The ark contained only the two tables of stone, hence its name “the ark of the testimony. The description of the altar of incense occurs (<023001>Exodus 30:1-10) for some unexplained reason or displacement out of the place where it might be expected, but this is no reason for throwing doubt (with some) upon its existence.
Removal from Sinai
Sojourn at Kadesh
Few incidents are recorded as to these years, and little mention is made of the tabernacle throughout the whole journey except that the ark of the. It is the unusual that is recorded; the daily aspect of the tabernacle and the part it played in the life of the people were among the things recurrent and familiar.
Settlement in Canaan
Destruction of Shiloh
Though the Hebrew historians are silent about what followed, it is certain that Shiloh itself fell into the hands of the Philistines. The very destruction of it accounts for the silence of the historians, for it would have been at the central sanctuary there, the center and home of what literary culture there was in Israel during this stormy period, that chronicles of events would be kept.
Delocalization of Worship
The ark was taken by the Philistines, its two guardians were slain, and Israel was helpless before its enemies.
Nob and Gibeon
Gibeon was 6 miles from Jerusalem, and 7 from Beth-el, and may have been chosen for its strategic advantage as well as for the fact that it was already inhabited by priests, and was Saul’s ancestral city.
Restoration of the Ark
The Two Tabernacles
New Testament References
God’s Dwelling with Man
Of the hopes embodied in these two planes of thought, the earthly tabernacle was the symbol, and contained the prospect and foretaste of the higher communion. It is this which has given the tabernacle such an abiding hold on the imagination and veneration of the Christian church in all lands and languages.
Symbolism of Furniture
As we have a great high priest who is now passed into the heavens, there to appear in our behalf in the true tabernacle, so we ourselves have permission and encouragement to enter into the holiest place of all on earth by the blood of the everlasting covenant.
IN CRITICISM
Not Stated, That the Temple Was Constructed after the Pattern of the Tabernacle
It is urged that nowhere is it stated that Solomon’s Temple was fashioned after the pattern of the Mosaic tabernacle. Conceding, however, for the sake of argument, that the tent of the historical books was not the Mosaic tabernacle of Exodus, and that this is nowhere spoken of as the model on which Solomon’s Temple was constructed, does it.
No Trace of the Tabernacle in Pre-Solomonic Times
To these considerations it is objected. a) that the Shiloh sanctuary was not the Mosaic tabernacle, which was a portable tent, but a solid structure with posts and doors, and. That the sanctuary at Nob (<092101>1 Samuel 21:1-6) was the Mosaic tabernacle may be inferred from the following circumstances:. a) that it had a high priest with 85 ordinary priests, a priest’s ephod, and a table of shewbread;.
The Tabernacle Could Not Have Been Built as Exodus Describes
In short, so decisively has this argument, derived from the supposed deficiency of culture and resources on the part of the Israelites, been disposed of by writers of by no means too conservative pro-clivities, that one feels surprised to find it called up again by Benzinger in Encyclopedia Biblica to do duty in support of the unhistorical character of the tabernacle narrative in Exodus. Biblical Account Contains Marks of Its Unhistorical CharacterThe Biblical account of the Mosaic tabernacle, it is further contended,.
Biblical Account Contains Marks of Its Unhistorical Character The Biblical account of the Mosaic tabernacle, it is further contended,
As to the absurdity of representing a large fire as constantly burning upon a wooden altar overlaid with a thin plate of brass, this would certainly have been all that the critics say — a fatal objection to receiving the story of the tabernacle as true. When one calls to mind that the tabernacle was separated from each side of the square probably, as in.
Pre-exilic Prophets Knew Nothing of Levitical System of Which the Tabernacle Was Said to Be the Center
As already stated, it is not easy to perceive how Jeremiah could have said that Yahweh had never commanded sacrifices to be offered to Him, when he (Jeremiah) must have known that the Book of the Covenant in J-E (<022024> . Exodus 20:24,25) represented Yahweh as expressly enjoining them. This would explain Paul’s “table of demons” — a phrase familiar to the Corinthians — and he wrote “table of the Lord” to correspond (compare, however, Pirqe . ‘Abhoth, iii.4).
THE TABLE AND ITS OBJECT
WHAT IT INCLUDES AND EXCLUDES
ORDER OF THE THREE RACES
EXTENT OF EACH
SONS OF JAPHETH
SONS AND DESCENDANTS OF HAM
These, with the sons of Raamah, embrace the interior of Africa as known to the Hebrews, and the Arabian tract as far as Canaan, its extreme northern boundary. Nevertheless, this portion (<011008>Genesis 10:8-12) reads like an interpolation, as it not only records the foundation of the cities of Babylonia, but those of Assyria as well — the country mentioned lower down (<011022>Genesis 10:22) among the children of Shem.
FURTHER DESCENDANTS OF HAM
SONS OF SHEM
Nevertheless, this portion (<011008>Genesis 10:8-12) reads like an interpolation, as it not only records the foundation of the cities of Babylonia, but those of Assyria as well — the country mentioned lower down (<011022>Genesis 10:22) among the children of Shem. Chaldeans), to the West; Lud (Lydia), Northwest of Assyria; and Aram (the Aramean states), South of Lud and West of Assyria. With regard to their positions, it has been suggested that Uz lay in the neighborhood of the Hauran and Damascus; Hul near the Sea of Galilee; and that Mash stands for Mons Masius.
FURTHER DESCENDANTS OF SHEM
Chaldeans), to the West; Lud (Lydia), Northwest of Assyria; and Aram (the Aramean states), South of Lud and West of Assyria. The tribes or states mentioned as the sons of Aram (Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash), however, do not give the names with which we are familiar in the Old Testament (Aram Naharaim, Aram Zobah, etc.), and have evidently to be sought in different positions, indicating that they represent an earlier stage of their migrations.
VALUE OF TABLE AND ITS HISTORICAL NOTES
FURTHER ARGUMENTS FOR EARLY DATE OF TABLE
The most common Greek term both in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 3:3; <580904>Hebrews 9:4) and in the Greek Old Testament is [pla>x, plax], most often used of the tables of stone. The Feast of the Transfiguration, however, continued to be celebrated by the monks from Nazareth.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS AND VERBAL EXPLANATIONS
There are very few books which are mentioned so often and yet are so little known as the Talmud. Many are afraid to inform themselves, as this may be too difficult or too tedious; others (the anti-Semites) do not want correct information to be spread on this subject, because this would interfere seriously with their use of the Talmud as a means for their agitation against the Jews. e) above all, the collection made by Rabbi Jehudah (or Judah) ha- Nasi’.
IMPORTANCE OF THE TALMUD
THE TRADITIONAL LAW UNTIL THE COMPOSITION OF THE MISHNA
In this Mishna, the Mishna paragraph excellence, the anonymous portions generally, although not always, reproduce the views of Rabbi Me’ir. The predecessors Rabbi (as R. Jehudah ha-Nasi’, the “prince” or the .. saint,” is usually called), as far as we know, did not put into written form their collections; indeed it has been denied by many, especially by German and French rabbis of the Middle Ages, that Rabbi put into written form the Mishna which he edited.
DIVISION AND CONTENTS OF THE MISHNA (AND THE TALMUD)
11) [Mo`edh qatan], “Minor Feast,” or [Mashqin], “They irrigate” (first word of the treatise), the days between the first day and the last day of the feast of Passover, and likewise of Tabernacles. 12) [`Uqtsin], “Stalks,” the conveyance of ritual impurity by means of the stalks and hulls of plants.
THE PALESTINIAN TALMUD
THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD
THE NON-CANONICAL LITTLE TREATISES AND THE TOCEPHTA’
- MEANING AND ETYMOLOGY OF THE TERM
- ORIGIN OF THE TARGUMS
- LANGUAGE OF THE TARGUMS
- MODE IN WHICH THE TARGUMS WERE GIVEN
- DATE OF THE TARGUMS
- CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIFFERENT TARGUMS
- USE OF THE TARGUMS
- SITUATION
- FOUNDATION LEGENDS
- TARSUS UNDER ORIENTAL POWER
- TARSUS UNDER GREEK SWAY
- TARSUS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
- THE UNIVERSITY
- THE TARSIAN CONSTITUTION
- PAUL OF TARSUS
- LATER HISTORY
Ecclesiates in the Massoretic Text uses about three-eighths of the space occupied by Proverbs. The usual equivalent for the prophet’s formula “the word of the Lord” is [pithgam YHWH].
INTRODUCTION
Throughout history the burden of taxation has kept pace with the elaboration of the machinery of government; kings, courts, ceremonials, legislative and judicial administration, wars, diplomacy. We shall confine ourselves so far as possible to the civil aspects of the subject, leaving for others those interesting problems of taxation connected with the origin and development of the priestly legislation.
TAXES IN ISRAEL UNDER SELF-GOVERNMENT
The proceeds of this tax were to be used for the service of the Tent of Meeting (see TABERNACLE). By the end of his reign the burden of taxation had become so severe that in the public address made to Rehoboam the people demanded a lightening of the.
TAXES IN ISRAEL UNDER CONQUERORS
Rehoboam’s foolish answer of defiance precipitated the separation of the tribes which proved in the end so disastrous. The customs or tolls levied upon exports and imposts, and upon goods in the hands of.
OLD TESTAMENT TERMS
Thus even in the days of Joshua there was in the possession of the religious teachers a book of the Law of the Lord as given by Moses. The noun indicates a wise person or sage whose mission is to instruct others in the ways of the Lord.
NEW TESTAMENT TERMS
The Hebrews used the passive forms of the verb because they considered the thoughts and words of the prophets due not to. The duties are to be discharged with great diligence and in humble recognition of the gifts and appointment of the Holy Spirit.
OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY
EXTRA-BIBLICAL TEACHING
The significance of the teaching idea among the Jews is indicated by numerous expressions for school (article .. Education,” Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature) and the prevalence of the synagogues, there being perhaps 480 in Jerusalem in the time of Christ (Hor. The pupil was not expected to be a passive hearer but an active participant (Ab., vi.6; Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, 115 f).
NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY
- SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
- LATER HISTORY
- THE SITE OF TEQU`A
- THE NAME AND ITS MEAINING
- THE POSITION OF THE SETTLEMENT
- THE NAME AND ITS MEANING
- SUGGESTIONS AS TO THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION
Delitzsch suggests, for Til Ababi, “Mound of the Flood” (which may have been a not uncommon village-name in Babylonia) is uncertain. Moreover, if the captives themselves were the authors of the name, it is more likely to have been in the Hebrew language.
EPIGRAPHICAL VALUE 1.Peculiar Cuneiform Script
The results of the discovery of the Tell el-Amarna Letters have been far- reaching, and there are indications of still other benefits which may yet accrue from them. The discovery of them shares with the discovery of the Code of Hammurabi the distinction of the first place among Biblical discoveries of the past half-century.
PHILOLOGLCAL VALUE
GEOGRAPHICAL VALUE
HISTORICAL VALUE
There were undoubtedly “confederates” in conspiracy against Egypt in the time of the Tell el-Amarna Letters. At the time of the conquest there is constant reference made to “the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites,” etc.
STRUCTURE AND HISTORY I. SOLOMON’S TEMPLE
The Temple Building
They may have been used partly for storage, partly for the accommodation of those engaged in the service of the Temple (compare <130927> . 1 Chronicles 9:27). A conspicuous feature of the Temple was the porch in front of the building, with its twin pillars, Jachin and Boaz.
Courts, Gates and Royal Buildings
These writers remove the court from all connection with the royal buildings of 1 Kings 7, and distinguish it from “the great court of 7:9,12.” A quite different. The extensive part occupied by the royal buildings being on a lower level than the “inner court,” entrance to it is thought to have been by “the gate of the guard unto the king’s house” mentioned in <121119>2.
Furniture of the Temple
A new feature in the sanctuary court — taking the place of the “laver” in the tabernacle — was the “molten sea,” the name being given to it for its great size. The tabernacle laver had its place taken by the “sea” just described, but the Temple was also provided with 10 lavers or basins, set on “bases” of elaborate design and moving upon wheels — the whole made of bronze.
History of the Temple
The religious declension of the later days of Solomon (<111101>1 Kings 11:1-8) brought in its train disasters for the nation and the Temple. The ungodly Ahaz went farther than any of his predecessors in sacrilege, for, besides robbing the Temple and palace of their treasures to secure the aid of the king of Assyria (<121608>2 Kings 16:8), he removed the brazen altar from its time- honored site, and set up a heathen altar in its place, removing likewise the bases and ornaments of the lavers, and the oxen from under the brazen (bronze) sea (<121610> . 2 Kings 16:10-17).
EZEKIEL’S PROPHETIC SKETCH I. Introductory
While, however, there is this historical relation, it is to be observed that Ezekiel’s temple-sketch is unique, presenting features not found in any of the actually built temples. The visionary character of the temple has the effect of securing that its measurements are perfectly symmetrical.
Plan of the Temple
The temple-platform being only 60 cubits broad, there remained a space of 20 cubits (30 ft.) on the north and south sides, running the entire length of the platform; this, continued round the back, formed the [gizrah], or. Such, in general, was the sanctuary of the prophet’s vision, the outer and inner courts of which, and, crowning all, the temple itself, rising in.
THE TEMPLE OF ZERUBBABEL I. Introductory
In the year following, Cyrus made a decree sanctioning the return of the Jews, and ordering the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem (<143623>2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezr 1:1-4). The first work of Joshua and Zerubbabel was the building of the altar on its old site in the 7th month of the return (Ezr 3:3 ff).
The Temple Structure
The greater glory of the former Temple can only refer to adornment, and to the presence in it of objects wanting in the second. At the cleansing of the sanctuary after its profanation by this prince, they were renewed by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 4:41 ff).
THE TEMPLE OF HEROD I. Introductory
Built of white marble, covered with heavy plates of gold in front and rising high above its marble-cloistered courts — themselves a succession of terraces — the temple, compared by Josephus to a snow-covered mountain (BJ, V, v, 6), was a conspicuous and dazzling object from every side. Kennedy in The Expository Times (vol XX), “Some Problems of Herod’s Temple” (compare his article “Temple” in one-vol DB); in Sanday’s Sacred Sites of the Gospels (Waterhouse); latterly in G.
The Temple and Its Courts
Josephus, with more probability, carries the 11 cubits of the “court of Israel” round the whole of the temple-court (BJ, V, vi). Representations of the two latter are seen in the carvings on the Arch of Titus (see SHEWBREAD, TABLE OF; CANDLESTICK, GOLDEN).
New Testament Associations of Herod’s Temple
- Second Version Not a Facsimile of First
- The Two Versions Differ as to the Builder
- The Earlier Version Silent about Things Recorded in Later Version
- Reason for Interdicting David’s Purpose to Build a Temple Examining now in detail the abovestated objections, we readily see that
- Impossibility of David in His Old Age Collecting Materials Enumerated by the Chronicler
- Supernaturally Received Pattern of the Temple Said to Have Been Given by David to Solomon
- Alleged Organization of the Temple-Service by David
- Assertion by Solomon That the Temple Would Be Used as a Central Sanctuary
- THE SOURCES
- TIME AND PLACE
- SIGNIFICANCE
- THE REPORTER
- EXPOSITION
- THE CHARACTER OF THE NARRATIVE
- HOW COULD A SINLESS CHRIST BE TEMPTED?
The prediction was fulfilled to the letter in the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. A study of Solomon’s letter to Hiram (<140204> . 2 Chronicles 2:4) shows that the Temple was intended for the concentration of the nation’s.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AN ISRAELITE CODE
But the first two prohibitions were novelties in the religious life of the world; for men worshipped many gods, and bowed down to images of every conceivable kind. The observance of the Sabbath was probably unknown to other nations, though it may have been already known in the family of Abraham.
THE PROMULGATION OF THE DECALOGUE
ANALYSIS OF THE DECALOGUE WITH BRIEF EXEGETICAL NOTES
