Discover the history of the Second Temple of Jerusalem

Who And When was the second temple built?

The Second Temple of Jerusalem was built by Herod the Great in 20-18 BC, who was born around 72 BC in Idumea, a land in the southeast of Judea in the direction of Egypt. Herod was the second son of Antipater the Idumaean and reigned from 37 BC until 4 BC (which would push the timeline of Jesus’ birth back to 4 BC). His people were converted to Judaism by the Hasmoneans Herod was a very complicated character based on textual and archaeological evidence. He served as a client king to the Roman Empire and he was brutal and calculated in his actions to preserve his power. Judea was conquered by Antony in 40 BC. Mark Antony gave his love Cleopatra the fertile lands of the south of Judea as a present. Herod must have considered himself a great king and he was of a very suspicious nature, driven by the fear of being overthrown and rivals would take his throne as we know from Josephus and the antiquities of the Jews. He killed his first wife Mariamne and his sons with her as he suspected she was plotting against him to keep his rule. The Roman emperor Augustus said about Herod: 

It is better to be Herod’s pig (Jews didn’t consume pigs at the time) than his son. 

It appears that the stories of him in the Gospel of Matthew from the New Testament are based on a true core and were built on some features of his character and the ambitions he had. 

King Herod’s Temple

Herod considered himself a great king and he was suspicious of being overthrown by rivals to the throne as we know from Josephus and the antiquities of the Jews. It appears that the stories of him in the New Testament are built on this.

Herod was the greatest builder in Isreal’s history. He created impressive monuments like the fortress of Masada which was the last stand of the Jewish rebellion against Rome. The king also built the town of Caesarea Maritima to honour Caesar Augustus and his palace fortress Herodium. Herod’s temple was the most extravagant and magnificent of them all. The Second Temple was located on a high platform on the eastern side of the city, just outside the walls. 

The Second Temple had three main sections: the porch, the nave and then the sanctuary. The building was made out of white limestone quarried from a mountain near Jericho. The columns were enormous, standing over twenty feet tall and weighing tons. On each corner of the structure, there were giant lions carved out of marble which stood more than six feet tall. The roof was made out of cedar wood which could have been painted with bright colours. There were two bronze gates in front of the building, one on either side of a colonnade.

How did Herod build such a grand temple?

Herod spared no expense in order to make this temple his own personal monument. He collected huge amounts of money from taxes paid by Jews throughout his kingdom and used this to finance his construction project which lasted for twelve years (from around 37 BC to about 36 AD). Herod also employed large numbers of Jewish craftsmen who were skilled in building large structures like temples. He also hired Roman engineers who had experience in constructing grand architecture like Augustus’ Colosseum in Rome. Herod also borrowed money from Rome which enabled him to complete his project quickly and with little fuss.

After Herod died, his son Archelaus ruled Judea but he was soon overthrown by Roman general Aulus Gabinius who installed Syrianus as king over Judea in around 52 AD. Syrianus decided not to build another temple like Herod had done and instead ordered that existing temples be restored or renovated (as is mentioned in Acts 21:24).

Who Destroyed the Second Temple?

The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans under the later emperor Vespasian in 70 AD. It was a demonstration of Roman power and authority over the region and to break the Jewish fighting spirit by destroying the centre of the various Jewish nominations like the Zealots which was the most militant of the worshippers of Yahweh, who was at the beginning of the cult a storm god who reigned beside many other gods, later on, he was picked as the main deity. It is very possible that some aspects of this god still were present at the time of Jesus like the desire of a warrior king to save the Hebrew people from the suppression of an empire like the Romans. The former storm god YHWH was classified as a powerful entity who destroys his enemies. The concept of these earlier iterations of this divine being evolved into an all-ruling, powerful and one-ruler cult which had many different versions and branches. We know of many different sects and at the turn of the millennium, some of these splinter groups developed into various “Christianities“. 

We must understand that this desire to break the Roman yoke was present desire long before the Romans annexed Judah. The people of the Levante were forced into submission by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greek and Parthians before Romans took over. The Jewish movement was obsessed to be self-ruled, they understood themselves as the people who were chosen by God to rule the world. Rome must be defeated as this must be the will of the all-mighty as they understood the scriptures (a canon wasn’t formed yet). So in 66 AD, the first Jewish-Roman war started and in 70 AD the Jewish temple was destroyed. We have different sources but one of the sources that speak in length about it is from Flavius Josephus (a former Jewish general who later became the slave and ally of Vespasian). 

This video shows a simulation of the destruction of the Jewish temple: 

Temple Mount

You can find the Temple Mount of Jerusalem on top of a hill. The name ‘Temple Mount’ comes from the Hebrew word Har ha-Mashperet which means ‘the mount of the house of god’. The temple was believed to be built on this site by King Solomon in about 950 BC and it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BC. After rebuilding it, King Herod added extra rooms, including a sanctuary, an inner court and a roof terrace.

In AD 70, the Roman general Titus and son of Vespasian destroyed the Second Temple and ordered all Jews to leave Jerusalem. For centuries afterwards, Jews were forbidden to enter the city except for special occasions like religious festivals or when they were allowed to visit the Western Wall – a small remnant of the Second Temple’s wall that surrounds the Old City. In 1967, during Israel’s War of Independence, Jerusalem was unified as one city under Israeli control and Jews were once again allowed to live and work in Jerusalem.

Western Wall

The Western Wall is a remnant of the Second Temple it is also known as the Wailing Wall because Jews traditionally mourn at this site on Tisha B’Av – the ninth day of the month of Av (the Jewish month). The Western Wall is considered by believers of the Abrahamic faith to be the place where Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac when he was stopped by an angel (Genesis 22:1-18). The Western Wall remains a sacred site for Jews and Muslims who come to pray. Christians also visit this wall to remember Jesus’ death and Resurrection. 

first temple vs second temple

The First Temple was built between the 10th – 7th century BC. The first temple, also called the temple of King Salmon – was destroyed by the Babylonians under one of the greatest kings, Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561 B.C.) in 586 BC. After destroying the Assyrian Empire he leads a war party to Judea and sieges the capital Jerusalem. After demolishing the city and the temple of Salomon, he took parts of the Jewish population as servants to Babylon where they lived for many years and later were freed by the Persians.  The old testament mentions Nebuchadnezzar II in Kings, Ezra and Daniel. Scholars think Daniel is a forgery and was written in the 2 century almost 400 years later.

After the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD the Jewish population was exiled for almost 2000 years until they were granted to resettle in 1948. We can see parallels in history which are remarkable! In both events, the same culture was forced out of their homeland and they settled down again later in time. The difference is that during the Babylonian exile, only parts of the inhabitants were forced out, on the second occasion the folk were split around the world with no real home. We could say that this historic happening had an even deeper impact on the Jewish people. The Roman Empire hasn’t got bad publicity in the bible. Possibly because they and the other Jewish sect (various forms of Christianity) lived for 400 years under Roman rule. 

Second Temple of Jerusalem Summary

The Second Temple of Jerusalem was an important religious building that played an important role in the history of the Hebrew people. It was not only important for the Jewish it had a strong impact on the mindset of different Christian sects. The various different religious nominations adopted their mindset to cope with this event. We can see that they changed their focus to something imaginable. A good example would have been the Thomasine Christians who went extinct a couple of centuries later when orthodox Christianity was the main spiritual consent. They believed the kingdom of heaven is inside you. In a wider sense “almighty” is everywhere and for the surviving or developing monotheistic believers that have been an escape mechanism to cope with the harsh reality. A target like a temple which can be destroyed by enemy forces like the house of the god YHWH has disappeared and the underlining message of an objective glorifying religion has disappeared. 

Scholars can use the events of the Roman-Jewish war and the destruction of the second temple as a marker to date the new testament. It is clear how the author of Mark has written the text that the Temple of Jerusalem was already destroyed as he mentioned the destruction in his script. Three main points of this event are felt today. The influence of the teaching of different Christian churches through their doctrine, the psychological and spiritual standpoint on the Jews and the physical impact on the people of this region through the resettlement and creation of the state of Isreal today. We can learn a lot from the events of the past and draw the right conclusions if we are able to set our bias aside and be able to see the parallels between the past and the present to shape the future of our race. 

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