Temple of Zerubbabel (1) – the Building

From the history of ancient Israel…the Tabernacle of Moses, Temple of Solomon, and Herod’s Temple are familiar topics to many Bible students.  But it seems the Temple of Zerubbabel, also called the 2^nd Temple or Ezra’s Temple, is comparatively less lauded.  This is about the building of the 2^nd temple.

The Temple of Solomon (Israel’s 1^st temple) stood on Mt. Moriáh (2Ch.3:1) in Jerusalem for 400 years; from circa (c) 990 BC until it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnézzar of Babylon in 586 BC (2Ki.25:8-15).  He had taken Judah captive in 597 BC, exiling Jews to Babylon (2Ki.24:10-18).

Then c 572 BC, the exiled prophet Ezekiel envisioned a new temple in Jerusalem rebuilt (Ezk.40–48).  The dream of a future temple house for the Lord remained in the hearts of the Jewish people.  (This isn’t to say the Temple of Zerubbabél is the ‘fulfillment’ of that vision.)

In 539 BC Babylon fell to Cyrus II, the Great, of Persia.  Isaiah had prophesied about Cyrus (Is.44:28-45:1) some 150 years earlier.  Ezr.1:1-7 the Lord inspired King Cyrus to decree that exiled Jews could return to the Holy Land; c 538 BC (cf. Je.29:10).  Ezr.1:3 they were to build a 2^nd temple in Jerusalem.

Ezr.2:1-2-ff the first wave of Jewish returnees were led by Zerubbabel, who became governor of Judah (Hag.1:1-2).  He was the grandson of Judah’s penultimate King Jehoiachín/Jeconiáh (1Ch.3:17-19).

Hag.2:23 “Declares the Lord, ‘I will take you Zerubabbel, son of Shealtiél, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you.”  A signet ring or seal was held by the sovereign or the legal authority.  Barnes Notes Hag.2:23 “Cyrus entrusted him with the return of his people, and made him (who would have been the successor to the throne of Judah, had the throne been re-established) his governor over the people.”  Pulpit Commentary “Zerubbabel is set at the head of the nation in the place of his grandfather Jeconiah.”  Though Zerubabbel wasn’t made king, he was as a signet ring, as Jeconiah had been (Je.22:24).  Joseph, Mary, and Jesus would descend from Zerubbabel (Mt.1:12, 16; Lk.3:23, 27)!

The first returnees numbered nearly 50,000 (Ezr.2:64-65), coming back in 538 BC or soon afterwards.

I’ll trace the history from the book of Ezra.  Zerubbabel and Yeshúa the high priest initially erected an altar in Jerusalem for regular burnt offerings; they then kept the Feast of Booths there (Ezr.3:1-6).

Ezr.3:7-13 it took two years to lay the foundation for the temple.  v.10-11 “The priests stood to praise the Lord…because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.”

Who was prince Sheshbazzár (Ezr.1:8-11, 5:14-16)?  Most commentators think he was Zerubbabel (‘sown in Babel’).  JFB Commentary Ezr.1:8 “Zerubbabel, that is, stranger or exile in Babylon. Shesh-bazzar, signifying ‘fire-worshipper’, was the name given him at court, as other names were given to Daniel and his friends [Da.1:6-7].”  cf. Ezr.3:8-10, 5:16.  Or, Sheshbazzar was Zerubbabel’s uncle Shenazzár (1Ch.3:17-19); possibly he began the work on the temple and Zerubbabel finished it.

Samaritans living in the Holy Land were descendants of peoples brought in when Israel’s northern kingdom of Samaria was deported by Assyria, many in 721 BC (2Ki.17:24).  Those peoples brought in gradually assimilated with remaining Israelites, and became known as Samaritans.  The Samaritan mixed peoples now wanted to join in building the temple.

Ezr.4:1-3 however, the Jews viewed them as adversaries and rejected them, c 535 BC.  v.4-5 as a result, the Samaritans instead opposed the build.  The Jews feared to continue.  Temple construction was frustrated and halted.  It wouldn’t resume (v.5) “until the reign of Darius king of Persia [522–486 BC]”.

The timing of Ezr.4:6-23 in history is debated by Bible commentators.  I’ll postpone discussion of that passage for now…until Part 2 of this topic, “Temple of Zerubbabel (2) – the Period”.

We pick up the account again with Ezr.4:24. “Work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the 2^nd year [520 BC] of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”  Darius I the Great.

Ezr.5:1-2 the prophets Haggai and Zechariah encouraged Zerubbabel & Yeshua to resume construction.

Ezr.5:3-17 Persian officials came to the Judah province to view the building project, and inquired of King Darius about its legitimacy.

Ezr.6:1-5 King Darius found in the archives Cyrus’ prior decree authorizing the Jews to rebuild the temple.  v.6-13 Darius then issued his own decree for temple construction to be resumed/carried out.

In those days, Haggai and Zechariah prophesied the temple would be finished.  Hag.2:4 “Take courage, Zerubbabel’, declares the Lord; ‘Take courage, Yehoshúa, the high priest, and all you people of the Land take courage, and work; for I Am with you’, says the Lord of hosts.”  Zechariah wrote in Zec.4:8-9. “The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house [temple], and his hands will finish it.”

The Lord’s Spirit would see to it.  Zec.4:6 “The word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit.”  And Hag.2:5 “My Spirit is abiding in your midst; fear not.”  Again, the Lord had declared this temple was His will, way back in the days of Isaiah.  Is.44:28 “It is I who says of Cyrus, he is My shepherd, he will perform all My desire; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built’, and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.”  The foundation was laid before Cyrus died in 530 BC.

Ezr.6:14-18 the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah came to pass.  After 20 years, the temple was completed.  v.15 “In the 6^th year of King Darius [516 BC].”  The Jews celebrated the event with much joy and offerings.  v.19-22 they ate the Passover.  (There’s no record of the Passover lawfully being eaten in exile, with no temple or central sanctuary existing outside the Holy Land.)

The temple was built on Mt Moriah.  (Not on Mt Zion; also see the topic “Zion in the Bible”.)  Wikipedia: Zion “Mount Moriah, better known as the Temple Mount, upon which the Temple of Solomon [2Ch.3:1] and the Second Temple were built.”

The restored Temple of Zerubbabel (the 2^nd) would stand for 500 years (until 20 BC)!  What is known about the appearance of and articles in this Second Temple?

My Jewish Learning: Building the Second Temple “While there is no complete description of the Temple built by Zerubbabel, considerable detail can be gleaned from various sources. Vessels from the First Temple [of Solomon], recovered by the Persians from the Babylonians whom they had conquered, were returned to the Jews.”  The returnees brought those vessels back to the Holy Land in c 538 BC.  A list of those temple articles is in Ezr.1:7-11, 5:14.  They were used in sacrificing.

Kevin J. Conner The Temple of Solomon, p. 210 “Very few details are provided concerning the restored Temple. Zerubbabel’s Temple was 60 cubits high and 60 cubits broad and 100 cubits long (Ezr.6:3). It stood on its original site [Mt.Moriah] and seemed to follow much of Solomon’s Temple and some of Ezekiel’s visionary Temple in parts.”  A few newer translations render “60 cubits” as “90 feet”.

My Jewish Learning op. cit. “It [2^nd Temple] had two courtyards [1Mac.4:48]. Various chambers surrounded the Temple in both courtyards…and were used for the storage of tithes, equipment, and vessels [and priestly garments]. Certain high officials apparently merited private chambers within the Temple precincts. The Temple building was of hewn stone, with wooden beams reinforcing the walls from within.”

Zerubbabel’s Temple had both a Holy Place and a Holy of Holies innermost room, separated by a veil (1Mac.1:22), as Solomon’s Temple had.  Plural veils (probably two) are indicated in 1Mac.4:51.

Sacred divine fire originally sent from heaven to burn continually on God’s altar was also eventually present in Zerubbabel’s Temple (ref Le.9:24 & 6:12-13, 2Ch.7:1).  After Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem from Persia ca 444 BC, miracle fire (from naphtha) once again burned sacrifices on the altar.  ref 2Mac.1:18-35.  A wood offering was mandated for Jewish returnees, to keep that altar fire burning, Ne.10:34.  (see the topic “Fire From Heaven!”.)

Costly materials weren’t available for this 2^nd temple; it wasn’t as ornate as Solomon’s Temple.  Hag.2:3 “Who is left among you who saw this house [Solomon’s Temple] in her former glory? And how do you see it now? It seems like nothing in comparison.”  The 1^st Temple was beautiful!

Got Questions: What Was Zerubbabel’s Temple? “Zerubbabel’s temple was built on a smaller scale and with much fewer resources.”  Wikipedia: Second Temple “The Second Temple was originally a rather modest structure.”

1Mac.4:44-51 Zerubbabel’s Temple had an altar of stone (not bronze, cf. 2Ch.4:1) in the outer court for sacrifices.  It had only one candlestick, one table for showbread, and one incense altar.  Whereas the Temple of Solomon had: 10 candlesticks of gold (lampstands burning oil, 2Ch.4:7, 20), 10 tables (2Ch.4:8, 19), one golden incense altar (1Ki.7:48).

Yet Zerubbabel’s (lesser) Temple was still the Lord’s doing.  Zec.4:10 “Who has despised the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord (cf. Re.1:4, 5:6), which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

{Sidelight: God’s church today will succeed not by human might nor power nor solely by our own resources…but by the empowerment of His Spirit (Zec.4:6).  God does great things, and He does small things, according to His will.  The Lord spoke in a still, small voice in instructing Elijah regarding His will, 1Ki.19:12-ff.  God’s growing Kingdom is like a mustard seed, smaller than other seeds, Mt.13:31-32.  Jesus affirms in Mt.19:26, “With God, all things are possible”.}

Significantly, there were 4 components missing from Zerubbabel’s Temple (according to various sources, including the Babylonian Talmud Yoma 22b), which Solomon’s 1^st Temple had:

#1) Ark of the Testimony/Covenant.  Conner op. cit. “No Temple since Solomon’s has had the Ark of God in it.”  cf. 2Ch.5:7.  (see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)  With no Ark or mercy seat upon which to sprinkle blood on the annual Day of Atonement, they placed a ‘stone of foundation’ upon which the high priest put his censer on that day.

#2) Shekínah glory Presence of the Lord was missing.  There was no Ark for the Presence to rest upon.

#3) Urím & Thummím stones of judgment, which had been on the breastplate of high priests (cf. Ex.28:29-30), weren’t among the 2^nd temple articles.

#4) Holy Spirit didn’t inspire prophets then.  After Malachi (c 425 BC), the traditional ‘400 Silent Years’ ensued when there was no prophetic revelatory voice.  Only the Apocryphal books were written.

Nonetheless, the Temple of Zerubbabel became the main place of religious gathering and perpetuation of Israelite culture.  Conner op. cit., p.211 “The Divine purpose in allowing the Temple to be restored was to hold the nation in the Land until the coming of John [the Baptizer] and the Messiah [Jesus], even though these 4 things were missing from the nation’s central religious point.”

This topic is continued and concluded in “Temple of Zerubbabel (2) – the Period”.

Zion in the Bible (1) – Old Jerusalem

What and where was the Biblical “Zion”?  This topic identifies Zion, according to the scriptures.

Writers of the Bible books sometimes used a symbolic, archaic, poetic, or secondary name for a place, instead of its common (current) name.  Jerusalem was such a place, historically known by other names.

The Hebrew term “Jerusalem” (Strongs h3389) first occurs in the days of Joshua, Moses’ successor.  Jsh.10:1-3 “Adonizédek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Aí [a city].”

When ancient Israel exited Egypt, the land of Canáan was inhabited by seven peoples, one being the Jebusites (h2983).  ref Jsh.15:63, De.7:1, 2Sm.24:16.  The Jebusites descended from Canaan, son of Ham (Ge.10:16).  They dwelt in the hill country around Jerusalem (Nu.13:29).  Jsh.15:8 “The south slope of the Jebusites, that is, Jerusalem.”  Jerusalem was the Jebusite capital city.

And Jerusalem was anciently known as Jebús.  Jg.19:10-11 “Jebus [h2982 means ‘trodden down’], which is Jerusalem.”  Also 1Ch.11:4-5, “David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus….And David took the citadel of Zion, which is the city of David.”  Zion was linked to Jerusalem/Jebus.

ISBE: Zion “It is evident that Zion was the name of the citadel of the Jebusite city of Jerusalem.”

The Hebrew term “Zión” (h6726 tsee-yóne, noun) occurs 153 times in the Old Testament (OT).  80 of those occurrences are in Psalms and Isaiah.

The etymology of the word Zion is uncertain.  It is thought to have meant: a structure, stronghold, monument, mount, a parched place, or a brook.  It is unknown where the term Zion originated.

However, we’ll see that the place “Zion” expands in scope as the scriptures progress chronologically.  In this topic we’ll trace, step-by-step, the expansion of “Zion” through the Bible.

Some significant OT verses where Zion occurs: 2Sm.5:5-9; 1Ki.8:1; 1Ch.11:5; 2Ch.5:2; Ps.2:6, 9:11, 48:2, 11-12, 51:18, 74:2, 76:2, 78:68, 102:16, 21, 110:1-4, 128:5, 132:13, 135:21, 137:1, 149:2; Is.2:3, 10:32, 28:16, 33:20, 40:9, 51:16, 59:20, 64:10; Je.26:18, 50:28; La.2:13; Jl.3:16; Am.6:1; Mi.3:12, 4:2; Zc.2:7, 10, 8:3, 9:9, 13.  I’ll reference selected verses as we proceed; we won’t examine them all.

Jerusalem was built upon seven hills or mountains (Re.17:9, 11:8).  Three hills are east of the Kidrón Valley; four are west: Olivet, Scópus, Corruption/Offense; Antonia Fortress, Óphel, Moriáh, Zion.

(Note: The names of hills changed over time.  Other/archaic names for area hills were: Ákra, Bezétha, Calvary, Garéb and Goáth (Je.31:39), Nob, Milló.  Correspondingly, sites on maps of ancient Jerusalem differ.  cf. map-of-ancient-jerusalem.html and biblestudy.org Jerusalem and Its Seven Hills, e.g.)

The Jebusite fortress was called Zion; the hill upon which the fortress sat also came to be called…Zion.

The term “Zion” first occurs in 2Sm.5:7-9. “David captured the stronghold of Zion, and it became known as the city of David. So David lived in the stronghold, and built all around from the supporting terraces [Millo] and inward.”  The Jebusite castle area on Mount Zion also became part of his “city of David”.  It was King David’s capital.  “Zion”, the Jebusite citadel, also became the hill on which it sat.

Specifically where in Jerusalem was this citadel on Mt Zion, and the “city of David”, located?

Wikipedia: Zion “Zion is the Hebrew name for a hill south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, upon which was built the city of David. Mount Zion is not to be confused with Mount Moriah, better known as the Temple Mount, upon which the Temple of Solomon [2Ch.3:1] and the Second Temple [of Zerubbabél] were built. The particular hill known as Mount Zion is no longer inside the city wall [of Jerusalem], but its location is now just outside the portion of the Old City wall forming the southern boundary of the Jewish Quarter of the current Old City. Most of the original city of David itself is thus also outside the current city wall.”  (Mt Zion is called “Old Mt Zion” on some modern maps.)  King David built his palace on (old) Mt Zion in the “city of David”.

Biblical Archeology Review: The Interrupted Search for King David’s Palace “The city of David, a 12-acre spur that extends south of the Temple Mount [Mt Moriah].”  Labeling as the original “Zion” any area hill farther to the west is thought by Bible historians to be incorrect.

{Sidelight: Wikipedia: Jebusite “Jerusalem has no water supply except for the Gihon [G-eé-han] Spring.”  bible.ca/archeology/Gihon-Spring “It was because of the strategic location of this single spring that the original Canaanite cities of ‘Migdol Edar’ and ‘Jebus’ were built over and around that water source before the time of King David. The Gihon Spring is located even today at the base of what was called the ‘Óphel’ (a swelling of the earth in the form of a small mountain dome) once situated just to the north and abutting to ‘Mount Zion’ (the City of David). Ophel Mound was close to the City of David. David soon began to fill in the area between the two summits with dirt and stones (calling it the Millo or ‘fill in’) to make a single high level area on which to build his city…2Sm.5:9. David’s son Solomon completed the ‘fill in’ between the two summits and called that earthen and rock bridge the Millo [h4407, ‘mound’], 1Ki.11:27. Solomon then built the Temple [2Ch.3:1]…above the Gihon Spring. This Ophel region became known as a northern extension of ‘Zion’. This made the Temple so close to the City of David (where the citadel or akra was located) that Aristéas said a person could look northward from the top of the City of David and easily witness all priestly activities within the Temple precincts. ([Letter of] Aristeas, lines 100-104, as translated by Eusebius.)”

Wikipedia: Ophel “The location of the Ophel [h6077] of the Hebrew Bible is easy to make out from the references of 2Ch.27:3; 33:14 and Ne.3:26-27: it was on the eastern ridge and south of the Temple, and probably near the middle of the southeastern hill (i.e., the eastern ridge segment)….This must have been an area of great strategic importance, and either very close to or identical with the ‘stronghold of Zion’ conquered and reused by King David (2Sm.5:7).”  Mt Ophel lay between Mt Zion and Mt Moriah.}

1Ch.15:1 “David constructed buildings in the city of David; he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  The ark of God (but not God’s tabernacle) was brought into the city of David, 1Ch.16:1, on (old) Mt Zion.  The Lord dwelt above the cherubim atop the ark, making Mt Zion a holy hill!  Ps.2:6-7 “I have anointed My king upon Zion, My holy mountain. You are My Son, Today I have begotten you.”  Mt Zion was holy to the Lord…His ark was there during David’s reign.  (Psalm 2 is dual.  It also prophetically refers to God’s begotten Son Jesus, Ps.2:7; whereas Jesse begat David, Ru.4:22.)  also see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.

Later, Solomon built God’s Temple on Mt Moriah to the north.  2Ch.3:1 “Solomon began to build the house [temple] of the Lord on Mount Moriah…on the threshing floor of Ornán [or Araunáh] the Jebusite.”  Previously the Lord had David erect an altar on this site, 2Sm.24:18.  Nearly 1,000 years earlier, the Lord told Abraham to erect an altar on Mt Moriah for a burnt offering, Ge.22:2, 13-14.  (Today the Muslim Dome of the Rock, built in 691 AD, sits on Mt Moriah.  ref Jewish Virtual Library.)

1Ki.8:1 “Solomon assembled Israel’s elders to bring up the Lord’s ark of the covenant from the city of David, which is Zion.”  (Also Solomon brought up God’s tabernacle from Gibeón, 2Ch.1:3 & 1Ki.8:4.  The ark of God and the tabernacle of God had been separated for around 110 years!)

ISBE: Zion “Zion…this citadel…on the long hill running south of the Temple (the SE hill). The Ark of the Covenant was brought up out of the city of David to the Temple (1Ki.8:1; 2Ch.5:2), and Pharaoh’s daughter ‘came up out of the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her’, adjacent to the Temple (1Ki.9:24). This expression ‘up’ could not be used of any other hill than of the lower-lying eastern ridge.”  Mt Zion (elevation 2,510 ft.) to the south was slightly lower than Mt Moriah.

Over the centuries, the concept of Zion expands in scope, or migrates, so to speak.  “Zion” will include the temple area too.  Je.31:6 “Let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.”  However, the Lord’s temple was built on Mt Moriah (2Ch.3:1), not on Mt Zion!  Je.50:28 “There is a sound of exiles and refugees from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of our God, vengeance for His temple.” also Joel 2:1.  Zion now relates to Solomon’s temple, even though it sat on Mt Moriah.  (Also in the apocrypha 1Mac.5:54, “They went up to mount Sion…where they offered burnt offerings”.)

The scope of Zion continued to expand.  According to Strongs Lexicon, Zion was…“Another name for Jerusalem, especially in the prophetic books.”  Jerusalem itself, all seven hills/mountains, later came to be called Zion.  Ps.133:3 “As the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.”  Here “mountains” is plural (in most translations), referring to Jerusalem’s seven mounts.  Benson Commentary Ps.133:3 “Jerusalem, which is also called Zion.”  David had also written in Ps.51:18, “Do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem”.  Is.33:20 LXX “Behold the city of Zion, our salvation; your eyes shall behold Jerusalem, a rich city.”  Now they’re one and the same city.  Zion has symbolically become Jerusalem.

Expanding still further, the concept of Zion in prophetic books becomes synonymous with the entire Land of Israel and Judah.  Is.51:3 “Certainly the Lord will console Zion; he will console all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord.”  Pulpit Commentary Is.51:3 “Much of Judea, during the absence of the exiles, became a ‘wilderness’ and a ‘desert.”  Encyclopedia of the Bible: Zion “In exile, the whole Israelite nation came to be called, ‘Zion.”

Or, “daughter of Zion”.  Mic.4:10-11 “O daughter of Zion…Go to Babylon. Many nations are gathered against you; they say, ‘Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.”  Zion came to symbolize those Jews who had been taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnézzar.  Zec.2:7 “Ho Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.”  Here, Zion denoted the Jewish people too.

Is.51:16 “Say to Zion, ‘You are My people.”  The Lord prophesied deliverance and victory for Israel and Judah…for Zion.  Zec.9:13 “I have bent Judah as My bow, and have made Ephraim [Israel] its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword.”  Zion had come to represent the land & people of both Israel and Judah (resisting Greek oppression).  Benson Commentary Zec.9:13 “Judah and Ephraim are equivalent to Judah and Israel.”  JFB Commentary “God on the one hand addresses Zion, on the other Greece.”  Zion is no longer just a fort within the topography of ancient Jebus/Jerusalem.

We’ve seen that the concept of “Zion” has expanded in scope, migrating in steps, through the OT scriptures.  Zion went from being: Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill or mount, to the Temple Mount [Moriah], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah and Israel, to the whole Israelite people.  In the OT, “Zion” went from being a Canaanite fortress…to an entire people!

Yet the concept of “Zion” will expand or migrate still further in the New Testament.  This topic is continued and concluded in “Zion in the Bible (2) – Heavenly Jerusalem”.