The Temple in the Days of our Savior Described, Chapter 33
CHAP. XXXIII. The Court of Iſrael, and of the Prieſts: And the Levites desks where they ſung.
THus having paſſed round about the wall that incloſed the Court, and obſerved every particular gate and building in it, we are now to enter into the Court it ſelfe and to ſurvey that, and there we ſhall finde much variety.
[a]Mid. per. 1.The whole length of the Court from Eaſt to Weſt was 187 cubits, and the breadth from North to South 135.[b]Ibid. per. 8. The parcells of the totall ſumme of the length were theſe, from Eaſt to Weſt.
The breadth of the Court of Iſrael eleven cubits.
The breadth of the Court of the Prieſts eleven cubits.
The breadth of the Altar two and thirty cubits.
Between the Altar and the Temple, two and twenty cubits.
The length of the Temple it ſelfe, an hundred cubits.
Behinde the Weſtend of the Temple to the Court-wall; eleven cubits.
The parcells of the breadth were theſe, going from North to South.
From the wall of the Court to the pillars, eight cubits.
From the Pillars to the Marble tables foure cubits.
From the Tables to the place of the Rings, foure cubits.
The ſpace of the Ringe it ſelfe, foure and twenty cubits.
From the Rings to the Altar, eight cubits.
The Altar and the riſe to it, ſixty two cubits.
From the foot of the riſe to the South-wall of the Court, five and twenty cubits.
Of all theſe particulars we ſhall give account as we goe along: And firſt it will be needfull to cleare the tearmes, of the Court of Iſrael and the Court of the Prieſts: Now theſe are to be underſtood in a ſtricter acception or in a larger: In the ſtricteſt ſenſe they were taken for the firſt ground you paſſed over as you went up from the Eaſt wall of the Court, or where the gate of Nicanor was, unto the Altar, and they are ſaid to be eleven cubits broad a piece. But in the larger acceptation, the Court of Iſrael, was a ſpace of ground upon which the lay men of Iſrael, for ſo let me call them, might ſtand, along within the wall that incloſed the Court, on the North, South, and Weſt quarters of the Court as well as on the Eaſt.
The Court was cloiſtered along the incloſing wall of it within, even as we have obſerved of the mountaine of the houſe, and the Court of the women already: And ſo not only reaſon it ſelfe doth evince unto us, which will tell that if the inferiour places, and of leſſe veneration, were ſo beautified, much more was this which was of the chiefeſt honour and higheſt worſhip, but both Joſephus and the Talmudiſts, doe alſo give teſtimony to ſuch a purpoſe: For Joſephus in thoſe words that we had occaſion to cite a good while ago, foreign &c.[c]Joſeph, de bell. lib. 5 c. 14. Cloiſters …an along the wall within from gate to gate, born up with faire and great pillars &c. doth intimate no leſſe: for though he doth particularly in that ſentence ſpeake of the cloiſters before the Gazophylacia, or treaſure-choſts which we placed in the Court of the women, yet doth the ſcope of this diſcourſe in that place, referre to both the Courts. The Talmudick treatiſe Tamid likewiſe ſpeaking of the Prieſts firſt coming every morning into the Court, it ſaith[d]Tamid. per. 1. They came out through a wicket out of Beth Mokadh, and being come into the Court they parted into two companies, and one went one way and another another, foreign Perexedram, along the cloiſter, round about the Court to ſee whether all was well and ſafe there. And you had mention even now of pillars 8 cubits diſtant from the North wall of the Court, which though indeed in their very name they ſpeak that they were low pillars and not ſuch as bare up the roofe of the cloiſters, as we ſhall obſerve when we come to ſpeak of them, yet were there higher pillars by them that were ſuch Supporters.
On the North and South ſide therefore, and at the Weſt end of the Court, there was a cloiſter like unto thoſe that we have ſpoken of already borne up with pillars and roofed over head, that people might ſtand under unannoied of raine and weather, and this was the Court of Iſrael, that went round about the Court: for in this might lay-men ſtand, and ſo they did, when there were great multitudes at the Temple, as there was at the three feſtivalls when they were injoyned to appeare before the Lord. In the rubrick of the Paſſeover which is given by the Talmud in the treatiſe Peſachin: It is ſaid,[e]Peſachin per. 5. The Paſſeover was killed in three companies: And the firſt company went in, and the Court was filled, &c. Now by the filling of the Court with people is not meant all the parts of the Court within the wall that did incloſe it, but this Court of Iſrael or cloiſter where the laity might ſtand, round about: And all inward, or what was incloſed by this cloiſter, was in the large acceptation the Court of the Prieſts: This cloiſter did not retaine the ſame ſpace of liberty of ſtanding or walking, in every part of it, for here and there there were buildings that ſtood out ſomething into it, as part of Beth Mokadh did at the North-weſt corner, and part of the building Gazith at the Southeaſt, &c. yet was there ſuch paſſage by them made more or leſſe, that the buildings did not thruſt him that would paſſe, into the Court of the Prieſts, but that there was a ſpace to paſſe, ſometimes larger, and ſometimes narrower even all the Court round about.
Now at the Eaſt part or quarter of it as you came up out of the gate of Nicanor, you entred upon that which was called in the ſtricter ſenſe, the Court of Iſrael, which was eleven cubits over as you went up towards the Altar, and then was that which alſo in the ſtricter ſenſe was called the Court of the Prieſts, and that was eleven cubits over likewiſe: Theſe two ſpaces were double cloiſtered, being roofed over, and the roofe ſupported with a double row of pillars: the one row ſtanding out to the opening of the open Court, and the other row ſtanding where the two ſpaces parted the one from the other. Theſe were more peculiarly called the Court of Iſrael and the Court of the Prieſts upon theſe two or three reaſons. 1. Becauſe hither was the moſt ordinary acceſſe of Iſraelites and Prieſts in their moſt ſolemne worſhip, it being juſt in the face both of Temple and Altar. 2. Becauſe in that which was called the Court of Iſrael, the Stationary men did conſtantly ſtand, in their attendance on the ſervice in repreſentation of all the people, as we have ſhewed them ſuch repreſentatives,*Temple-Service chap. 7. Sect. 3. in another place: And in that which was called the Court of Prieſts, did thoſe Prieſts ſtand that had not imployment in the preſent ſervice (as all of them had not alwaies) and waited upon the worſhip and ſervice, which their brethren now in imployment were about. 3. That part of the roome Gazith which ſtood within the Court, opened into both theſe Courts; and as that was the roome, where the Prieſts caſt lots for the dividing of the ſervice amongſt them, ſo it was the chappell (as it were) where they ſaid a good part of their daily liturgie, and ſo the people and Prieſts in theſe Courts were ready to heare it. The one Court was diſtinguiſhed from the other by ſome grates or barres or ſuch like things which the Jewes call foreign: which ſtood between pillar and pillar in that middle row of pillars that bare up the roofe of the cloiſter. Into the Court of the Prieſts, whether largely or ſtrictly taken, the Iſraelites or lay people might not come but upon ſpeciall occaſion, and that occaſion was threefold; namely, either to lay his hand upon the beaſt that he offered, or to kill him, or to wave ſome part of him, and then his coming into the Court either of Iſrael or of the Prieſts or both, was ordinarily at the North or South ſide of the Court, according as his offering was to be ſlaine on the North or South ſide of the Altar, as we have obſerved before.
[e]Maim. in Beth habbechirah per. 6.The Court of the people was levell with the floore of the Eaſt gate or the gate Nicanor, but the floore of the Court of the Prieſts was two cubits and an halfe higher, and the rifing thus. Imagine you came up from the gate of Nicanor: or rather imagine the Levites coming up from it with their muſicall inſtruments in their hands (which we obſerved before they laid up in roomes juſt under the Court of Iſrael, but the doores of thoſe roomes opening into the Court of the women) when they were riſen the many ſteps into the gate of Nicanor and were come thorough it, they had on either hand a faire paſſage into the cloiſter or Court of the people, (ſuch another as he hath that cometh upon the Royall Exchange either out of Cornhill or Bartlemew-lane, he may ſtep into the cloiſter walk on whether hand he will) they walked upon even ground till they came over the breadth of the Court of the people or to the pillars which were on the further ſide of that Court which bare up the cloiſter, and diſtinguiſhed the Court of the people and the Court of the Prieſts one from another: Then was there a riſing of two cubits and an halfe, but ſtepped up thus.[f]Id. ibid. & Mid. per. 2. Sect. 6. Firſt there was a ſtep of a cubit high, and then three ſteps of halfe a cubit high a piece, thus it was as you went directly up from the gate of Nicanor forwards. But if you would turne on either hand, there were the desks or ſtandings of the Levites, where they ſtood to ſing and to make their muſick, made with ſteps, as even as that middle riſing juſt now mentioned; firſt a riſing of a oubit height, and that ran along at that height all along before the railes and pillars that parted twixt the Court of the Prieſts and Court of people: and then were there three ſteps up of halfe a cubit high a piece, and on the higheſt ſtep ſtood the Levites with their inſtruments and their ſong: their feet even with the floore of the Court of the Prieſts: and a desk before them.
Elias Levita it ſeemes obſerved not this riſing both into the Court & in the Levites ſtation, when he ſaith[g]Elias in Tiſhbi. in foreign that their foreign Dukan (which was the name of their desks, and which the learned render, Suggeſtus or Pulpitum) was nothing elſe but a bench or fourme whereon they ſtood; for their feet ſtood even with the floore of the Court, and were not raiſed above it at all. His words are theſe, I wonder at this Targum (on Pſalme 134.) Lift up your hands O ye Prieſts upon the holy foreign For behold foreign was foreign the bench on which the Levites ſtood when they ſung, and it is called foreign Ducan in the Arabick: but in the Dutch and vulgar Banea: In this conſtruction of it by foreign a bench, and owning it for an Arabick word he followeth[b]Aruch in foreign Aruch, verbatim, but I confeſſe I doe not very well underſtand the cauſe of his wonder, eſpecially conſidering what he ſaith before the words cited, namely this: We call the place where the Prieſts lifted up their hands when they bleſſed the people foreign Dukan, and ſo is the Targum, Lift up your hands O ye Prieſts on the holy foreign and at this I wonder. Now if he wonder, that the Targum hath brought in the Prieſt bleſſing the people from the foreign Desk or Pulpit, in that Pſalme: he might have found the like in other places. For the Chaldee of Jonathan upon the law doth thus render the 23 verſe of the ſixth of Numbers [i]Targ. Jonath. in legem. in Num. 6.Speak to Aaron and his ſonnes ſaying, Thus ſhall ye bleſſe the children of Iſrael ſpreading their hands upon the foreign Dukana, and they ſhall ſpeake to them in this manner; where the Hebrew gloſſe in the margin interprets it[k]Gloſſa marg. ibid. by ſpreading their hands in the place called foreign Dukana; and a little after, foreign The benched place called foreign Dukan. And ſo the large Chaldee Paraphraſe upon the Canticles, gloſſeth the ſeventh verſe of the third chapter (Behold his bed which is Solomons: threeſcore valiant men are about it) thus [l]Targ. in Cant. 3.when Solomon the King of Iſrael built the houſe of the Sanctuary of the Lord in Jeruſalem, the Lord ſaid by his word, How beautifull is this houſe of the Sanctuary which is built to me by King Solomon the ſonne of David, and how beautifull are the Prieſts when they ſpread forth their hands, and ſtand upon their foreign Dukan and bleſſe the People the Houſe of Iſrael by the threeſcore wonders that were delivered to Moſes their maſter!
But it ſeemes his wonder is at this, that the Jewes ſo generally, and the Chaldee Paraphraſe particularly ſhould hold that the Prieſts when they bleſſed the people ſtood upon the foreign Dukan, whereas the Dukan or theſe Deskes were for the Levites and not for the Prieſts: And if I did conceive that they meant theſe very deskes of the Levites, when they ſay the Prieſts ſtood in the foreign Ducan and bleſſed the people, I ſhould wonder with him alſo, but I ſuppoſe they meant ſome other deskes appropriate to the Prieſts for this purpoſe or the place of the prieſts ſtanding when they bleſſed the people, and as by a name beſt knowne they call it Dukan.
The words of the Talmud in deſcription of theſe deskes where the Levites ſtood to ſing and to make their muſicke are theſe.[m]Mid. per. 2. Fahbi Eliezer the ſonne of Jacob ſaith, there was a riſing (viz. out of the Court of the people into the Court of the Prieſts) and it was a cubit high, and the foreign Ducan was ſet above it, and in that there were three ſteps of halfe a cubit high a piece: So that the Court of the Prieſts is found to be higher then the Court of Iſrael by two cubits and an halfe. So that it appeares indeed that the Levites ſtood upon raiſed ſteps in their deskes, but it is plain withall, that the higheſt ſtep was no higher then the floore of the Court before them and that that ſtep whereon they ſtood, was not called the Dukan, but the whole place of the three ſteps riſing.
And thus were the eleven cubits of the Court of the Prieſts at this Eaſt quarter of the Court taken up and divided: Namely two cubits and an halfe taken up by the deskes of the ſingers (for as was the height of the ſteps, ſo was their breadth) and eight cubits and an halfe for the Prieſts ſtanding. The Court of Iſrael parted from the Levites desks, by pillars and railes: The Levites ſtanding parted from the Prieſts by a wainſcot deske or ſome ſuch thing. The Court of the Prieſts open to the Altar, but onelyonly that the pillars that ſupported the cloiſter, ſtood in a row before it.
And ſo we have the dimenſions and platforme of the Court, & of the buildings and the cloiſters that ſtood about it: But before we proceed to obſerve the particulars that were within it, I cannot but thinke of a piece of ſtructure, that in its ſtory looks ſomething like to ſome of the cloiſters that we have deſcribed either in the mountaine of the houſe, or in one of the Courts, though I beleeve it was none of them, and that is. The Covert of the Sabbath, of which there is ſpeech and mention, 2 King. 16.18. where it is ſaid of Abaz, The Covert of the Sabbath, that they had built in the Houſe, and the Kings entry without, &c. How to frame the verbe to this ſentence is ſomewhat doubtfull: whether to ſay he turned it from the houſe of the Lord, and ſo doth our Engliſh, or he turned is to the houſe of the Lord, and ſo doth the Chaldee Paraphraſt & ſome others with him for the word in the originall doth not determine it: were that the queſtion before us, I ſhould adhere to the ſenſe of our Engliſh (for the Kings entry without was turned to the houſe of the Lord from its firſt making) but our queſtion is what this Covert of the Sabbath was: The Lxx. have rendred it foreign The foundation of the chaire or ſeat, upon what miſtake in their unprickt bible, a mean Hebrician will eaſily diſcover, namely that they read Muſadh for Muſach (Daleph and Caph finall being like) and for Shabbath they read Shebeth. [u]Vid. Kime. & Leu Gerſom in loc. & Nehil. in Lxx. Ibid.The moſt received opinion about this matter is, that this was ſome ſpeciall piece of building, that was purpoſely made for the courſe of Prieſts that went out every Sabbath to repoſe themſelves in, till the Sabbath was out, or till they might goe home. And the reaſon of this conception is becauſe of the word Sabbath, which they ſuppoſe to referre rather to the change of the Prieſts courſes, who came in and went out on the Sabbath, then to the ſervice, or the peoples attending, whoſe concourſe was greater at the feſtivalls then on the Sabbath; I ſhould rather take it to meane ſome Court of guard that was made on the Top of the cauſey Shallecheth up towards the gate Coponius, where the Kings guard ſtood on the Sabbaths having attended the King into the Temple, till he came out againe, there to receive him againe and to guard him home: and I ſhould underſtand and conſtrue the word The Kings in conjunction with both particulars named, namely that it meaneth the Kings covert of the Sabbath as well as the Kings entry without: and my reaſon for this opinion I ſhould fetch partly from the mention of theſe gates that we had in ſpeech before, namely, The gate of the foundation, and the gate behinde the guard, 2. King. 11.6. And partly from the paſſage in Jerem. 38.14. where it is ſaid that King Zedekiab ſent and tooke Jeremy the Prophet unto him into the third entry that was in the houſe of the Lord, where Solomon Jarchi doth ingenuouſly confeſſe that he knowes not what this third entry in the houſe of the Lord was: but perhaps ſaith he it meaneth the Court of Iſrael; the Court of the women and the Chel being the two other. Kimchi doth well conceive that this entry was as they came from the Kings houſe into the Temple, but more of it he hath not determined. I ſhould ſay it meaneth the gate Coponius: and conceive the King coming to the Temple, through theſe entrances or paſſages. Firſt at the bottome of the ſtaires or deſcent of Sion, much about his turning to come upon the cauſey there was the gate of the foundation, then being come up the cauſey towards the Temple, he paſſed through the gate behinde the guard and walked through the Court of Guard which I ſuppoſe was called the Kings covert for the Sabbath, and ſo through the gate Coponius which was his third entrance or gate he paſſed through. Theſe gates we ſaid before, were gates of Sion, meaning that they were in the way from the Temple thither, and not gates of the Temple it ſelfe.
According therefore to this ſuppoſall, I apprehend that Ahaz becoming a Renegado to religion, did deface and defile the Temple within, and did cleane cut off the way of the Kings acceſſe thither without, as if he and his ſhould never have more to doe there: And according to this ſuppoſall alſo I apprehend, that Zedekiah having gariſoned himſelfe in the Temple, while the Chaldeans were now lying in ſiege about the city, he ſends for Jeremy from his priſon in Zion, and he comes up to the gate Coponius or Shallecheth, and there the King and He conferre together. And now let us turne our eyes and obſervation upon what is to be found in the Court from which we have thus farre digreſſed: and firſt we will begin with the Altar: which is not onelyonly the moſt remarkable thing to be obſerved there, but which muſt alſo ſerve us as a ſtanding marke, from whence to meaſure the place and ſight of other things.