How Many Jewish Temples Are There In The Bible?
By Gary L. Fiscus, 2024
The word temple is first used regarding the Old Testament tabernacle. It is mentioned as the place where Elkanah offered sacrifices and worshiped Jehovah. The scene involves Bible characters such as Peninnah, Hanna, Eli, Hophni and Phineas. 1 Sam. 1:9 reads that “Eli sat on a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.” The word “temple” is used however close to 180 times in both covenants.
“Temple” is used in multiple scriptures with varying contexts. The New Testament identifies “temple” as Jesus’ body, Jn. 2:19, 21, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. . . But he spake of the temple of his body.”
After this same manner, we learn at 1 Cor. 3:16-17 the apostle Paul penned, “Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.” Sometimes “temple” means church. At Eph. 2:21, the apostle referred to “an holy temple in the Lord.” Heaven is called a “temple” (Rev. 7:5). To the converse, pagans had their own temples, e.g., Diana of Acts 19:27.
Notwithstanding all the above passages considered, the word temple is generally thought of as a sacred dwelling and markedly that which was on Mount Moriah. This word is generally used in Scripture of the sacred house erected at the summit of Mount Moriah. It was here that people worshiped God. Recorded in Chronicles we learn, “Then Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where Jehovah appeared unto David his father, which he made ready in the place that David had appointed, in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chron. 3:1). We will come back to this discussion later.
There are many other references and identifying phrases used regarding the word “temple”:
1 Kgs. 6:17, “the temple”
2 Kgs. 11:10, “the temple (house) of the Lord”
1 Chron. 29:1, “the palace for the Lord God”
2 Chron. 7:12, “an house of sacrifice”
2 Chron. 24:6, “the tabernacle of witness”
2 Chron. 36:17, “the house of their sanctuary”
74:2; 84:7, “Zion”
79:1, “the holy temple”
2:2, “the mountain of the Lord’s house”
2:3, “the house of the God of Jacob”
27:13, “the holy mount”
60:7, “the house of my glory”
56:7 & Matt. 21:13, “house of prayer”
64:11, “our holy and our beautiful house”
2:16, “My Father’s house”
In defining terms, one must understand that merely stating or writing the word “temple” may have contextual requirements to fully understand its meaning in that place.
For all practical purposes, I suggest that we limit our studies here to material structures that are biblically identified as temples. Yet, we do not want to minimize the symbolic and metaphoric usages as mentioned in the aforementioned scriptures. That being said, let us understand that the first tabernacle (tent), was the “temple” of the Israelites for about 500 years. I.E., from the time of Moses to the time of Solomon. That tabernacle, however, is usually not considered as the “temple,” although by critical definition it could be. As we note later, The First Temple is considered to be King Solomon’s.
During the reign of Solomon’s father, King David, he decided to build God a temple, i.e., a permanent building. (Although the tent (tabernacle) was built “according to God’s pattern” (Heb. 8:5) it was still a tent!) I mention just here that although it was a tent, it was designed exactly as the Lord intended. Estimates by modern statisticians, (2024), put the cost of building that initial tent-tabernacle-temple at $13,000,000 (million), just for the materials!
David’s idea, as well-intentioned as it may have been, was rejected by Jehovah. His reasoning? After all, did the king not think that this was a way of glorifying the Creator? The lesson for us is from the old cliché, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I.E., man often assumes that what he feels will honor God must be acceptable to Him. Is that not a form of another saying, “We create God in our image,” instead of “We were created in His?” (See Genesis 1:26-27). We must, as I mentioned above from Hebrews 8:5 stay with God’s pattern. Jeremiah the prophet inscribed, “Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein,” 6:16.
The reason King David’s plan was rejected is because Jehovah recognized him as a man of war. God wanted a man of peace to build His temple. David’s son, Solomon built the “temple.” It, even today is called Solomon’s Temple or The First Temple. We must give credit where credit is due. Yes, it was Solomon’s Temple but father David had done much of the preparation for that structure. At 1 Chronicles 29:2, the record reads, “Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might.” This whole text of 1 Chronicles 29 goes on to explain what David and the people did to arrange the formation of the structure.
At the completion of Solomon’s temple, it stood for 410 years. The Babylonians then conquered Jerusalem. This resulted in the temple’s destruction. There was subsequently no temple for about 70 years. After that period a second temple was begun in 516 B.C. A new generation of leadership came after the Babylonian Empire's dominance.
The second temple, built under the auspices of the prophet Ezra and King Artaxerxes, would last for nearly 600 years. As Bible students, perhaps we are more familiar with Ezra, the priest, as his activities and credentials are spelled out in Ezra 7 – Nehemiah 12.
Zerubbabel, his name meaning “offspring of Babylon,” is identified as the grandson of King Jehoiachin of Judah, 1 Chron. 3:17. This made him a descendant of King David. Zerubbabel traveled to Judah after King Cyrus II allowed the Judean captives to return to rebuild the temple, Ezra 1:1-4; 6:3-5, 8-10. Haggai says that Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah after the exile, Hag. 1:1; 2:2, 21. In the genealogical accounts of the Messiah, Zerubbabel is listed as an ancestor, Matt. 1:12-13; Lk. 3:27.
At Ezra 3:2-3, 8, we know that Zerubbabel supervised the reconstruction of the second temple with the help of Joshua, not the “Joshua son of Nun.” At Ezra 4:1-24 we read that King Artaxerxes stopped the rebuilding. Only the foundation had been completed at this point. The work of the second temple, however, had begun and completed under King Darius, Ezra 6:15. This again was about 516 B.C. In the last hundred years of this construction, Herod the Great made improvements to that temple. This work resulted in the second temple being called Herod’s Temple, but the temple had stood for more than 450 years before Herod took over the renovation. It is this temple that stood in the days of Jesus. In fact everything that occurred in the New Testament that mentions “temple” is this second one. It was the second temple that the Roman Emperor Titus destroyed in A.D. 70.
Our initial question was “How many Jewish temples are there in the Bible?” Most would agree with the answer “two,” but remember, at the beginning, we included the Tabernacle as, by definition, being a temple. Please note again all the scriptural references given above to the use of the word “temple” as being “church,” “body,” “palace,” “sanctuary,” et.al.
As I said most people would answer with “two temples,” one built by Solomon and the second built under Ezra’s and Zerubbabel’s leadership and after the Babylonian exile.
As an addendum to the above, I offer some thoughts regarding the use and abuse of Bible passages regarding “the temple,” or more accurately, a “third temple.”
Hebrews misuse Jeremiah’s prophecy in 33:14-18 saying that the passage refers to a Messianic Age when all of Israel will be saved, restored, and given the land. I believe Jeremiah’s prophecies have been fulfilled. All the land promised to Israel has already been given, Joshua 21:43-45; yet today’s Jews will not accept the Old Covenant data fulfilling that land promise. Neither will they accept Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. That Messianic age has already passed. It is not of the future. Subsequently, some, not all Jews, advocate that a third temple needs to be built to accommodate that Messiah when He returns to the earth, which is also not happening, 1 Thess. 4:13-18.
There has been, however, the inauguration of what is called the Temple Movement. That started in A.D. 1987, 37 years ago. That interchange has brought about a major conflict between two Jewish factions, the modern-moderate Jews and the orthodox Jews. The orthodox worshipers hold to the philosophy that the building of a third temple would be a spiritual work and not for modernists advocating political principles. Preparations for a cornerstone to be laid at the third temple site are in progress. The making of various temple-related utensils is continuing.
Jehovah has seen fit not to give us a “pattern” to build another tent-tabernacle-temple. We are blessed in having today Jesus the Christ as our King of His kingdom, the church. He is “Lord of lords and King of kings!” We worship Him in “His holy temple,” Ephesians 2:18-22.