Herod’s temple, also known as the Second Temple, was a grand expansion of the original Jewish temple in Jerusalem commissioned by King Herod the Great around 19 BC. The temple stood as the center of Jewish worship until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
The original temple in Jerusalem, known as Solomon’s Temple or the First Temple, had been built around 960 BC and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. After the Jewish exile in Babylon, construction began on a more modest Second Temple which was completed around 515 BC. Over the centuries, this relatively simple temple was expanded and renovated, but still paled in comparison to the grandeur of Solomon’s original temple.
Around 20 BC, Herod the Great, the Roman-appointed King of Judea, decided to undertake a massive expansion and renovation of the Second Temple in an effort to win over the favor of the Jewish people. The construction process was lengthy, lasting decades, and employed over 10,000 skilled workers. The scale and majesty of the renovated temple complex was unlike anything seen before.
The Temple Mount platform was expanded to accommodate the larger temple and its extensive courtyards and ancillary buildings. A monumental retaining wall, the Western Wall, was constructed to hold the enlarged platform in place on the hillside. The temple edifice itself sat at the center of a series of concentric courts and colonnades.
The Inner Court held the Temple proper and the sacrificial altar. The temple building had an entry porch supported by columns, and inside was the main hall housing the menorah, incense altar, and table for showbread. Only priests could enter the Temple building itself.
Surrounding the Inner Court was the Court of Women, open to all Jews, and then the Court of Gentiles, open to all. Lining these courts were covered colonnades and rooms used for various purposes. The whole temple complex was surrounded by high walls and gates and could be accessed by monumental staircases from below.
The temple building itself was constructed of white marble and gold and towered impressively. The roof was covered in gold plates that reflected the sunlight such that it was difficult to look upon. Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, described the temple’s dazzling appearance and massive stones, some measuring over 40 feet long.
While the exterior of Herod’s temple radiated splendor, the interior spaces focused on religious functions. The main temple hall contained the holy artifacts of the menorah, incense altar, and table of showbread. Daily offerings and sacrifices were performed at the altar in the Inner Court. Chambers housed storage, ritual baths, and living quarters for priests and Levites.
Herod’s renovations to the Second Temple transformed it into the architectural and religious wonder of its day in the ancient Near East. The enlarged platform and monumental retaining walls created more space and grandeur. Colonnades and courtyards allowed for processions and accommodated crowds of pilgrim worshippers. The temple building itself combined marble, gold, cedar, and stone into a visually stunning edifice.
For the Jews of the late Second Temple period, Herod’s temple represented the glorious peak of their worship space. The temple served as the center of Jewish identity and faith, housing the Holy of Holies and allowing for offerings and sacrifices. Jewish pilgrims would ascend to worship God at the temple during the major festivals.
The temple priests performed the daily ritual worship in the temple including burning incense, tending the menorah lamps, offering sacrifices on behalf of the people, and performing ceremonial washings. They ensured ritual purity was maintained through washing and keeping gentiles separated from the Inner Court.
In its full glory, Herod’s temple would have been awe-inspiring to witness and represented the restored grandeur of the First Temple for the Jews. Its massive retaining walls and stones can still be viewed today as a testament to Herod’s ambitious vision. The temple complex functioned both as a place of worship and identity until the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD.
While impressive in architecture and scale, the Gospels present Jesus as being unimpressed with the temple’s earthly glory. He prophesied its coming destruction, emphasized humility in worship over grandeur, and condemned the commerce and corruption that occurred there. For Christians, Jesus represented the new spiritual temple replacing the earthly temple system.
Nevertheless, Herod’s temple remains a monumental feat of ancient engineering and construction. By enlarging and embellishing the Second Temple, Herod created a centerpiece of Jewish culture and nationalism that connected the people back to the glories of biblical Israel. The magnificence and prominence of Herod’s temple fixed it firmly within the Jewish consciousness until its catastrophic destruction.
Herod’s Temple was located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is an elevated plateau above the rest of the Old City. This prominent location gave the gleaming temple building visibility and prestige.
The temple complex consisted of a series of concentric courts, plazas, buildings, and colonnades centered around the main temple structure. It was laid out as follows from the outer courts progressing inward:
- Court of the Gentiles – The outermost court open to all people regardless of religion or ethnicity.
- Court of Women – Interior court accessible to all Jews for worship.
- Court of Israel – Interior court for ritually pure Jewish men to worship.
- Court of Priests – Interior court for priests to perform rituals and sacrifices.
- Temple Building – Contained the Holy Place and Most Holy Place, accessible only to priests.
The outer court, Court of the Gentiles, was enormous, allowing huge crowds to gather during festivals. Colonnades lined the court and the Royal Stoa basilica faced it on the south.
Inside was the Court of Women, containing the Temple treasury and ritual baths. Then the Court of Israel held the altar on which sacrifices were made. Only men deemed ritually pure could enter here to worship and make offerings.
The innermost Court of Priests contained the Temple sanctuary itself. Only priests could enter the Temple to perform ceremonies, sacrifices, and rituals. Inside the sanctuary was the Holy Place containing sacred objects like the menorah, and the Most Holy Place which held the Ark of the Covenant.
North of the temple was Fortress Antonia, where Roman troops were stationed to keep an eye on events at the Temple below. The temple also had treasuries and storage chambers, ritual baths, and living quarters. The whole complex was surrounded by walls and colonnades.
Gates and monumental staircases provided access to the Temple Mount from below. The stairs led up to the Gate of the Essenes on the south and the Gate of Offerings on the west. These gates opened onto the Court of the Gentiles.
In its first-century AD glory, Herod’s Temple featured golden plates and ornate carvings, dazzling white marble, soaring columns, elaborate staircases, and massive foundation stones. Its appearance awed pilgrims who flocked there to worship.
Notable architectural features included:
- Foundation Platform – Expanded Temple Mount area was supported by huge retaining wall (Western Wall).
- Royal Stoa – Grand basilica running along southern wall of Temple Mount.
- Royal Colonnade – Imposing row of 40-foot columns on south side.
- Antonia Fortress – Roman garrison Keeping watch from the north.
- Temple Sanctuary – Gleaming white marble and gold plates covered exterior.
- Monumental Stairs and Gates – Grand staircases provided access from below.
The centerpiece was the Temple sanctuary building itself. Its facade and roof were completely covered in gold plates that shone brilliantly in the sun. The sanctuary walls were made from white marble and carved with ornate designs.
The entryways featured columns and decorated porches leading into the main sanctuary hall. This main hall contained the golden menorah lamp, incense altar, and table of showbread inside.
Surrounding the sanctuary were courtyards and colonnades with royalty-themed ornamentation like great columns and engravings. Gates were overlaid with gold and silver. Steps were built of polished white marble imported from Greece.
The Roman historian Josephus marveled at the temple’s beautiful appearance that outshone even the sun in its grandeur. The temple must have presented a spectacular sight when illuminated at night for festivals.
Herod’s Temple operated according to an elaborate system of sacred rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, and priestly duties:
- Daily Offerings – Morning and evening sacrifices of lambs were made at the altar.
- Priestly Duties – Priests performed rituals like burning incense and tending the menorah lamps.
- Animal Sacrifices – Priests sacrificed bulls, goats, sheep, and doves at the altar for various sins and rituals.
- Festival Pilgrimages – Jews flocked to the Temple during major festivals.
- Ritual Purity – Priests carried out ceremonial washings to maintain purity standards.
- Courts and Chambers – Priests worked in specialized rooms and courts around the Temple.
- Payment of Tithes – Jews would pay annual Temple taxes and offerings.
The Temple priests belonged to a carefully structured hierarchy headed by the High Priest. The priests performed all the sacred rituals related to offerings, sacrifices, ceremonies, and maintenance of ritual purity in the Temple.
Priests would sacrifice animals like bulls, goats, sheep, and doves on the altar in the Temple courts. The sacrifices were made for both personal sins and on behalf of the collective people. After offering a sacrifice, worshippers would lay hands on the animal to symbolize transferring sins.
Daily offerings were made every morning and evening. On the Sabbath, additional offerings commemorated the day of rest. The priests burned incense on the incense altar twice a day, in the morning and evening when the sacrifices were made.
The priests kept the menorah lamp in the Temple sanctuary burning continuously. They would trim the wicks and add new olive oil each day. Showbread loaves were displayed weekly on the table in the sanctuary then eaten by the priests.
Ritual purity regulations also occupied much of the priests’ time. They carried out ceremonial cleansing of the priests, worshippers, vessels, altars, and sanctuary using water. This ensured standards of purity were met to enter the Temple courts and sanctuary.
Three times a year during major Jewish festivals, Jews from all over would make pilgrimages to the Temple. The priests helped accommodate these huge crowds of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles pilgrims as they offered sacrifices.
In addition to religious duties, the Temple also functioned as a major bank and treasury. The Temple collected tithes and offerings, taxes, and deposits for safekeeping. People could borrow from the Temple treasury and moneylenders operated on the grounds.
The Temple priests thus performed essential religious rituals like sacrifices and offerings that housed the divine presence and allowed for God’s forgiveness and blessings. They solemnized the daily Temple worship and maintained purity for entering God’s sacred space.
Herod’s Temple was magnificent in its proportions and adornments. But Jesus Christ prophesied that this splendid Temple would be utterly demolished with not one stone left standing on another (Matthew 24:1-2). In 70 AD, some 40 years after Christ’s crucifixion, the Romans sacked Jerusalem and burnt the Temple to the ground.
At the moment of Jesus’ death, the Gospels record that the veil separating the Holy of Holies inner sanctuary was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). For Christians, this signified that Christ’s sacrificial death rendered obsolete the earthly temple curtain and its system of animal sacrifices for sin.
Jesus’ new covenant made God directly accessible to all through faith, not just the high priest entering the holy place. The earthly temple pointed to heavenly realities now revealed in Christ. The temple illustrated God’s holiness while its destruction and veil tearing demonstrated the completion of Jesus’ redemptive work.
The Temple had been central to Jewish worship and identity for a millennium. Its magnificent structure represented God’s presence and grandeur. But Christ’s teachings show that God seeks genuine humility and holiness, not impressive buildings and outward displays.
Jesus condemned the merchants and moneychangers who exploited people for profit within the temple courts. When zeal for God’s house consumed Christ, he drove them out, overturning their tables (John 2:13-16). For Jesus, keeping the Temple spiritually pure mattered more than externals.
The Gospels portray Jesus frequently in conflict with the Temple priests and authorities. He challenged overzealous regulation of the Sabbath that lost sight of doing good (Matthew 12:1-14). He declared love of God and neighbor as foremost, not religiosity (Matthew 22:37-39).
Ultimately, Christ’s resurrection and sending of the Holy Spirit allowed God to dwell directly in the hearts of believers, not a physical temple. The book of Hebrews highlights how Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice makes Christian salvation complete, not ongoing temple animal sacrifices which were mere shadows of the reality (Hebrews 10:1-18).
While Herod’s Temple stood as an architectural wonder in its day, Jesus highlighted that its time was drawing to an end. For Christians, Jesus Christ fulfils the purpose and meaning behind the impressive temple structure. Through him all have access to intimacy with God by grace, not temple location and works.
The Temple Mount retaining walls and foundation stones that Herod constructed are still partially visible today in Jerusalem’s Old City. The Western Wall, part of this retaining wall, is Judaism’s most sacred prayer site.
After the temple’s destruction by the Romans in 70 AD, all that remained standing were portions of the massive retaining walls Herod built to support the enlarged Temple Mount platform. The Western Wall is the most substantial remnant, reaching over 60 feet high in places.
The enormous Herodian foundation stones that make up the Wall give a sense of the epic scale on which the Temple was constructed. The pilgrim road and gates that once gave access to the temple compound are no longer extant.
Where the temple once glittered atop the hill, today the Dome of the Rock shrine stands on the Temple Mount site. Also within the temple perimeter lies the Al Aqsa Mosque. Access to the Temple Mount remains carefully controlled given its importance to both Jews and Muslims.
Besides the Western Wall, other archaeological remains help researchers reconstruct elements of the Temple complex:
- Trumpeting Stone – Probably a place for priestly trumpet calls to announce the Sabbath.
- Southern Wall Excavations – Reveal ancient street and steps alongside the Temple’s south side.
- Temple Warning Inscription – Inscription in Greek prohibiting entry by Gentiles beyond a stone wall.
- Herodian Street – Remains of Herodian-era shops and street flanking the Temple’s south side.
- Wilson’s Arch – Portion of a Herodian-built arch that once spanned a road leading to the Temple.
While only remnants survive, these ruins testify to the Temple’s former size and grandeur. The monumental scale of its retaining walls and foundation stones stand as a testament to Herod’s vision in transforming the Second Temple into a wonder of the ancient world.
In conclusion, Herod’s Temple was the center of Jewish worship and identity in Jerusalem during much of the Second Temple period. King Herod undertook a monumental expansion and enhancement of the more modest post-exilic Jewish Temple in an effort to impress his subjects.
This grandiose reconstruction turned the Temple Mount into the largest religious complex in the ancient Near East. For Jews living under Roman occupation, Herod’s magnificent Temple evoked the glory of Solomon’s original Temple, serving as a proud symbol of their faith.
While architecturally impressive, the Temple also carried important religious meaning and function. It was the locus of the Jewish sacrificial system, purity regulations, priestly orders, and major pilgrimage festivals. For devout Jews, it represented God’s divine presence and the place to offer worship.
Yet the New Testament Gospels portray Jesus prophesying the Temple’s destruction and declaring himself the new spiritual temple replacing the earthly one. True worship stems from the inward condition of one’s heart more than externals, he taught.
Although only Temple remnants survive today, its memory persists as a monument to Herod’s ambition and engineering capabilities. The Temple remains a powerful symbol linking Jews back to the glory days of biblical Israel.