floore of the Court before them and that that step whereon they stood was not called the Dukan but the whole place of the three steps rising And thus were the eleven cubits of the Court of the Priests at this East quarter of the Court taken up and divided Namely two cubits and an halfe taken up by the deskes of the singers for as was the height of the steps so was their breadth and eight cubits and an halfe for the Priests standing The Court of Israel parted from the Levites desks by pillars and railes The Levites standing parted from the Priests by a wainscot deske or some such thing The Court of the Priests open to the Altar but onely that the pillars that supported the cloister stood in a row before it And so we have the dimensions and platforme of the Court of the buildings and the cloisters that stood about it But before we proceed to observe the particulars that were within it I cannot but thinke of a piece of structure that in its story looks something like to some of the cloisters that we have described either in the mountaine of the house or in one of the Courts though I beleeve it was none of them and that is The Covert of the Sabbath of which there is speech and mention 2 King 16.18 where it is said of Abaz The Covert of the Sabbath that they had built in the House and the Kings entry without c. How to frame the verbe to this sentence is somewhat doubtfull whether to say he turned it from the house of the Lord and so doth our English or he turned is to the house of the Lord and so doth the Chaldee Paraphrast some others with him for the word in the originall doth not determine it were that the question before us I should adhere to the sense of our English for the Kings entry without was turned to the house of the Lord from its first making but our question is what this Covert of the Sabbath was The Lxx. have rendred it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The foundation of the chaire or seat upon what mistake in their unprickt bible a mean Hebrician will easily discover namely that they read Musadh for Musach Daleph and Caph finall being like and for Shabbath they read Shebeth [u] Vid. Kime Leu Gersom in loc Nehil in Lxx. Ibid. The most received opinion about this matter is that this was some speciall piece of building that was purposely made for the course of Priests that went out every Sabbath to repose themselves in till the Sabbath was out or till they might goe home And the reason of this conception is because of the word Sabbath which they suppose to referre rather to the change of the Priests courses who came in and went out on the Sabbath then to the service or the peoples attending whose concourse was greater at the festivalls then on the Sabbath I should rather take it to meane some Court of guard that was made on the Top of the causey Shallecheth up towards the gate Coponius where the Kings guard stood on the Sabbaths having attended the King into the Temple till he came out againe there to receive him againe and to guard him home and I should understand and construe the word The Kings in conjunction with both particulars named namely that it meaneth the Kings covert of the Sabbath as well as the Kings entry without and my reason for this opinion I should fetch partly from the mention of these gates that we had in speech before namely The gate of the foundation and the gate behinde the guard 2. King 11.6 And partly from the passage in Jerem. 38.14 where it is said that King Zedekiab sent and tooke Jeremy the Prophet unto him into the third entry that was in the house of the Lord where Solomon Jarchi doth ingenuously confesse that he knowes not what this third entry in the house of the Lord was but perhaps saith he it meaneth the Court of Israel the Court of the women and the Chel being the two other Kimchi doth well conceive that this entry was as they came from the Kings house into the Temple but more of it he hath not determined I should say it meaneth the gate Coponius and conceive the King coming to the Temple through these entrances or passages First at the bottome of the staires or descent of Sion much about his turning to come upon the causey there was the gate of the foundation then being come up the causey towards the Temple he passed through the gate behinde the guard and walked through the Court of Guard which I suppose was called the Kings covert for the Sabbath and so through the gate Coponius which was his third entrance or gate he passed through These gates we said before were gates of Sion meaning that they were in the way from the Temple thither and not gates of the Temple it selfe According therefore to this supposall I apprehend that Ahaz becoming a Renegado to religion did deface and defile the Temple within and did cleane cut off the way of the Kings accesse thither without as if he and his should never have more to doe there And according to this supposall also I apprehend that Zedekiah having garisoned himselfe in the Temple while the Chaldeans were now lying in siege about the city he sends for Jeremy from his prison in Zion and he comes up to the gate Coponius or Shallecheth and there the King and He conferre together And now let us turne our eyes and observation upon what is to be found in the Court from which we have thus farre digressed and first we will begin with the Altar which is not onely the most remarkable thing to be observed there but which must also serve us as a standing marke from whence to measure the place and sight of other things CHAP. XXXIIII Of the Altar of Burnt-offering THe Altar that Moses made in the wildernesse because it was to be carried up and downe was of light materialls and of small dimensions for [a] Exod. 27.1 it was of Shittim-wood and but five cubits square and three cubits high with a grate of brasse hanging within it for the fire and Sacrifice to lye upon And therefore when it is called the brazen Altar 2 Chron. 1.5 it is because it was plated over with brasse Exod. 38.1 But when Solomon came to build the Temple and there was to be no more removing of the Tabernacle of the Congregation as there had been before [b] 2 Chron. 4.1 he made the Altar farre larger and weightier then that of Moses namely of brasse and of twenty cubite square and ten cubits high I shall not be curious to inquire whether Solomons Altar were of brasse indeed or no or whether it is said to be of brasse though it were of stone because it succeeded in stead of Moses his brazen one as [c] Vid. Kimc in 1 King 8.64 some Jewes
roaring from the wofull cries of those poore children frying in the fire This was probably that which is called the valley of the carkasses or the dead bodies Jer. 31.40 of which name the Chaldee Paraphrast in that place hath given this reason Because the dead bodies of the Camp of thâ— Assyrians fell there and to which Josephus also giveth testimony when he relateth that a place was called [l] Jos de Bell. lib. 6. c. 26. 31. The Assyrian Camp And here may we give a check a little to the peremptorinesse of Rabbi Solomon upon the Text of Jeremy lest he grow too proud who glosseth the fortieth verse thus [m] R. Sol. in Ier. 31.40 The valley of dead bodies is the valley where the carkasses of the Camp of Senacherib fell and the valley of the Ashes is the place whither they carried the ashes forth which was without Jerusalem These places they shall bring within the City even within the walls And this Prophesie is to be accomplished in the last redemption in despight of the Hereticks for it was not accomplished under the second Temple By Hereticks hee virulently meaneth Christians who deny any other Messias yet to come and that there shall be any more an earthly Jerusalem For he would construe those words of the Prophet strictly according to the letter as if there should be a time when these valleys should be walled within Hierusalem really and indeed whereas the Prophet in mentioning of those most defiled and polluted places to be taken into the City meaneth only the bringing in of the Heathens who had been polluted with all manner defilement of Idolatry and other abominations into the spirituall Ierusalem which is above or the Church And yet if we would follow him even in his literall construction we might shew out of his owne Authors the Talmudists how Bethphage the Towne that stood even in these places mentioned by the Prophet though it stood out of the walls of Jerusalem yet by their owne confession is it reckoned as a member or part of Jerusalem and so was that prophecy literally fulfilled by their owne chorography at the coming of our Messias But here is not a place for such disputes This was the prospect that you had before you on the right hand as you stood in the East gate of the Mountaine of the Temple namely a part of Mount Olivet divided from the City Jerusalem by the valley of Tophet by the valley of Ashes on the side of the valley neere Ierusalem stood the Towne Bethphage and on the hil on the further side of the valley over against it stood Bethany renowned for the raising of Lazarus from the dead there and for our Saviours frequent resort thither and ascension thence Directly before you was the place upon Mount Olivet where they used to burne the red Cow into purifying ashes when they had occasion to do such a work and [u] Maym. in Parah per. 3. in Shekalim 〈◊〉 4. thither went a double arched Causey of the same manner of arching that we have mentioned under the Temple Courts and for the same caution namely for security against graves by which the Priest that went about that imployment might have been defiled and so the work â—ard Upon your left hand as you stood ran Mount Olivet stil and the valley betwixt you and it and all along on the East point and on the North side of Sion was called the valley of Kidren of famous memory and mention in Scripture 2 Sam 15.23 2 Kings 23.6 Iohn 18.1 c. At the foot of the hill beyond this valley you might see Gethsemany or the place of the oile Presses whither they brought the Olives they had gathered upon Mount Olivet to be pressed and the oil got out And there it was whither our Saviour went after his last Supper and where he was apprehended having supped that night as it is most likely in Sion or the City of David CHAP. IV. Of the two South Gates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Gates of Huldah AS the East quarter of the enclosing wall did face Mount Olivet so did the South quarter face Ierusalem the City it selfe For take we the whole City either built upon seven Hils [a] Ielammed fâ—l 52. as Tanâ—huma asserts it or upon three Acra Moriah and Sion as it is commonly described or adde Bezetha and Ophila if you will the situation of it will be found thus that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [b] Tosaph ad Kelim That the Mountaine of the Temple will be found lying Northward of Ierusalem and Sion Northward of the Mountaine of the Temple And thus do the Jewes in their antiquities generally seat it and that not without sufficient warrant of the Scripture For how can those words of the Psalmist Beautifull for situation the joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion on the sides of the North Psal 48.2 be more properly and plainly interpreted then as Aben Ezra doth interpret them [c] Aben. Ezr. in Psal 46. Sion on the North side of Ierusalem And those words of Ezekiel He set me upon a Mountaine by which was the frame of a City towards the South Ezek 40.2 who can give them a sense more genuine and proper then Kimchi hath done when he saith [d] Kimch in Ezek 4.2 The Mountaine is the Mountaine of the Temple and this City is Ierusalem on the South On this side therefore that faced Ierusalem or that looked South there were two Gates that were called [e] Talm. in Mid. per. 1. The Gates of Huldah and they were so placed as that they were in an equall distance from the two Angles of the Wall East and West and of the same distance one from another And so is Iosephus to be understood when he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [f] Ioseph Antiq lib. 15. c. 14. The fourth part of the Wall was towards the South and it had gates in the middle that is the gates were so set as that there was an equall space betwixt gate and gate and betwixt either gate and the corners of the wall From whence these gates did take their name to be called The gates of Huldah is hard to determine whether from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Huldah which signifieth a Weesell of which creature [g] Vid. Aruch in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Hebrewes write many Stories or [h] Const Lemper in Mid. pag. 12. from the Syrian word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which translateth the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To creep into 2 Tim. 3.6 or from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This or hither is common ground or [i] Vid. R. Sol. in 2 Kings 22. from the Prophetesse Huldah who was of so great esteeme in her time among the Jewes as that they say [k] Avoth R. Na. han per. 34. there was never any buried within Jerusalem either man or woman unlesse of the house of David but onely shee or from
Isaac there in a figure [a] R Sol in Gen. 22. Some are of opinion that it was called Moriah from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Instruction because from thence there went forth a law and doctrine for all Israel [b] Onkel ibid. others conceive the name to have been derived from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mor which betokeneth Myrrh and spicery because it was to be the only place of offering incense [c] Fuller missel lib. 2. cap. 15. others from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Morâ—eh jah The Lord will be visible because the Sonne of God was to appeare there in humane flesh And so they all repute that it carried a notation predictive or referring to something that was to occurre there in time to come But if we will apply the etymologie of it to that â—iâ—â—e present when it and the Country about it did first take that name of the land of Moriah we may construe it The Land of a teacher of God as John 3.2 or the Land of the Lord my teacher as being the Territory of Sem or Melchisedek the great teacher of the waies of the Lord while the Canaanites round about did walke in blindnesse and were led by teachers onely of delusion and the Land which the Lord his teacher had designed to him in the prediction of his father Noah [d] Ioseph An. 114. lib. 15. c. 14. This Mouut was so seated in the midst of Jerusalem that the City lay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in form of a Theatre round about it [e] Vid. Ezek. 40.2 Kamch ibid. Tosaph ad Kelim On the South lay Jerusalem it selfe built upon Mount Acra and Acra naturally higher then Moriah [f] Ioseph de Bell. lib. 5. c. 13. but much levelled by the Asmonean family in the time of their reigne and the valley betwixt well raised and filled up with earth that both the Temple might over-top the buildings on Acra and that the coming up from the City to the Temple might be the more plaine and easie compare Luke 3.5 [g] Psal 48.2 Aâ—en Ezra ibid. â— On the North side lay Mount Sion furnished with the gallant buildings of the Palace Court and City of David These two Mountaines Acra and Sion and the Cities built upon them the London and Westminster City and Court of the Land of Canaan did so decline and descend upon their South-east and North-east points that on the East and West of the Temple they met and saluted each other in a valley having also a deep valley betwixt them and the Temple on every side but only on the South where it was the lesse deep because of the levelling mentioned immediately before Although this Mount Moriah were not so high of it selfe as the two hills on either side it yet was it of a great pitch and steepnesse [h] Id. de Bell. lib. 5. c. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A strong heap steep and deep on every side And it was a discerning note of a young male child [i] Hagigab per. 1. That he was bound to appear before the Lord at the three festivals if â—e were once come to be able to go up the Mountaine of the Temple holding his father by the hand This Mount fell so in the division of the Land that part of it was in the lot of one Tribe and part of it in another [k] Aveth R. Naâ—han per. 34. Zevachin pe 5. in Geinara For most part of the Courts was in the portion of Judah but the Altar Porch Temple and most holy place were in the portion of Benjamin And that part that lay in the portion of Judah was made hollow under 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with arches built upon arches underneath saith Maimony [l] Beth â—abbekirah per. 5. because of the Tent of defilement Now this that he calleth The Tent of defilement might very well be supposed to be a Sinke or common Shore made under ground and arched over for the conveyance of all the filth and wash of the Courts away and that there was such a thing we shall see hereafter but he explaineth himselfe in another place and saith that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [m] Maym. Parah per. 2. All the Mountaine of the house that is the outmost space and all the other Courts were hollow under because of an abysse or deep grave Now the Talmudicks use to call a sinke unseen or unsuspected grave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [n] Talm Bab. Parah per. â— gloss ibid. An abysse grave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Gospell language Luke 11.44 And so they call an unseen or unknowne uncleanenesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [o] Nazir per. â— Maym. in Biath Mikdâ—â— per. 4. an abysse of uncleanenesse and they oppose to it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An uncleanenesse knowne of Wherefore that they might be sure that there should be no graves secretly made in any of the Courts of the Temple by which they might be defiled they arched all the Courts under ground so as that there were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 arches upon arches as my Author expresseth it which he explaineth in another [p] Id. in Parah per. 3. place in another story of the like nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one arch set upon two arches so that the feet of an arch stood upon two arches that were under it And so it was either impossible to bury above the arch for want of soile or if it were possible to bury below the arches it was deep and farre enough from defiling CHAP. II. The measure of the floore of the Mountaine of the Temple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE Compasse of the floore of Moriah [a] Ios de Bell. lib 5. cap. 14. did increase by time and industry somewhat though not much above what it was when Solomon first began the Temple there For [b] 1 Chr. 21.8 22.1 whereas David by divine direction had built an Altar and God by divine fire upon it had fixed that very place for the place of the Altar of the Temple the Mountaine possibly in some part of it might want here and there somewhat upon the edge of it by bendings and windings in so that the square for all the Courts which was intended and which was to be measured from the Altar as from the standing mark could not runne even but did meet with some small hiat us through the want and pinching in of the hill in certaine places whereupon Solomon and the succeeding generations were still encreasing the spaciousnesse and capaciousnesse of it by filling up the valley or precipice where the want was insomuch that the compasse and space of it at the last under the second Temple was [c] Mid. per. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 five hundred cubits upon five hundred cubits that is a perfect square of 500 cubits upon every side 2000 cubits in the whole compass about [d] Maym in Beth habbechir per. 5. And this
square piece of ground was inclosed with a Wal. Not but that there was some more space upon the floore of the Mount then barely this measure for [e] Pisk Teâ—â— â—â—ph ad Midd. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mount was farre larger then 500 cubits square but only so much was taken in for the holy ground This number of 500 cubits upon every side of the square is so agreeable to the number of [f] Ezek. 42.20 45 2. Ezekiel that that helpeth to confirme and justifie this proportion and account and although his large measure do differ farre from this of ours yet doth his cubit measure and state the cubit that we have in hand so well that it would be very hard if not impossible otherwise among the various sizes of cubits that we meet withall to determine any thing of it For wee finde mention of the [g] Kimch in Ezek. 45. 43.13 R. Sol. ibid. common cubit of five hand bredths [h] Kelim per. 17. of the middle of six of the cubit halfe a fingers breadth larger then the cubit of Moses and the cubit halfe a finger bredth larger then that but Ezekiel hath flinted his [i] Ezek. 4 5. cubit to be a cubit and a hand bredth that is the common cubit of 5 hand bredths and one hand bredth over And so the Jewes conclude upon the same measure in this received maxime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [k] Kelim ubi supr Kimch in 2 Chron. 3.3 The cubit by which the Temple buildings were measured was 16 hand bredths but the cubit by which the vessels were measured was but five The hand bredth therefore being [l] Kimch in Mâ—â—ol in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the foure fingers bredth as they be laid close together which make but three inches the cubit of six hand bredths which is the cubit we imbrace here ariseth to 18 inches or just halfe a yard and so by this computation the 500 cubits upon every side of the square was 250 yards and the whole compasse of the wall was a 1000 yards about [m] Antiq. lib. 15. c. 14. Josephus hath alotted a just furlong to every side of the square 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so hath made the whole compasse to be exactly halfe a mile about reckoning according to the common cubit and according to the measure best known among the Greeks and Romans for whom he wrote And now if any one will take up the full circuit of the wall that encompassed the holy ground according to our English measure it will amount to halfe a mile and about 166 yards And whosoever likewise will measure the square of Ezekiel chap. 42.20 he will finde it 6 times as large as this chap. 40.5 the whole amounting to three miles and an halfe and about 140 yards a compasse incomparably larger then Mount Moriah divers times over and by this very thing is shewed that that is spiritually and mystically to bee understood The description of the Temple and City that he hath given in the end of his book as it was a prediction of some good to come so was that prediction true thus farre according to the very letter namely that there should be a Temple and a City newly built and so it was a promise and a comfort to the people then in captivity of their restoring againe to their owne land and there injoying Jerusalem and the Temple againe as they had done in former time before their removing and captivating out of their owne country But as for a literall respondency of that City and Temple to all the particulars of his description it is so farre from it that his Temple is delineated larger then all the earthly Jerusalem and his Jerusalem larger then all the land of Canaan And thereby the scope of the Holy Ghost in that ichnography is cleerly held out to be to signifie the great inlarging of the spiritual Jerusalem and Temple the Church under the Gospel and the spirituall beauty and glory of it as well as to certifie captived Israel of hopes of an earthly City and Temple to be rebuilt which came to passe upon their returne under Cyrus Yet had this his space of the holy ground its bounds though they were exceeding large but when John in his Revelation is upon the measure of his Temple this outer Court or space is left boundlesse and not measured nor inclosed at all and the reason is given because that Court was given to the Gentiles and they should tread the holy City as men trod Gods Courts when they came to worship two and forty months Rev. 11.1 2 3 c. still clearing the reason of the Propheticall inlarging of the holy ground which was to denote the abundant and numerous worshippers of God which should be under the Gospell The Wall that encompassed and went about the square of the holy ground was of very fair stone [o] Jos de Bell. lib. 5. c. 14. and it was five and twenty cubits or twelve yards and an halfe high that is as one stood within the compasse of it in the holy ground for without it stood over a very deep and sharp precipice and so there was an exceeding great height from the bottome of the trench beneath to the top of the wall but within it was no higher then 25 cubits and that height it carried about the whole square Now whereas it is a very common Tenet amongst the Talmudicks that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [p] Mid. per. 2. Kimch ubi supr The Easterne wall wâ—â— six cubits high and no more It is not to be understood of the whole East side Wall for that was 25 cubits high as well as the rest but it is to be understood only of the wall or battlement that was just over the East gate and so it is explained by some of them thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [q] Mid. per. 1. Sect. 1. For whereas the Priest that was sprinkling the bloud of the red Cow upon Mount Olivet was to looke directly by this East gate upon the gate of the Temple and whereas [r] Maym. in Beth habbechir per. 6. the floore of the Porch of the Temple was two and twenty Cubits higher ground then the floore of this East gate and so the Priest looking from Olivet through this gate [Å¿] R. Shâ—m â— in Mid. could not see above the eight step before the Porch [t] Pisk Tâ—saph ibid. therefore it was needfull that the wall that was just over the East gate should be low that what he could not see through the gate he might see over it CHAP. III. The East gate of the Mountaine of the House 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shushan gate The Prospect of Mount Olivet and part of the City before it IN the surveying of the gates and buildings that were in this outmost wall and virge of the holy ground we will begin at the East quarter which faced Mount
signification of the word Parbar which differs but one letter from it and that very neere and of an easie change which betokeneth Suburbs both in the Hebrew Text 2 Kings 23.11 and in the Chaldee tongue as [b] Kimch iâ— 2 Kings 23. David Kimchi averreth there And here Josephus his words which we produced a little before may be taken up againe and out of all together we may observe the situation of the Gate in mention He saith that of the foure Gates upon this Western quarter one led towards the Kings Palace that is Shallecheth that we have viewed already and the two next 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into the Suburbs These Suburbs that he meaneth were indeed that part of the City which in Scripture is called Millo which was the valley at the West end of Mount Moriah in which Jerusalem and Sion met and saluted each other replenished with buildings by David and Solomon in their times 2 Sam. 5.9 1 Kings 11.27 and taken in as part and Suburbs of Sion and so owned alwayes in after times And to this purpose is the expression of Josephus in his words that we have in hand observable when he saith that two of these Westerne gates were into the Suburbs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the other into the other City that is into Ierusalem which he maketh as another City from the Suburbs of which he spake Take the word Parbar therefore in either of the significations that have been mentioned either for an outer place or for the Suburbs this Gate that we have in survey might very properly be called by that name because it was a passage from the Temple into Millo which was an outer place and the Suburbs of Sion distinguished and parted from Sion by a wall yet a member of it and belonging to it Now whereas the other gate that stood next to this that we are about toward the South did lead also into the Suburbs as well as this as is apparent from Iosephus yet is it not called by the same name Parbar the reason of this may be given because it bare a name pecullar and proper sutable to that singular use to which it was designed or to that place where it was set rather then sutable to that place whither it gave passage And here because we are in mention of the Suburbs it may not be amisse to looke a little upon that text that speaketh of the Suburbs and out of which we have taken that signification of the word Parbar namely 2 Kings 23.11 It is said there that Josiah tooke away the Horses that the Kings of Judah had given to the Sunne at the entring in of the House of the Lord by the Chamber of Nathan melâ—â—h the Chamberlaine which was in the Suburbs Whether these Horses were given to the Sunne to be sacrificed to it or to ride on to meet and salute the Sun-rising as the Jewes suppose we shall not trouble our selves to enquire into it is the place that we have to looke after at this time rather then the thing These Stables of such Horses and it is like the Kings common Stables were in the same place are said to be in the Suburbs and at the entring in of the House of the Lord and we cannot better allot the place then that whereupon wee are namely that they stood here in Millo before this gate Parbar or thereabout and from thence there was a way to bring the Horses up to the Kings house when the Kings would use either those horses that they had dedicated to the Sun for their irreligious use or their other Horses for their common use As they went out of Millo to rise up into Sion they passed through a gate which was in the wall that parted betweene Millo and Sion which wall and gate was but a little below the Causey that went up to the gate Shallecheth and this helpeth to understand that passage about Athaliahs death 2 Kings 11.11 They layd bands on her and she went by the way by which the Horses came into the Kings house and there she was slaine That is they got her out of the Mountaine of the Temple brought her downe by the gate Shallecheth and the Causey and when she came neare the horse gate through which the horses went up out of the Stables in Millo to the Kings house there they slew her There was a Horse gate indeed in the maine wall of the City on the Fast part of it Neb. 3.28 Jer. 31.39 but that was distinct from this which was peculiar for the Kings horses and therefore a distinctive character is set upon this namely that it was the Horse gate towards the Kings house 2 Chron. 13.15 It should be rendred towards the Kings house rather then by the Kings house for neither of these gates either that on the East which was a gate of the City nor this on the West which was a gate into Millo were neare the Kings house but a good distance off See the LXX there SECT 3. The two Gates and House of Asuppim IN the story of the designing of the Porters to their severall places and charges in 1 Chron. 26.15 17. it is said thus To Obed Edem Southward and to his sonnes the House of Asuppim Eastward were sixe Levites Northward foure a day Southward foure a day and toward Asuppim two and two Now there are two things that have justly moved divers learned men to conceive that Asuppim doth betoken the treasuries of the Temple or the places where the offered and dedicate things were referved and laid up The one is the signification of the word it selfe for it betokeneth gatherings or collections and the other is because Obed Edom whose sonnes are said here to be at Asuppim as at their charge is said in 2 Chron 25.24 to have had the keeping of the treasury For there it is recorded that Joash the King of Israel tooke all the gold and silver and Vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed Edom. Now if this be granted that Asuppim did betoken and mean the treasuries yet are we still to seeke where Asuppim was and indeed there is not a more difficult matter in all the survey of the Temple and of the buildings and affaires belonging to it then to determine aright and clearely concerning the Porters treasuries and treasures and all their charges there is so much variety of expressions about these in Scripture and so little explanation and resolution of this matter in other writers we shall do the best we can for their discovery as we come to the view of the severall places that refer to any such thing The word Asuppim is used againe in speech concerning the Porters Neh 12.25 where fix men there named are said to be Porters keeping the ward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the Asuppim of the Gates Aben Ezra and Kimchi say it is but the same with Sippim the thresholds and so it is rendred
its rare use and passage and because the Priests that had suffered Gonorrhoea by night went out through it to the Bath with some shame and dejectednesse Or that the word refers to actors or poets and he produceth a sentence in which by its conjunction with another word it seems so to signifie for other sense I know not to put upon it The sentence is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tragedians and Poets used it before the chiefe of the captivity But what sense he would make of this Etymology I do not understand But be the notation of the word what it will the Talmud setteth two distinguishing markes upon the gate it self for which it was singular from all the rest of the gates that we have mentioned [d] Talm. in Mid. per. 2. The first is that it had not so faire a rising Gate house and chambers above it as the rest had but onely stones laid flat over it and the battlement of the wall running upon it and no more And the other is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [e] Ibid. per. 1. That it was not a common and ordinary passage in and out as the other gates were but onely a passage upon occasion the uselessness whereof we shall have occasion to look at againe ere it be long The Mount Moriah did afford some space of ground upon this side without the wall and compasse of the holy ground which it did upon none of the sides beside for here was built the large and goodly Tower of Antonia which we shall survey by and by whereas on every one of the other sides the incompassing wall that closed in the holy ground did stand neare upon the very pitch and precipice of the hill So that looking about you as you stood out at this gate this Tower Antonia stood on your left hand and spoiled your prospect on that side and you could see nothing that way but it Before you was Mount Sion and the goodly buildings of the Kings Palace and other houses upon the bending toward the East angle was the place called Ophel or Ophla the habitation of the Nethenims Neh 3.26 and when Ophla was turned East then was there the horse-gate and water-gate before the Temple Thus lay The Mountaine of the Lords house incompassed with the City round about and enclosed with a faire and high wall which separated it from the common ground On the one side of it lay Sion the seat of the King on the other side Jerusalem the habitation of the people and the Temple and its service in the middle between even as the ministery is in mediation betwixt God and his people The wall that encompassed it had eight gates of goodly structure and beauteous fabrick all of one fashion save only that the North and East gates were not topped the one in height and the other in fashion as the other were At all of these gates were Porters by day and at five of them were guards by night as we shall observe hereafter the accesse to them on the East and West was by a great ascent but facilitated by steps or causeys for the peoples ease and for the comming up of the beasts that were to be sacrificed of which there were some that came up dayly On the South side the ascent was not so very great yet it had its rising in the like manner of accesse as had the other On the North what coming up there was it was more for the accommodation of the residents in the Tower Antonia then for the entrance into the Temple the North gate Tedi being of so little use as hath been spoken At any of the gates as you passed through the entrance it self through which you went was ten cubits wide twenty cubits high and twelve cubits over sixe of which cubits were without the holy ground and six within and as you entered in at the East gate had you seen the ground before any buildings were set in it or any thing done to it but only the building of this wall you might have seen the hill rising from the East to the West in such an ascent that the Westerne part of it was very many cubits higher then where you stood as we shall have occasion to observe as wee passe along This banke was once well stored with bushes and brambles Gen 22.13 and afterward with worse briers and thorns the Jebusites who had it in possession till David purchased it for that divine use and structure that we are looking after Here was then a poore threshing floore of Ornan the Jebusite but afterward the habitation of the God of Jacob A place and fabrick as sumptuous and eminent as it was possible for man and art and cost to make it the glory of the Nation where it was and the wonder of all the Nations round about it but in fine as great a wonder and monument of desolation and ruine as ever it had been of beauty and gloriousnesse Before we step further toward the survey of it as it stood in glory we must keep yet a while along this wal about which we have been so long and observe some buildings and beauties that joined and belonged to it besides the gates that we have surveyed in it already CHAP. VII The Tower ANTONIA 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VPon the North side [a] Ioseph Antiq lib. 15. c. 14. de Bell. lib. 5. cap. 25. and joining up to the Westerne angle but on the outside of the wall that we have surveyed stood the Tower of Antonia once the place where the High-priests used to lay up their holy garments but in after-times a Garrison of Roman Souldiers for the awing of the Temple When it served for the former use it was called Baris it may be from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad extra because it was an outer building but when for the latter it bare the name of Antonia Herod the great having sumptuously repaired it as he did the Temple and called it after the name of the Roman Prince Antony It stood upon the North-west point of Moriah and was a very strong and a very large pile so spacious a building with all its appurtenances that it took up two furlongs compasse The rock it stood upon was fifty cubits high and steep and the building it selfe was forty cubits above it it was 4 square incompassed with a wall of 3 cubits high which enclosed its courts and had a Turret at every corner like the white Tower at London but that it was more spacious and that the Turrets were not all of a height for those at the North-east and North-west corners were 50 cubits high but those on the South-east and South-west were 70 cubits high that they might fully over-looke the Temple It had cloisters or walkes about it and baths and lodgings and large roomes in it so that it was at once like a Castle and like a Palace There was a passage out of it into the North and West
both so that the Temple service may have its due attendance as well as the Kings coronation And therefore ver 5. of 2 King 11. is necessarily to be rendred thus A third part of you shall be those that come in on the Sabbath that is a third part of you shall be as those that come in on the Sabbath to attend the service as at other times And so is 2 Chron. 23.4 to be translated A third part of you shall be those that come in on the Sabbath for Priests and Levites and Porters that is to attend the Altar song and gates as in the constant service 2. Another third part for keepers of the watch at the Kings house 3. And another third part at the gate Sur which is also called the gate of the foundation Thus the tents in the two bookes laid together doe plainly distribute the course that was to come in on the Sabbath as he will see that will carefully compare them together in the originall The course that was going out on the Sabbath was disposed 1. One third part of them to the gate behinde the guard 2. Two third parts to keepe the watch of the house of the Lord for the safety of the Kings Now the very disposall of these guards will help us to judge concerning the gates that we have in mention and will resolve us that they were not any gates of the Temple at all but that they stood in some place else For the gates of the Temple were guarded by the Porters of the course that came in as in the ordinary manner and there was an extraordinary guard added besides throughout all the mountaine of the house and in the Court of that course that was going out 2 King 11.7 8.11 Therefore the gate Sur or the gate of the foundation which was guarded by a third part of those that come in on the Sabbath cannot be supposed for any gate of the Temple since the Temple was guarded by two parts of those that went out So that were I to describe the city as I am now about describing the Temple I should place the gate Sur somewhere in Sion and there also should I place the gate behinde the guard and it would not be very hard to gather up faire probability of their situation there Now though so strong guards were set both in the Temple and in Zion yet Athaliah for whom all this adoe is made comes up into the Temple so far as to see the young King at his pillar in the Court before the East gate and no man interrupts her partly because she was Queene partly because she came alone and chiefly because they knew not Jehoiadas minde concerning her But when he bids have her out of the ranges they laid hold upon her and spared her till she was downe the causey Shalletheth and then they slew her If by the ranges the rankes of men that stood round about the mountaine of the house be not to be understood I should then thinke they meane either the ranks of trees that grew on either side that causey or the railes that were set on either side it for the stay and safety of those that passed upon it And to this sense Levi Gershom doth not unproperly expound those words in 1 King 10.12 Of the Alâ—â—g trees the King made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the house of the Lord and for the Kings house The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth properly signifie a Prop or Support yet is expressed in 2 Chron. 9.11 The King made of the Algum trees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 high waies to the house of the Lord And [q] Ralbag in 1 King 10. I think saith the Rabbin that in the ascent that he made to gee up to the house of the Lord from the Kings house he made as it were battlements that is railes on either side of the Almug trees that a man might stay himselfe by them as he went along the highway of that ascent And so in other ascents of the house of the Lord or of the Kings house where there were not steps at the rise of the Altar c. SECT I. Aeredible wonder of the brazen gate VVE will leave the belief of that wonder that hath been mentioned about the brazen doore of Niconer in its shipwrack to those that record it but wee may not passe over another wondrous occurence related by Josephus of the brazen gate whether this of Nicanor or the other which hee calleth the brazen gate as by its proper name wee will not be curious to examine which is a great deale more worthy of belief and very well deserving consideration Hee treating of the prodiges and wonders that presaged the destruction of Jerusalem amongst others hee relateth this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Eastgate of the inner Temple being of brasse and extream heavy [a] los de bell lib. 6. cap 31. and which could hardly bee shut by twenty men being barred and bolted exceeding strong and sure yet was it seene by night to open of its owne accord which the simpler and more foolish people did interpret as a very good Omen as if it denoted to them that God would open to them the gate of all good things But those of a deeper reach and sounder judgement did suspect that it presaged the decay and ruine of the strength of the Temple And with this relation of his doe other writers of his owne nation concurre who report [b] Iuchasm sol 21. That forty years before the destruction of the City the doores of the Temple opened of their owne accord Whereupon Rabban Jochanan ben Zaceai afterward chiese of the Sanhedrin cryed out Open thy doores O Lebanon that the fire may devoure And from that time the great Sanhedrin fitted from the room Gazith and so removed from place to place The like saith Rabbi Solomon on Zeob 11.1 Open thy doores O Lebanon [e] R. Sol. in Zech. 11. Hee prophecieth saith hee of the destruction of the second Temple and forty yeares before the destruction the Temple doores opened of their own accord Rabban Iochanan ben Zaccai rebuked them and said O Temple Temple how long wilt thou trouble thy self I know thy best is to hee destroyed for Zechariah the sonne of Iddo prophecied thus of thee Open thy doores O Lebanon that the fire may devoure thy Cedars c. There are three remarkable things which the Jews doe date from forty years before the destruction of the Temple namely this of the Temple doores opening of themselves and the Sanhedrins flitting from the roome Gazith and the Scarlet list on the Scapegoates head not turning white that are as Testimoneyes against themselves about the death of Christ which occurred exactly forty years before the Temple was destroyed Then the Lord shewed them by the Temple doores opening the shaking of their Ecclesiasticall glory and by the flitting of the Sanhedrin the shaking of their Civill and by the
on the hornes of the Altar and there devote my selfe to God and his service by that solemne Ceremony and it may be for these two considerations Solomon will spare me as he did Abiathar For that the laying hold of the Altar in this kinde had a vow in it for the future as well as a present safety might be argued from the nature of the Altar which made holy what touched it and from the very circumstance of laying hold upon it But Ioab to the wilfull murder of Abâ—er and Amasa had added contempt and opposall of the King upon Davids throne which figured him that was to reigne over the house of Israel for ever and therefore unfit to escape and uncapable to be any such voâ—ary 4. [y] Mid. ubi sup Maym. ubi supr A cubit above the first rising of the hornes of the Altar the square narrowed a cubit againe and so was now but 24 cubits every way and so held on to that flat of it on the top where the fire lay The cubits-ledge that the abatement made to be as a bench round about was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the place whereupon the Priests went and stood about the Altar to lay on the pieces of the sacrifice or to stirre them as they lay in the fire And this helpeth us to judge concerning the manner and fashion of the hornes spoken of last namely that they did not rise directly upright higher then the Altar it selfe for then it had been impossible for the Priest to goe about the Altar upon this ledge for the hornes would have hindered if they had risen a full cubit square up hither but their forme is to be conceived as was said before namely that they rose indeed up even with this ledge but they so sharpened and bended outward when they came levell with it that the Priests had passage betwixt them and the Altar From the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Circuit of the Altar upward which was four cubits was that part which more peculiarly was called Harel and Ariel Ezek. 43.15 And Harel was four cubits and from Ariel upwards were the foure hornes He had described the graduall risings of the Altar hitherto in the verses before in these characters and descriptions Verse 13. The bottome shall be a cubit and the breadth a cubit This was the Foundation of which we have spoken a cubit high and a cubit broad And the border thereof by the edge thereof round about a span The edge of this foundation was not sharpe as are the edges of stone steps but it was wrought as are the stone borders of our chimney hearths with a border of a span over and so the bloud that was poured upon this foundation could not runne off to the pavement but was kept up that it might run downe at the holes forementioned into the common-shore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus was the top of the Altar The top of the Altar was also finished with such another bordering Vers 14. And from the bottome upon the ground even to the lower settle two cubits Not that the foundation called here the lower settle was 2 cubits thick in the flatnesse of it as it lay upon the ground for the verse before saith that the bottome was but a cubit but that from this foundation there arose a slope rising a cubit height which was somewhat thicker then the body of the Altar presently above it and so from the ground to the top of this rising where the square narrowed were two cubits and from the top of this sloping where the square narrowed to the circuit was properly but four cubits but from the foundation five And so though the Talmud speaketh differently from the Prophet when it saith the foundation or lower settle was but one cubit high and he two and when it saith the height from the lower to the higher settle or from the foundation to the circuit was five cubits and the Prophet saith but foure yet do they both meane but one and the same thing but understood as hath been spoken namely the one taketh the foundation or lower settle barely as it lay flat upon the ground and the other takes it with this cubitall slope rising from it made leaning a cubit height to the body of the Altar and this interpretation helpeth to understand that which David Kimchi professeth he cannot tell what to make of and that is why the upper settle which was narrower by two cubits in the square is called the greater and the lower which was larger in the square is called the lesser The reason whereof is this because the upper though it were lesse in compasse yet was larger in breadth because this leaning slope rising that we speak of tooke up a good part of the breadth of the lower and so the walke upon it was not so cleere and large as it was upon the other And then the Prophet tels us that when the body of the Altar was thus risen six cubits high to the upper settle which the Talmudicks call the circuit That thence Harel was to be four cubits and from Ariel and upward the four hornes [1] Kimch in Ioc. Const Lemp in Mid. P. 97. There are some that conceive that Harel and Ariel are indeed but one and the same word though so diversly written from whom I cannot much differ as to point of Grammar because the Letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do admit of such alternancy in the language yet me thinks the difference of the words should hold out some difference of the sense and Harel to signifie the Lords Mountaine and Ariel the Lords Lion upon that Mountaine the lower part at the hornes more properly Harel and the upper more properly Ariel But since the text gives the [2] Vid. R. Sol. ibid. name Ariel to all that part that was from the Roote of the hornes upward we shall not much stick upon it The word Harel if you will construe it the Mountaine of the Lord David Kimchi tels you that it is as much as to say The house of the Lord and because they served other Gods in every place upon high hils this which was the Hill of the Lord was but four cubits high And if you will take the word Ariel our Rabbins of happy memory saith he say the Altar was called Ariel or the Lords Lion because the holy fire that came downe from heaven couched on it like a Lion The word Ariel doth also signifie one exceeding strong 2 Sam. 23.20 and so doth Arel Esay 337. But take it whether way you will here either for a strong thing or for the Lords Lion the Altar was very properly so called either because of the devouring of many sacrifices Lion-like or because of the great strength and prevalency the people had by sacrifice the Lord owning them wonderfully in that service whilest gone about according to his will or because of the strong Lion Christ whom the Altar and Sacrifices did represent Jerusalem
and especially Zion the City where David dwelt is also called Ariel the strong one or the Lion of the Lord because of its prevalency against all enemiâ—s whatsoever whilest it continued to be the Lords through the strength of those promises that were made unto it but when it forsooke the Lord and became prophane it is threatned that it shall become as the other Ariel or the Altar where was continually aboundance of shedding of blood and slaughter Esay 29.1 2. The very top of the Altar was four and twenty cubits square and this was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maaracab or the Hearth where as we observe elsewhere there were three fires continually burning but especially one very great one for the sacrifices And thus was the bulke and platforme of the Altar It was a large pile of 10 cubits high rising by degrees so as that at the foot it was 32 cubits on every side of the square but at the top came to be but four and twenty The rising thus 1 The base one cubit rising and then the square lessened a cubit 2 The body of the Altar rising plaine 5 cubits and then lessening one cubit in the square 3 A cubit rising againe and the square lessening a cubit and at the bench where it narrowed there stood the four hornes out at the four corners 4 A rising againe one cubit and a narrowing one cubit and there was the bench where the Priests stood to serve 5 And then a rising two cubits and there was the Hearth Thus stood the Altar and thus stood the Priests upon the highest bench to serve but how came they up thither If they could have gone up the steps that we have mentioned namely where the square still descended yet was it unlawfull because of that command Exod. 20.26 But they could not goe up that way neither for we have seene that between the first bench and the second there was five cubits rising which is a measure farre beyond any mans stepping up the way therefore for them to goe both to the top of the Altar to their bench two cubits below the top and to the other benches as there was occasion was thus provided [3] Mid. per. 3. There was a gentle rising causey for so let us call it they called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chebbesh on the South side of the Altar 16 cubits broad that beganne 32 cubits from the Altar foot and rose easily to the head of it in a gentle ascent made of the same materials that the Altar was of which hereafter so that this causey lay out from the Altar two and thirty cubits on the South side leaving on either side it four cubits breadth which it wanted of the breadth of the Altar [4] Gloss in Tamid per. ult Maym. in beth habbech per. 2. On the West side of it there stood two tables one of silver on which they set and laid the vessels of the service the other of marble which was called the Table of the fat on which they laid the pieces of the Sacrifice when they were to bee brought up to the Altar And there was also on [5] Middoth ubi supra the same side of it and as [6] C. Lemp in Mid. pag. 112. it is probably conjectured made in the very side of the causey or rise it selfe a place into which those birds that being presented to be offered did prove unfit were cast till some convenient time to convey them away this was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rebubah for so we may conclude upon [7] Aruch in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 R. Nathans credit who so readeth though others differ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [8] Maym. in beth habbech per. 2. And there saith the generall consent they laid up the birds unmeet for offering [9] Tamid per. 1. On the East side of it was the place where they laid the guts and garbidge of the birds that were offered and where he that cleansed the incense Altar poured downe the ashes he brought forth and he that brought the first ashes from off the burnt offering Altar did the like But these things continued not long there after they were laid downe but were speedily by some or other conveyed away [10] Tamid per. 7. By the marble Table which was called the Table of the fat the Priests stood when they sounded their trumpets at the time of divine service [11] Talm. in Zevach. per. 6. The ordinary way of going up this rise or causey or bridge or call it what yee will was on the right side of it that is on the East and to come downe on the West onely upon three occasions mentioned in the place cited in the margine he came downe the same way he went up but backward and this helps us somewhat to understand a story which we shall have occasion to looke after elsewhere related in Joma [12] Joma per. 2. of two Priests going a strife who should first get up to cleanse the Altar of its ashes which was the first worke done in the morning the one of them thrust the other off the bridge and broke his leg because they went so neere the sides though they had roome enough to have gone up in the middle without danger but the manner was not to goe up that way [13] Maym. ubi supr As a man went up first there was a little causey on the East side that brought him from the first beginning of this great causey to the foundation of the Altar if he had occasion to goe thither And as he went up higher when he was come as high as the circuit there was another to carry him off thither if he had occasion to sprinkle bloud upon the hornes of the Altar But above that I read not of any such come off not that the Priests had not constant occasion to step off to the uppermost ledge or bench for there they used to stand continually when they were turning the pieces in the fire or the like but because by the time that the rise was come up thither the step off was so easie that a lesse matter then what deserved the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bridge would serve the turne Thus was the forme of the Altar and the ascent to it but I must mention here before I have done with the forme of it somewhat that was visible upon it that had some reference also to the forme of it and that was [14] Middoth per. 3. A red line that went round about it in the just middle betweene the bottome and the top to be a direction to the Priests that they might sprinkle the blood above or beneath for sometime they did the one and sometime the other as we shall shew when we treat concerning Sacrifice as the occasion called upon them to doe and not mistake For whereas some blood was to be poured or sprinkled at the bottome of the Altar and some