and this was upon the North-eaſt corner, and the other which exceeded that, halfe a finger more, and that was on the South-eaſt corner. Now the Gloſſe explains it thus, that Shuſhan the Palace was a room in the Eaſt gate where Shuſhan was pourtraied. And the reaſon of that picture is given by ſome to be[g]Aruch. in Shuſhan. That Iſrael might ſee it and remember their captivity in Shuſhan: by others,[h]R…mbam in Mid. per. 1. Gloſſ. in Miſhnaioth in 8. ibid. Becauſe when they came out of captivity, the King of Perſia commanded to picture Shuſhan upon the gates of the houſe, that the fear of that Kingdome might be upon them, But here Abraham Zaccuth doth move a juſt quere. The Kingdome of Perſia[i]Iuckaſin fol. 65. col. 2. (ſaith he) and Shuſhan laſted but a little while after the ſecond Temple was built, namely about ſome 34 years, and then how came it to paſſe that that picture continued there all the time of the ſecond Temple? But there are ſome that reſolve it thus, That the children of the captivity made this pourtraiture, that they might remember the wonder of Purim, which was done in Suſhan, Eſth. 9.26. and this is a good reſolution: ſo he.
This gate is called The Kings Gate, 1 Chron: 9.18. not for any ſpeciall or ordinary entrance of the King through it (for his common coming in, was at the cleane oppoſite quarter, namely on the Weſt ſide) but it is ſo called, becauſe King Solomon built it and the reſt of the wall that way, at an extraordinary paines and charge, fetching up the foundation with huge ſtones, from the bottome of the deep valley that lay under: of which anon.
But before we part from this gate, let us ſtand a little in it and take the proſpect that is there before us Eaſtward, for the better underſtanding of ſome places of Scripture, that ſpeake of the places thereabout.
Mount Olivet faced Jeruſalem, and the Temple, and Sion upon the Eaſt, winding likewiſe Northward, ſo as that it faced Sion alſo ſomething upon the North. Betwixt Jeruſalem and it, was the valley of Hinnom or Tophet, where was the horrid and hideous practice of their irreligious religion, of butchering their children, in cauſing them to paſſe through the fire, or burning them to Molech. For Solomon had built an high place for Chemoſh the abomination of Moab in this hill that was before Jeruſalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon, 1 King. 11.7. namely on the right hand of the Hill, as you looked upon it from Jeruſalem, 2 King. 23.13. In this text of the Kings it is called foreign Har hammaſhchith, inſtead of foreign Har hammiſhchah, The Mount of corruption, inſtead of The Mount of Ʋnction, or of Olives, the Holy Ghoſt branding the fact, and the place for the fact, with ſo viſible and notable a marke of diſtaſte and diſpleaſure at it. To ſo great a contrariety to what he once was, when he was himſelfe, had Solomons idolatrous wives bewitched him, that as he had built a ſumptuous Temple on Mount Moriah to the true God, ſo they perſwade him to build an Idolatrous Temple to their abominations on Mount Olivet, in the face of the Temple, and affronting it. The valley beneath this accurſed Idoleum, was called The valley of Tophet, and the valley of the ſon or the ſons of Hinnom, Jer: 7.31, 32. & 19.6. &c. The valley of Topbet, that is,[k]Vid. Buxt. Heb. Lex. in foreign The valley of Drummes or Tabers: from the noiſe that was made with ſuch kind of inſtruments to drown the cries and ſhrieking of the burning children: And the valley of the ſonnes of Hinnom, that is, the valley of children of ſhrieking and roaring; from the wofull cries of thoſe poore children frying in the fire. This was probably that which is called the valley of the carkaſſes or the dead bodies, Jer. 31.40. of which name the Chaldee Paraphraſt in that place hath given this reaſon, Becauſe the dead bodies of the Camp of th… Aſſyrians fell there: and to which Joſephus alſo giveth teſtimony when he relateth that a place was called[l]Joſ. de Bell. lib. 6. c. 26. & 31. The Aſſyrian Camp. And here may we give a check a little to the peremptorineſſe of Rabbi Solomon upon the Text of Jeremy, leſt he grow too proud, who gloſſeth the fortieth verſe thus,[m]R. Sol. in Ier. 31.40. The valley of dead bodies is the valley where the carkaſſes of the Camp of Senacherib fell: and the valley of the Aſhes, is the place whither they carried the aſhes forth, which was without Jeruſalem: Theſe places they ſhall bring within the City even within the walls: And this Propheſie is to be accompliſhed in the laſt redemption in deſpight of the Hereticks, for it was not accompliſhed under the ſecond Temple. By Hereticks hee virulently meaneth Chriſtians, who deny any other Meſſias yet to come, and that there ſhall be any more an earthly Jeruſalem. For he would conſtrue thoſe words of the Prophet ſtrictly according to the letter, as if there ſhould be a time when theſe valleys ſhould be walled within Hieruſalem, really and indeed; whereas the Prophet in mentioning of thoſe moſt defiled and polluted places to be taken into the City, meaneth only the bringing in of the Heathens, who had been polluted with all manner defilement of Idolatry and other abominations, into the ſpirituall Ieruſalem which is above, or the Church. And yet if we would follow him even in his literall conſtruction, we might ſhew, out of his owne Authors the Talmudiſts, how Bethphage, the Towne that ſtood even in theſe places mentioned by the Prophet, though it ſtood out of the walls of Jeruſalem, yet by their owne confeſſion is it reckoned as a member or part of Jeruſalem: and ſo was that prophecy literally fulfilled by their owne chorography at the coming of our Meſſias; But here is not a place for ſuch diſputes.
This was the proſpect that you had before you on the right hand as you ſtood in the Eaſt gate of the Mountaine of the Temple; namely a part of Mount Olivet divided from the City Jeruſalem by the valley of Tophet, & by the valley of Aſhes; on the ſide of the valley, neere Ieruſalem ſtood the Towne Bethphage, and on the hil on the further ſide of the valley over againſt it, ſtood Bethany, renowned for the raiſing of Lazarus from the dead there, and for our Saviours frequent reſort thither, and aſcenſion thence.
Directly before you, was the place upon Mount Olivet where they uſed to burne the red Cow into purifying aſhes, when they had occaſion to do ſuch a work: and[u]Maym. in Parah per. 3. & in Shekalim … 4. thither went a double arched Cauſey, of the ſame manner of arching that we have mentioned under the Temple Courts: and for the ſame caution, namely for ſecurity againſt graves, by which the Prieſt that went about that imployment might have been defiled, and ſo the work …ard.
Upon your left hand as you ſtood, ran Mount Olivet ſtil, and the valley betwixt you and it and all along on the Eaſt point and on the North ſide of Sion, was called the valley of Kidren, of famous memory and mention in Scripture, 2 Sam: 15.23. 2 Kings 23.6. Iohn 18.1. &c. At the foot of the hill, beyond this valley you might ſee Gethſemany or the place of the oile Preſſes, whither they brought the Olives they had gathered upon Mount Olivet to be preſſed, and the oil got out. And there it was whither our Saviour went after his laſt Supper, and where he was apprehended having ſupped that night as it is moſt likely in Sion or the City of David.