were not shaped; no iron tool had been used upon them, Exod. xx, 25; but they were cemented together with mortar, pitch, and lead, into a regular form. On account of the number of sacrifices, the altar was washed on the eve of the Sabbath, and whitened at the passover and feast of tabernacles. On the top of this altar three fires were kept constantly burning. The first was the great fire for the sacrifices; the second, a small fire of fig-tree wood, to supply the coals taken into the holy place to burn the incense; the third, another small fire, to rekindle the larger fire in case it should go out. The priest went up by an inclined plane, or sloping ascent of stone, united to the altar.

This altar of burnt-offering was sometimes called Ariel, or the lion of God, fron the number of animals it devoured, the number consumed on it as sacrifices. Whatever touched it was esteemed holy, and there was no other altar allowed in the land of Israel; thus the unity of God was symbolically taught. The height of the altar itself, added to the higher ground on which the inner court stood, would render the flames that consumed the sacrifice partially visible to those in the outer courts, and thus remind them of the great object of these institutions.

On the north side of the altar were twenty-four rings, fixed in the stones of the pavement, to which the animals

intended for sacrifices were fastened when slaughtered. Also four pillars on which the carcasses were suspended to be flayed, and eight marble tables on which they were washed and divided.

In the first temple the molten sea, or brass laver, stood in this court; an immense vessel of metal, nine feet deep, and more than fifty in circumference. Its precise shape is not known, but it contained from 12,000 to 20,000 gallons of water.

It is not likely that the oxen on which it stood, (2 Chron. iv, 3, 4,) were fully represented as here; the supports probably were oval masses of metal, having the form and something of the appearance of the head of an ox.

On the south side of the altar, under the ascent, was a dark recess, where the offal and ashes were put till removed from the court, and a closet for birds that were found unfit for sacrifices. On the side of the ascent was a table of silver, for vessels and utensils; and one of marble, on which were placed the pieces of the sacrifices, before they were carried up to the altar. Below the ascent on the south side, the less holy sacrifices were killed, when the whole were too numerous to be slaughtered on the north side.

Between the altar and the porch was a space about forty feet in width, considered particularly sacred. None might enter it who were maimed or deformed, nor any persons

with their heads uncovered; for, contrary to European customs, that was a sign of irreverence: nor durst any enter it with unwashen hands and feet, or if excited by wine. No one might remain in this space while the high priest was burning the daily incense in the holy place, nor when he went into the most holy place once a year, with the blood of the sin-offering. This may remind us. that no one is able to take part with Christ in his intercession for his Church, in that intercession which was figured by the offering of incense, and sprinkling blood on the mercy-seat. And thus there is an emblem, that human merit cannot, in any degree, be the ground of our justification. In this space the priests, the ministers of the Lord, wept and prayed on the days appointed for public fasting and national humiliation, Joel ii, 17. As this space was so sacred, how daring the blasphemous conduct of the idolaters, whom Ezekiel (viii, 16) saw between the porch and the altar, worshiping the sun, with their faces towards the east, and their backs to the temple! Here also Zacharias, the son of Barachias, was murdered, Matt. xxiii, 35; the atrocity of the crime being increased by the place where it was committed.

In this place was the megeruphita, apparently a large vessel of sonorous metal, which was struck at certain times, to give signals for the performance of various duties. Also the laver, in which the priests washed before they entered on their duties. In the last temple there was only one laver; its size, and the material of which it was made, are not mentioned, but it was filled afresh every day. On one side of this court was a room which contained a draw-well; or rather a wheel, by which water was drawn up from a very large cistern, or reservoir. The quantity of water used in the temple was very great, both for the personal use of the priests, and for cleansing the courts, which after many sacrifices needed a considerable quantity to wash the pavement. Aristeas describes this supply as being brought more than half a mile, in pipes, under-ground, Being raised by this wheel, the water was easily supplied to the baths, and other places where it was needed. There were many vents, or holes in the pavement, through which the waste water and washings were conveyed, by under-ground channels, to the brook Kidron. Some traces of these reservoirs

under the temple have been found and described by recent travelers. They formed part of a vast subterranean structure beneath the temple, much of which still remains, but has not been fully explored. The original limestone rock has been very clearly traced, and various excavated chambers have been examined. Different conjectures have been formed respecting their date. Some appear to have been of the date of the temple built by Herod, from their resemblance to the erections of that period; while others of a different description have been attributed to the time of Solomon; and it is certain that the rocky foundation is the same that it was in his days, though probably the arched or vaulted chambers under ground may belong to a later period, when the bridge was erected between the temple and Mount Zion. "To whatever age," says Bartlett, may refer the erection of the bridge, it undoubtedly existed at the time of the advent of Christ. At that time it was often crowded with the noble and wealthy of the land, on their way from the proud palaces of the upper city to the house of God. What a contrast is presented by its present state! the bridge broken down, the Jews shut out from the holy and beautiful house of their fathers, and the slopes of Zion hung with mean and ruinous houses, the abodes of poverty and wretchedness."

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CHAPTER VII.

THE TEMPLE-THE HOLY PLACES-PRESENT STATE OF THE SITE.

THE pile of building containing the temple itself, as reconstructed by Herod, was much larger, and in some respects differed in form from that of Solomon, already described. The east front or porch was 180 feet long, and 218 high in the centre; but lower on each side, and contained many apartments. It had a flat roof surrounded with battlements. The body of the temple behind this was narrower, so that the whole was in the form of the letter T. This porch was entered by twelve steps, each nearly eleven inches high, and of different widths, but extending almost to the altar. Thus the whole elevation of the threshold of

the porch above the court of the Gentiles was more than forty feet. The porch was about thirty-nine feet across, from the threshold of the holy place, including the thickness of the walls. The entrance to the porch was a large opening, more than seventy feet high, and half as wide. It had no doors, but stood always open. Josephus says this was intended to be emblematical of heaven-always open to the prayer of the believer. In the porch of Solomon's temple stood the two pillars, called Jachin and Boaz. In that of Herod's temple was a golden vine richly wrought, the bunches of grapes as large as a man; it was continually increased in size, some persons giving a leaf or a grape, others more.

The entrance to the holy place was through a wall eleven feet thick. A door of two leaves was hung next to the porch, and another next to the holy place; each opened inwards. The priest, whose business it was to open and shut these doors, first passed through a wicket in the outer door, then entered the holy place through a small opening in the wall, exactly where one of the leaves of the inner door fell back against the wall when opened. He then unclosed the large leaves of the doors. Those of the outer door, being richly adorned, formed ornamental sides to the entrance. In this entrance was a marble slab, which could be lifted by a ring fastened in it. From a cavity underneath this, the priest took the dust used in the trial by the bitter water, Num. v, 17. We may here observe, that the proceedings of that trial, as originally directed, were simple, solemn, and considerate towards both parties; but, in later times, many circumstances of unkindness towards the woman were added to the ceremonial, rather showing a determination to prejudge the case against the accused, than leaving the result to the Most High.

When the doors of the holy place were opened, the entrance was closed by a veil richly wrought. Veils were also hung in the gates of the court of Israel, and in the gateway of the porch.

The holy place, at the time our Saviour was upon earth, was not only larger, but more lofty than that of Solomon; the flooring and the sides were covered with gold, and richly wrought with carved-work, probably flowers, palm-trees, and cherubim. In each temple there was a