Eightieth year. This chronology meets with the approbation of most people. See Usher. (Chap. xii.) Some, however, find a difficulty in reconciling it with Acts xiii. 20., which seems to attribute 450 years to the government of the judges. (Calmet) --- Septuagint have 440; Josephus 592, though Ruffin... [ Continue Reading ]
_House. Hebrew Habayith, "the palace" of the God of Israel, where the priests alone had access. It was surrounded by various courts and apartments, as the ancient temples were very different from ours. All these appendages sometimes go under the common name of the temple. (Calmet) --- Cubits. The co... [ Continue Reading ]
_Temple. The porch was of the same height as the temple, though we read that it was 120 cubits high, 2 Paralipomenon iii. 4. But one word seems there to have been substituted for another, (Calmet) unless it might resemble a high tower. (Haydock) --- Before the porch were placed the two brazen pillar... [ Continue Reading ]
_Oblique windows. Which were made slanting, that the light might be more easily communicated within. (Haydock) --- On the outside they were not so large. (Worthington) (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "windows to see through, shut," with lattices, (Calmet) or blinds. Protestants, "he made windows of narrow l... [ Continue Reading ]
_Upon the wall. That is, joining to the wall. --- He built floors round about. Chambers or cells adjoining to the temple, for the use of the temple and of the priests, so contrived as to be between the inward and outward wall of the temple, in three stories, one above another. --- The oracle. The in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Temple. This was done for greater respect, and that the walls might not be injured. Ezechiel (xli. 6,) counts 33 chambers on the three sides. St. Jerome seems to double that number; while Josephus acknowledges only 30. (Calmet) --- Salien has 42, or 14 in each story._... [ Continue Reading ]
Made ready, &c. So the stones for the building of God's eternal temple, in the heavenly Jerusalem, (who are the faithful) must first be hewn and polished here by many trials and sufferings, before they can be admitted to have a place in that celestial structure. (Challoner) --- Those who have the ha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Middle side. Septuagint, "lower story." (Calmet) --- "The door of the lower story (rib or side, Greek: pleuras; Chaldean, the lower appendage) was under the right wing of the house, and a winding staircase led to the middle, and from the middle to the third story. (Haydock) --- This sense is very c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Roofs. Protestants, "beams and boards of cedar." None of the stones appeared within, ver. 18. (Haydock)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Height. To prevent the excessive heats. Five other cubits were also subtracted, ver. 20. Some translate, "he made also stories of all the temple, each five cubits high;" so that the three stories occupied half the height of the walls, which were 30 cubits in height, ver. 2. (Calmet) --- Covered. He... [ Continue Reading ]
_Saying. By the prophet Ahia, as the Jews suppose he was sent thrice to Solomon. The temple had been commenced two years; (Salien) or this apparition took place after the dedication, and is related more at length; (chap. ix. 2.; Calmet) though the former opinion seems more agreeable to the context,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fir. Or perhaps of another species of cedar, resembling the juniper-tree. It is found in Ph\'9cnecian and in Lycia. See chap. v. 8. It is doubted whether the sanctuary was also boarded, as we read that it was paved with marble. Hebrew, "with precious and costly stones," 2 Paralipomenon iii. 6. But... [ Continue Reading ]
_The inner house of the oracle. That is, the sanctuary, which he separated from the other part of the temple, with this partition of cedar, instead of the veil, which in the tabernacle of Moses hung before the sanctuary. (Challoner) --- It was a square of 20 cubits, extending from the western end. ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Itself. Where the priests were stationed. This part was double the length, but of the same breadth, as the most holy place. (Haydock)_... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER VI. _ Out. Hebrew, "and the cedar boards of the house within, were carved with knops (fruits) and open flowers," (Haydock) alternately. (Calmet) --- At all. So the bones in the human body, though concealed, strengthen it; and monks, in their deserts, fortify the Church. (Worthington)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Pure gold. Hebrew, "reserved" by David, or "gold locked up," as most precious. Thin plates were laid on, so as to fit all the various mouldings, flowers, &c. --- Cedar. The altar was probably of stone, and upon the cedar boards gold was laid, that the ark might rest upon it. The altar of perfumes w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Before, ver. 17. The holy and the most holy place were equally covered with plates of gold. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "So Solomon overlaid the inner temple with gold reserved, and he made a partition with chains of gold, before the sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold." (Haydock) --- the chains were... [ Continue Reading ]
Olive. Hebrew, "trees full of oil or resin," distinguished from olive trees, 2 Esdras viii. 15. Vatable translates, "pine;" others, "cypress-wood." (Calmet) --- Height. Their gigantic stature served to denote the magnificence and greatness of God. They looked towards the east. (Menochius) --- Their... [ Continue Reading ]
_And divers, &c. Hebrew, "and open (full-blown) flowers within and without" the sanctuary. We read also of chains of gold connected together, 2 Paralipomenon iii. 5. The palm-trees might resemble pillars of the Corinthian order. (Calmet) --- It is clear that sacred pictures wer authorized to be set... [ Continue Reading ]
_Corners, each piece being, perhaps, a cubit in length, so that the two folding-doors would contain ten cubits, or half the wall. But Ezechiel only assigns six cubits to this door, and ten to that of which opened into the holy place. Hebrew, "the lintel and the side posts, a fifth" of the wall; in w... [ Continue Reading ]
_And carvings, &c. Hebrew, "and flowers full-blown." The term anaglypha, denotes a sculpture in relievo, (Calmet) or projecting. (Haydock)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fir-tree, or some species of cedar, ver. 15. --- Double. In the large doors, other smaller were made, that the priests might pass more easily. (Menochius) --- And so, &c. Literally, "and holding each other, was opened." Both the great and the small doors might open at the same time; (Sanchez) or ra... [ Continue Reading ]
_And carved, &c. Hebrew, "and open flowers, (as ver. 32) and overlaid them with gold, fitted upon the sculpture;" (Haydock) so that the shape of every thing appeared._... [ Continue Reading ]
Court of the priests. --- Cedar. Some think that the court was surrounded with galleries, supported on three rows of pillars; or one gallery was above another, on pillars of stone, with a third supported by cedar pillars. (Menochius) --- But Josephus takes no notice of these galleries. Others think... [ Continue Reading ]
Bul, afterwards styled Marchesvan. Pagnin thinks that the former name alludes to "the inundation" of rain, at that season, corresponding with our October and November. Chaldean, "the month of collected fruits." (Menochius) --- Years. Six months are neglected, (see chap. ii. 11.) and as many are redu... [ Continue Reading ]