Meaning of TEMPLE

It means, in a general sense, any building intended for worship (Jl. 3:5; Ezra 1:7; 5:14; Acts 19:27). Synonym of Tabernacle in 1 Sam. 1:9; 3:3; 2 Sam. 22:7; cf. Rev. 15:5).

However, this term is most frequently applied to the Temple of Jerusalem, in its successive constructions, erected for the worship of the Lord.

(a) Solomon's Temple.
David proposed to replace the portable tabernacle with a permanent building, and he gathered most of the materials necessary for this purpose (2 Samuel 7; 1 Kings 5:3-5; 8:17; 1 Chron. 22; 28: 11-29:9).

He gathered one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver (1 Chron. 22:14), and to this he added three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver from his own fortune. The princes contributed five thousand talents of gold, ten thousand darics of gold, and ten thousand talents of silver (1 Chron. 29:4, 7).

The total amounted to one hundred and eight thousand talents of gold, ten thousand darics of gold, and one million seventeen thousand talents of silver. David had become rich through his conquests, and the peoples who were subject to him paid him tribute; In this way, he was able to make valuable metals available to Solomon that would be more than sufficient for the construction of the Temple (1 Kings 7:51; 2 Chron. 5:1).

For the extraordinary wealth of this king, see SOLOMON. The building began to be built in the fourth year of Solomon, and was completed in seven years and six months (1 Kings 6:1, 38).

Solomon's alliance with Hiran, king of Tyre, provided the king of Israel with wood from Lebanon and Phoenician craftsmen. Solomon made a levy of thirty thousand Israelites, who went to work in Lebanon, in shifts of ten thousand each month (1 Kings 5:13).

Among the descendants of the Canaanites of the country of Israel, Solomon made a forced levy of one hundred and fifty thousand men (1 Kings 5:15; 9:20, 21; 2 Chron. 2:2, 17, 18). There were five hundred and fifty foremen and three thousand three hundred foremen (1 Kings 5:16; 9:23); of them, three thousand six hundred were Canaanites and two hundred and fifty Israelites (2 Chron. 2:18; 8:10).

The Temple was erected on the hill of Moriah, on the site of the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (2 Chron. 3:1). The plan of the Temple reproduced that of the Tabernacle, but its dimensions were double and the decoration more sumptuous.

The interior measured sixty cubits in length by twenty in width and thirty in height (1 Kings 6:2); the height thus differed in proportion to that of the Tabernacle. The walls were made of stones completely hewn in the quarry (1 Kings 6:7); the roof was cedar (1 Kings 6:9).

The floor was made of cypress wood planks, and the walls were covered with cedar from floor to ceiling (1 Kings 6:15; 2 Chron. 3:5). The entire interior was covered with gold (1 Kings 6:20, 22, 30; 2 Chron. 3:7, etc.).

Cherubs, palm trees and flowers were sculpted on the walls. The Holy of Holies ("debir") was a cube with an edge of twenty cubits (1 Kings 6:16, 20). The space ten cubits high between the ceiling and the roof was probably occupied by chambers overlaid with gold (1 Chron. 28:11; 2 Chron. 3:9).

The ark was in the Holy of Holies (1 Kings 8:6), under the wings of two gigantic cherubs made of olive wood and covered with gold. Each of them was ten cubits high (about five and a quarter meters), and the length of each of their wings was five cubits.

The outer wings of the cherubs touched the walls, and the other two joined together. In the center, above the mercy seat, the two cherubim contemplated the ark (1 Kings 6:23-28; 2 Chron. 3:10-13). A partition of cedar wood, covered with gold on both sides, separated the holy place ("hekal") from the Holy of Holies ("debir").

There was a door with two leaves of olive wood, decorated with palm trees, flowers and cherubs, and covered with gold, which allowed passage, and a veil similar to that of the Tabernacle covered it (1 Kings 6:16, 21, 31, 32; 2 Chr. 3:14; cf. Ant. 8:3, 3 and 7).

The holy place was forty cubits long, twenty wide, and thirty high. The walls had windows that were wide on the inside and narrow on the outside, probably near the roof (1 Kings 6:4).

The altar of incense was not of acacia, as in the Tabernacle, but of cedar overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:20, 22; 7:48). This altar was related to the Holy of Holies (1 Kings 6:22; cf. Heb. 9:3, 4), but it was in the holy place, before the veil of separation, because the high priest was to offer incense. every day, while he only entered the Holy of Holies once a year.

There was not only one lampstand, as in the Tabernacle, but ten golden lampstands; In the same way, instead of one, there were ten tables; There is no doubt, however, that the shewbread was only placed on one table, in the same way that only one candlestick was used at a time (cf. 2 Chr. 13:11; see LANDSTAND, SHOWBREAD).

The doors that gave access to the holy place from the outside were made of cypress (1 Kings 6:33, 34).
A three-story building leaned against the back of the Temple and its two sides (1 Kings 6:5-10).

The porch in front of the main entrance measured ten cubits wide, twenty long, and one hundred and twenty high (1 Kings 6:3; 2 Chron. 3:4). On each side of the porch stood two bronze columns: Boaz and Jachin, each measuring eighteen cubits high, richly decorated (1 Kings 7:15-22; 2 Chron. 3:15-17).

The Temple had two courts, the elevated inner one, reserved for the priests, and the large outer court (2 Kings 23:12; 2 Chron. 4:9; Jer. 36:10). The two courts were separated by the same difference in level between them, and by a low wall, made of three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams (1 Kings 6:36; 7:12).

The bronze altar, for burnt offerings, was in the court of the priests (1 Kings 8:64; 2 Kings 16:14; 2 Chron. 15:8); It was about four times larger than that of the Tabernacle (2 Chron. 4:1). Also in this inner court was the bronze sea (great bronze vat), and there were also ten bronze fountains (1 Kings 7:23-39).

The large vat was used for the ablutions of the priests, the fountains were intended to wash the objects used in the sacrifices (2 Chron. 4:6, see: ALTAR, BRONZE [SEA]).

The people stayed in the great outer court (cf. 1 Kings 8:14), paved (2 Chron. 7:3) and surrounded by a wall with numerous gates (2 Chron. 4:9, cf. Ez. 40 :5). In 587 BC, the Babylonians took possession of Jerusalem; They plundered this temple, burning it (2 Kings 25:8-17).