Temple

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 11
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(1) Solomon’s temple erected at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. David proposed to transform the tabernacle into a permanent temple at Jerusalem, and collected much material, but its construction was forbidden by the prophet Nathan (1 Chron. 17; 2 Sam. 7:7-29). Solomon completed the work after David’s plans and with the assistance of Hiram, king of Tyre. He began to build in the fourth year of his reign, B. C. 1012, and finished and dedicated it B. C. 1005 (1 Chron. 21; 22; 28:11-19; 29:4-7; 1 Kings 6-8; 2 Chron. 3-7). This costly and imposing structure, for the age, was pillaged several times during the Eastern invasions, and was finally destroyed during the last siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 588. (2) The temple of Zerubbabel was begun in B. C. 534, by the returned captives under the lead of Zerubbabel and the patronage of King Cyrus of Persia. Owing to discords and direct opposition it was not completed till B. C. 515. It was much inferior to the first in cost and beauty, though one third larger in dimensions. It was partially destroyed by Antiochus Epiphanes, B. C. 163, and restored by Judas Maccabeus (Ezra 3-6). (3) Herod the Great removed the decayed temple of Zerubbabel and began the erection of a new one B. C. 17. This gorgeous and costly structure was not completed till the time of Herod Agrippa II., A. D. 64. It was of marble, after Graeco-Roman designs, and was destroyed by the Romans under Titus, A. D. 70, time verifying Mark 13:2.