Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
Ptaee of Building (he Temple. 2 ClULO^'ICLES 111, IV. Its Diiiieiiduiii, Altar, Mullen liea, e,tr„ which was covered with planks of fir. The whole interior was lined with boards, riclily decorated witli carved work,
CHAPTER III.
clusters of foliage and flowers, among wliich the pomegranate and lotus, or water-lily, were conspicuous; and overlaid, excepting tlie floor, with gold, either by gilding or iu plates (1 Kings 0).
Ver. 1, 2. Place and Time or Building the Temple.
1. Mount Morlnli, where tlie Lord appeared unto Unvid—These words seem to intimate tliat tlie region
Wliere the temple was built was previouslij known hy the nanieof Moriah (Genesis 22. 2), and do not ntlbrd sul Kcient evidence for aftiniiiiig, as ha« lately been done [Stanley], that the name wi\ii flnst given to the mount, in consequence of the vision seen \>y David. Mount Moriah was one Buminit of a range of hills which wont under the general name of Zion. Tlie platform of tlie temple is now, and has long been, occupied by the haram, or sacred enclosure, within wliicii stand the three mosques of Omar (the
Dimensions, &c., of the Most Holy House. 8. the most lioly house—It was a perfect cube (cf. 1 Kings 6.
20). overlaid It with . . . gold, amounting to six huikdred talents—at £t per. oz., equal to £:!,(iOO,000. 10-13. two chei-ubim—Tliese figures in tlie tabernacle were of pure gold (Exodus 25.), and overshadowed tlie mercy-seat. The two placed in the temple were made of olive wood, overlaid with gold. They were of colossal size, like the Assyrian sculptures; for each, with expanded wings, covered a space of ten cubits in height and length—two wings touched each other, while the other two reached the oppo-
Binailest), of EI Aksa, wliich in early times was a Christian church, and of Kubbet el Sakhara, "The dome of the rock," so called from a huge block of limestone rock in tlie centre of the floor, which, it is supposed, formed the elevated thresliing-floor of Araunali, and on which the great brazen altar stood. The site of the temple, then, site walls; their faces were inward, t. e., towards the most holy hduse, conformably to tlielr use, which was to veil the ark.
1-1-17. Veil and Pillars (see on 1 Kings 6. 21). The united height is here given; and thougli the exact dimensions would be thirty-six cubits, each column was only seventeen cubits and a half, a half cubit being taken up bjthe capital or the base. They were probalily described as they were lying together in tlie mould before they were .set up. [Poole.] They would lie from eighteen to twenty-one feet in circumference, and stand forty feet in height. These pillars, or obelisks, as some call them, were highly ornamented, and formed an entrance iu keeping with the splendid interior of the temple.
is so far established, for an almost universal belief is entertained in the aatheiiticity of the tradition •egarding the rock El .Sakhara, and it has also been conclusively proved that the area of the temple was identical on its western, eastern, and southern sides, with the present enclosure of the h.lrani. [Robinson.] "That the temple was situated someirhere witliin the oblong enclosure on Jlount Moriah, all topographers are agreed, although there is not the slightest vestige of the sacred fane now remaining; and the greatest diversity of sentiment prevails as to its exact position witliin tiiat large area, whetlier in the centre of the haram, or in its south-west corner. [Barclay.] Moreover, the full extent of the temple area is a problem that remains to be solved, for the platform of Mount Moriah being too narrow for the extensive buildings and courts attached to the sacred
CHAPTER IV.
Ver. 1. Altar OF Brass. 1. he made an altar of brass —Steps must have been necessary for ascending so elevated an altar, but the use of these could lie no longer forbidden (Exodus 20. 26) after the introduction of an official costume for the priests (Exodus 28. 42). It measured thirtyedifice, Solomon resorted to artificial means of enlarging and levelling it, by erecting vaults, which, as .Tosephus states, rested on immense earthen mounds raised from the elope of the hill. It should be borne in mind at the outfive feet by thirty-five, and in heiglit seventeen and a half feet. The thickness of the metal used for tliis altar is nowhere given ; but supposing it to have been three inches, the whole weight of the metal would not be under two hundred tons. [Napier.]
set, that the grandeur of the temple did not consist in its colossal structure, so much as in its internal splendour, and the vast courts and buildings attached to it. It was not intended for the reception of a worshipping assembly, for the people always stood iu the outer courts of the eanclu.ary.
2-5. Molten Sea. 2. he made a molten sea:—(see on
1 Kings 7. 23-26), as in that passage " knops" occur instead of " oxen ;" it i§ generally supposed that the rows of ornamental knops were in the form of ox heads. 3. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast—The meaning of which is, that the circular basin and tlie brazen oxen which supported it were all of one piece, being cast In one and the same moukl. There is a diflerence in the accounts given of the capacity of this basin, for wliile in
3-7. Measures and Ornaments of the House. 3. these nre the things wherein Solomon wns insti-uctefl for tlie building of the house of (Jod—by the written plan and specifications given him by his father. The measurements .are reckoned by cubits, "after the first measure," i. e., the old Mosaic standard. But there is great difference of opinion about this, some making the cubit eighteen, others twenty-one inches. The temple, which embodied in more solid and durable materials the groundform of the tabernacle, only being twice as large, was a rectangular building, seventy cubits long from east to west, and twenty cubits wide from north to south. 4. the porch—The breadtli of the house, wliose length ran from east to west, is here given as the measure of the length of
1 Kings 7. 26 it is said that two thousand baths of water could be contained in it, in this passage no less than three thousand are stated. It lias been suggested that there is here a statement not merely of the quantity of water which the basin held, but tliat also which was necessary to work it, to keep it flowing as a fountain; that which was required to fill both it and its accomi>aiiiments. In support of this view, it maybe remarked that different words are employed : the one in 1 Kings 7. 26 rendered contained; the two here rendered, j-ecevoecZ and held. Tliere was a diflerence between receiving and holding. When the basin played as a fountain, and all its partswere filled for that purpose, the latter, together with the sea itself, ?-eccived 3000 baths; but the sea exclusively 7icW only 2000 baths, when its contents were restricted to those of the circular basin. It received and held 3000 baths. [Calmet's Ekagment.]
tlie piazza. The portico would thus be from thirty to tliirty-ttve feet long, and from fifteen to seventeen and a half feet broad, the height wns an hundred and twejity cubits—This, taking the cubit at eighteen inches, would be 180 feet; at twenty-one inches, 210 feet; so that the porch would ri.se in the form of a tower, or two pyramidal towers, whose united height was 120 cubits, and each of them aliout 90 or 105 feet high. [Stieglitz.] This porch would thus be like the propylwum or gateway of the palace of Khorsabad [Layard], or at the temple of Edfou. Q. tlie greater house—t. e., the holy places, the ftont or cuter chamber (see on 1 Kings 6. 17). G. he garnished the house wltli precious stones for beauty — Better, He paved the house with precious and beautiful marble. {KriTO.] It may be, after all, that these were stones with veins of different colours for decorating the walls. This was au ancient and thoroughly Oriental kind of embellishmeut. There was an under pavement of marble,
6-18. The Ten L.wers, Candlesticks, and T.\bles. 6. ten lavers—(see on 1 Kings 7. 27t39). The laver of the tabernacle had probably been destroyed. The ten new ones were placed between the porch and the altar, and while tlie molten sea was for the priests to cleanse their hands and feet, these were intended for washing the sacrifices. 7. ten candlesticlcs—(see on I Kings 7. 49). The increased number was not only in conformity with the