The Jewish Temple Was Destroyed in 586 Bce and Was Never Built Again

The Destruction and Reconstruction of the Temple past Tamara Cohn Eskenazi

The Jerusalem temple said to accept been congenital by Solomon was destroyed in 587/586 B.C.E., when the Babylonians captured the metropolis, torched information technology, and exiled the Judean leadership to Babylon. 2d Kings describes the final days:

"In the fifth calendar month ... Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a retainer of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord, the male monarch's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down." (2Kgs 25:eight-ix)

This issue marked a turning point in Israelite history because it spelled the end of an democratic or even semiautonomous Judean country. It initiated a catamenia, usually called the exilic period, that came to an terminate in the biblical record when King Cyrus of Persia conquered the Babylonian empire in 539 B.C.E., subsumed that empire under his ain rule, and permitted Judeans to render to the land and rebuild the temple (run across Ezra 1).

The prophetic books of Haggai and Zechariah portray these prophets as urging the leaders and the people to rebuild the temple. Ezra i-six depicts their successful efforts to do then, despite opposition from some "peoples of the country" whose identity is not ever clear. Most scholars date the actual completion of the restored temple to 516/515 B.C.E.

Ezra 3 depicts the kickoff of the restoration, with the edifice of the altar and setting the temple foundations. According to Ezra 4, nevertheless, enemies interfered by reporting to the Persian king that the builders were a rebellious people. After these and other delays, the temple was completed in 516/515 B.C.E, during the time of the Western farsi king Darius (525-486 B.C.E.).

The Hebrew Bible does not describe the rebuilt temple, although Ezra half dozen:iii says that "its height shall be lx cubits and its width sixty cubits." The accent falls on its placement, that is, that it should be installed precisely at the identify of the offset temple. Ezra 3 contrasts this new edifice with its predecessor: "many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy" (Ezra 3:12; see also Hag ii:3, which notes that the restored temple is less thou than the former one).

Whether or not it compared favorably to the beginning temple, the restored temple marked a new epoch; it signified the renewal of Jewish life later the devastation of exile. Moreover, it signaled a new role for the people themselves. Whereas the first temple was credited to Solomon and was built with forced labor, the 2d temple was the work of the people themselves. Although it came into being under Western farsi regal auspices (see Ezra 1:1-iv), the actual builders were the Judeans (Ezra one:5-half-dozen:xiv), who also unilaterally vowed to maintain it (Neh ten:32-39). In the absence of a monarchy, the second temple came to occupy a greater place in Judean life than did Solomon's temple.

Contributors

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi is professor of Bible at Hebrew Union Higher-Jewish Plant of Organized religion in Los Angeles. Dr. Eskenazi is editor-in-primary of The Torah: A Women's Commentary, winner of the 2008 Jewish Volume of the Twelvemonth Accolade, and co-writer (with T. Frymer-Kensky) of the JPS Bible Commentary: Ruth, winner of the Jewish Book Council Award in Women'southward Studies in 2012. She is completing the Anchor Bible commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah.

Of or relating to ancient lower Mesopotamia and its empire centered in Babylon.

Residents of the ancient Mesopotamian metropolis of Babylon, besides used to refer to the population of the larger geographical designation of lower Mesopotamia.

The king of the Western farsi Achaemenid Empire at its peak, from 550-486 B.C.E. His decree to continue the rebuilding of the Temple appears in Ezra half dozen.

A wide, various group of nations ruled by the authorities of a single nation.

general condition of living away from ones homeland or specifically the Babylonian captivity

A West Semitic language, in which almost of the Hebrew Bible is written except for parts of Daniel and Ezra. Hebrew is regarded as the spoken language of ancient Israel but is largely replaced by Aramaic in the Persian period.

Relating to or associated with people living in the territory of the northern kingdom of Israel during the divided monarchy, or more broadly describing the biblical descendants of Jacob.

Relating to or associated with people living in the territory of the southern kingdom of Judah during the divided monarchy, or what subsequently became the larger province of Judah nether purple control. According to the Bible, the area originally received its name as the tribal territory allotted to Judah, the fourth son of Jacob.

The people of the tribe of Judah or the southern kingdom of Judah/Judea.

A system of rule with a monarch as its head; or the hereditary organization passed from i monarch to some other.

Those biblical books written by or attributed to prophets such equally Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

The construction built in Jerusalem in 516 B.C.E. on the site of the Temple of Solomon, destroyed past the Babylonians seventy years prior. The 2nd Temple was destroyed in lxx C.Eastward. by the Romans responding to Jewish rebellion.

2Kgs 25:8-9

8In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyg ... View more

Ezra i

Terminate of the Babylonian Captivity
1In the first yr of Male monarch Cyrus of Persia, in social club that the discussion of the Lord past the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, t ... View more

Ezra 1-6

Cease of the Babylonian Captivity
1In the beginning year of King Cyrus of Persia, in gild that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be achieved, t ... View more

Ezra 3

Worship Restored at Jerusalem
1When the seventh month came, and the Israelites were in the towns, the people gathered together in Jerusalem.2Then Jeshua son of ... View more

Ezra four

Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple
1When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Is ... View more

Ezra half dozen:three

3In the get-go twelvemonth of his reign, King Cyrus issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, permit the firm be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices are ... View more

Ezra 3:12

12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud vocalization when they saw th ... View more

Hag 2:3

3Who is left among you that saw this firm in its former glory? How does it wait to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?

Ezra 1:1-4

Terminate of the Babylonian Captivity
1In the starting time year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the oral fissure of Jeremiah might exist accomplished, t ... View more than

Ezra 1:5-6:xiv

5The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—got ready to get up and rebuild the house ... View more

Neh 10:32-39

32We besides lay on ourselves the obligation to accuse ourselves yearly one-3rd of a shekel for the service of the business firm of our God:33for the rows of bread, the ... View more

geetuouly.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.bibleodyssey.org/places/related-articles/destruction-and-reconstruction-of-the-temple

Share this post