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He also built round about the
temple thirty small rooms, which might include the whole temple, by their
closeness one to another, and by their number and outward position round it. He
also made passages through them, that they might come into on through another.
Every one of these rooms had five cubits in breadth, (7b) and the same in length, but in height
twenty. Above these there were other rooms, and others above them, equal, both
in their measures and number; so that these reached to a height equal to the
lower part of the house; for the upper part had no buildings about it. The roof
that was over the house was of cedar; and truly every one of these rooms had a
roof of their own, that was not connected with the other rooms; but for the
other parts, there was a covered roof common to them all, and built with very
long beams, that passed through the rest, and rough the whole building, that so
the middle walls, being strengthened by the same beams of timber, might be
thereby made firmer: but as for that part of the roof that was under the beams,
it was made of the same materials, and was all made smooth, and had ornaments
proper for roofs, and plates of gold nailed upon them.
And as he enclosed the walls
with boards of cedar, so he fixed on them plates of gold, which had sculptures
upon them; so that the whole temple shined, and dazzled the eyes of such as
entered, by the splendor of the gold that was on every side of them, Now the
whole structure of the temple was made with great skill of polished stones, and
those laid together so very harmoniously and smoothly, that there appeared to
the spectators no sign of any hammer, or other instrument of architecture; but
as if, without any use of them, the entire materials had naturally united
themselves together, that the agreement of one part with another seemed rather
to have been natural, than to have arisen from the force of tools upon them.
The king also had a fine contrivance for an ascent to the upper room over the
temple, and that was by steps in the thickness of its wall; for it had no large
door on the east end, as the lower house had, but the entrances were by the
sides, through very small doors. He also overlaid the temple, both within and
without, with boards of cedar, that were kept close together by thick chains,
so that this contrivance was in the nature of a support and a strength to the
building.
3. Now when the king
had divided the temple into two parts, he made the inner house of twenty cubits
[every way], to be the most secret chamber, but he appointed that of forty
cubits to be the sanctuary; and when he had cut a door-place out of the wall,
he put therein doors of Cedar, and overlaid them with a great deal of gold,
that had sculptures upon it. He also had veils of blue, and purple, and
scarlet, and the brightest and softest linen, with the most curious flowers
wrought upon them, which were to be drawn before those doors. He also dedicated
for the most secret place, whose breadth was twenty cubits, and length the
same, two cherubims of solid gold; the height of each of them was five cubits
(8) they had each of them two wings
stretched out as far as five cubits; wherefore Solomon set them up not far from
each other, that with one wing they might touch the southern wall of the secret
place, and with another the northern: their other wings, which joined to each
other, were a covering to the ark, which was set between them; but nobody can
tell, or even conjecture, what was the shape of these cherubims.
He also laid the floor of the
temple with plates of gold; and he added doors to the gate of the temple,
agreeable to the measure of the height of the wall, but in breadth twenty
cubits, and on them he glued gold plates. And, to say all in one word, he left
no part of the temple, neither internal nor external, but what was covered with
gold. He also had curtains drawn over these doors in like manner as they were
drawn over the inner doors of the most holy place; but the porch of the temple
had nothing of that sort.
4. Now Solomon sent for
an artificer out of Tyre, whose name was Hiram; he was by birth of the tribe of
Naphtali, on the mother's side, (for she was of that tribe,) but his father was
Ur, of the stock of the Israelites. This man was skillful in all sorts of work;
but his chief skill lay in working in gold, and silver, and brass; by whom were
made all the mechanical works about the temple, according to the will of
Solomon. Moreover, this Hiram made two [hollow] pillars, whose outsides were of
brass, and the thickness of the brass was four fingers' breadth, and the height
of the pillars was eighteen cubits and their circumference twelve cubits; but
there was cast with each of their chapiters lily-work that stood upon the
pillar, and it was elevated five cubits, round about which there was net-work
interwoven with small palms, made of brass, and covered the lily-work. To this
also were hung two hundred pomegranates, in two rows. The one of these pillars
he set at the entrance of the porch on the right hand, and called it
Jachin (9) and the other at the
left hand, and called it Booz.
5. Solomon also cast a
brazen sea, whose figure was that of a hemisphere. This brazen vessel was
called a sea for its largeness, for the laver was ten feet in diameter,
and cast of the thickness of a palm. Its middle part rested on a short pillar
that had ten spirals round it, and that pillar was ten cubits in diameter.
There stood round about it twelve oxen, that looked to the four winds of
heaven, three to each wind, having their hinder parts depressed, that so the
hemispherical vessel might rest upon them, which itself was also depressed
round about inwardly. Now this sea contained three thousand baths.
6. He also made ten
brazen bases for so many quadrangular lavers; the length of every one of these
bases was five cubits, and the breadth four cubits, and the height six cubits.
This vessel was partly turned, and was thus contrived: There were four small
quadrangular pillars that stood one at each corner; these had the sides of the
base fitted to them on each quarter; they were parted into three parts; every
interval had a border fitted to support [the laver]; upon which was engraven,
in one place a lion, and in another place a bull, and an eagle. The small
pillars had the same animals engraven that were engraven on the sides. The
whole work was elevated, and stood upon four wheels, which were also cast,
which had also naves and felloes, and were a foot and a half in diameter. Any
one who saw the spokes of the wheels, how exactly they were turned, and united
to the sides of the bases, and with what harmony they agreed to the felloes,
would wonder at them.
However, their structure was
this: Certain shoulders of hands stretched out held the corners above, upon
which rested a short spiral pillar, that lay under the hollow part of the
laver, resting upon the fore part of the eagle and the lion, which were adapted
to them, insomuch that those who viewed them would think they were of one
piece: between these were engravings of palm trees. This was the construction
of the ten bases. He also made ten large round brass vessels, which were the
lavers themselves, each of which contained forty baths; (10) for it had its height four cubits, and its edges were as
much distant from each other. He also placed these lavers upon the ten bases
that were called Mechonoth; and he set five of the lavers on the left side of
the temple (11) which was that side
towards the north wind, and as many on the right side, towards the south, but
looking towards the east; the same [eastern] way he also set the sea Now he
appointed the sea to be for washing the hands and the feet of the priests, when
they entered into the temple and were to ascend the altar, but the lavers to
cleanse the entrails of the beasts that were to be burnt-offerings, with their
feet also.
7. He also made a
brazen altar, whose length was twenty cubits, and its breadth the same, and its
height ten, for the burnt-offerings. He also made all its vessels of brass, the
pots, and the shovels, and the basons; and besides these, the snuffers and the
tongs, and all its other vessels, he made of brass, and such brass as was in
splendor and beauty like gold. The king also dedicated a great number of
tables, but one that was large and made of gold, upon which they set the loaves
of God; and he made ten thousand more that resembled them, but were done after
another manner, upon which lay the vials and the cups; those of gold were
twenty thousand, those of silver were forty thousand. He also made ten thousand
candlesticks, according to the command of Moses, one of which he dedicated for
the temple, that it might burn in the day time, according to the law; and one
table with loaves upon it, on the north side of the temple, over against the
candlestick; for this he set on the south side, but the golden altar stood
between them. All these vessels were contained in that part of the holy house,
which was forty cubits long, and were before the veil of that most secret place
wherein the ark was to be set.
8. The king also made
pouring vessels, in number eighty thousand, and a hundred thousand golden
vials, and twice as many silver vials: of golden dishes, in order therein to
offer kneaded fine flour at the altar, there were eighty thousand, and twice as
many of silver. Of large basons also, wherein they mixed fine flour with oil,
sixty thousand of gold, and twice as many of silver. Of the measures like those
which Moses called the Hin and the Assaron, (a tenth deal,) there
were twenty thousand of gold, and twice as many of silver. The golden censers,
in which they carried the incense to the altar, were twenty thousand; the other
censers, in which they carried fire from the great altar to the little altar,
within the temple, were fifty thousand.
The sacerdotal garments which
belonged to the high priest, with the long robes, and the oracle, and the
precious stones, were a thousand. But the crown upon which Moses wrote [the
name of God], (12) was only one, and
hath remained to this very day. He also made ten thousand sacerdotal garments
of fine linen, with purple girdles for every priest; and two hundred thousand
trumpets, according to the command of Moses; also two hundred thousand garments
of fine linen for the singers, that were Levites. And he made musical
instruments, and such as were invented for singing of hymns, called,
Nablee and Cindree, [psalteries and harps,] which were made of
electrum, [the finest brass,] forty thousand.
9. Solomon made all
these things for the honor of God, with great variety and magnificence, sparing
no cost, but using all possible liberality in adorning the temple; and these
things he dedicated to the treasures of God. He also placed a partition round
about the temple, which in our tongue we call Gison, but it is called
Thrigcos by the Greeks, and he raised it up to the height of three
cubits; and it was for the exclusion of the multitude from coming into the
temple, and showing that it was a place that was free and open only for the
priests. He also built beyond this court a temple, whose figure was that of a
quadrangle, and erected for it great and broad cloisters; this was entered into
by very high gates, each of which had its front exposed to one of the [four]
winds, and were shut by golden doors.
Into this temple all the
people entered that were distinguished from the rest by being pure and
observant of the laws. But he made that temple which was beyond this a
wonderful one indeed, and such as exceeds all description in words; nay, if I
may so say, is hardly believed upon sight; for when he had filled up great
valleys with earth, which, on account of their immense depth, could not be
looked on, when you bended down to see them, without pain, and had elevated the
ground four hundred cubits, he made it to be on a level with the top of the
mountain, on which the temple was built, and by this means the outmost temple,
which was exposed to the air, was even with the temple itself. (13) He encompassed this also with a
building of a double row of cloisters, which stood on high upon pillars of
native stone, while the roofs were of cedar, and were polished in a manner
proper for such high roofs; but he made all the doors of this temple of
silver.
Footnotes
(7a) Of the temple of Solomon here described by Josephus, in
this and the following sections of this chapter, see my description of the
temples belonging to this work, Ch. 13.
(7b) These small rooms, or side chambers, seem to have been,
by Josephus's description, no less than twenty cubits high a piece, otherwise
there must have been a large interval between one and the other that was over
it; and this with double floors, the one of six cubits distance from the floor
beneath it, as 1 Kings 6:5.
(8) Josephus says here that the cherubims were of solid gold,
and only five cubits high, while our Hebrew copies (1 Kings 6:23, 28) say they
were of the olive tree, and the LXXX of the cypress tree, and only overlaid
with gold; and both agree they were ten cubits high. I suppose the number here
is falsely transcribed, and that Josephus wrote ten cubits also.
(9) As for these two famous pillars, Jachin and Booz, their
height could be no more than eighteen cubits, as here, and 1 Kings 7:15; 2
Kings 25:17; Jeremiah 3:21; those thirty-five cubits in 2 Chronicles 3:15,
being contrary to all the rules of architecture in the world.
(10) The round or cylindrical lavers of four cubits in
diameter, and four in height, both in our copies, 1 Kings 7:38, 39, and here in
Josephus, must have contained a great deal more than these forty baths, which
are always assigned them. Where the error lies is hard to say: perhaps Josephus
honestly followed his copies here, though they had been corrupted, and he was
not able to restore the true reading. In the mean time, the forty baths are
probably the true quantity contained in each laver, since they went upon
wheels, and were to be drawn by the Levites about the courts of the priests for
the washings they were designed for; and had they held much more, they would
have been too heavy to have been so drawn.
(11) Here Josephus gives us a key to his own language, of
right and left hand in the tabernacle and temple; that by the right hand he
means what is against our left, when we suppose ourselves going up from the
east gate of the courts towards the tabernacle or temple themselves, and so
vice versa; whence it follows, that the pillar Jachin, on the right hand
of the temple was on the south, against our left hand; and Booz on the north,
against our right hand.
(12) Of the golden plate on the High priests forehead that
was in being in the days of Josephus, and a century or two at least later, see
the note on Antiq. B. III. Ch.vii. Sect.
6.
(13) When Josephus here says that the floor of the outmost
temple or court of the Gentiles was with vast labor raised to be even, or of
equal height, with the floor of the inner, or court of the priests, he must
mean this in a gross estimation only; for he and all others agree, that the
inner temple, or court of the priests, was a few cubits more elevated than the
middle court, the court of Israel, and that much more was the court of the
priests elevated several cubits above that outmost court, since the court of
Israel was lower than the one and higher than the other.
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