incorporated with it this site of the ancient royal palace. What the splendour and height

(Professor Porter has calculated it at 440 feet) of this one porch in the Temple must have

been is best expressed in the words of Captain Wilson (Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 9): 'It

is almost impossible to realise the effect which would be produced by a building longer

and higher than York Cathedral, standing on a solid mass of masonry almost equal in

height to the tallest of our church spires.' And this was only one of the porches which

formed the southern enclosure of the first and outermost court of the Temple --that of

the Gentiles. The view from the top of this colonnade into Kedron was to the

stupendous depth of 450 feet. Here some have placed that pinnacle of the Temple to

which the tempter brought our Saviour.

These halls or porches around the Court of the Gentiles must have been most

convenient places for friendly or religious intercourse--for meetings or discussions.

Here Jesus, when still a child, was found by His parents disputing with the doctors; here

He afterwards so often taught the people; and here the first assemblies of the Christians

must have taken place when, 'continuing daily with one accord in the Temple,...praising

God, and having favour with all the people,...t he Lord added to the church daily such as

should be saved.' Especially do we revert to Solomon's Porch, that ran along the eastern

wall of the Temple, and faced its great entrance. It was the only remnant left of the

Temple built by the wise King of Israel. In this porch 'Jesus walked' on that 'Feast of the

Dedication,' (John 10:23) when He 'told it plainly,' 'I and my Father are one'; and it was

thither 'that all the people ran together' when 'the notable miracle' on the lame man had

been wrought at the 'Beautiful Gate of the Temple.'

It was the rule when entering the Temple to pass in by the right, and when leaving it to

go out by the left hand. The great Court of the Gentiles,11 which formed the lowest or

outer enclosure of the Sanctuary, was paved with the finest variegated marble.

According to Jewish tradition, it formed a square of 750 feet. Its name is derived from the

fact that it was open to all--Jews or Gentiles --provided they observed the prescribed

rules of decorum and reverence. In this court tradition places eating and sleeping

apartments for the Levites, and a synagogue. But, despite pharisaic punctilliousness,

the noise, especially on the eve of the Passover, must have been most disturbing. For

there the oxen, sheep, and doves selected as fit for sacrifices were sold as in a market;

and here were those tables of the money-changers which the Lord overthrew when He

drove from His Father's house them that bought and sold (Matt 21:12; John 2:14).

Within a short distance, in the court, a marble screen 4 1/2 feet high, and beautifully

ornamented, bore Greek and Latin inscriptions, warning Gentiles not to proceed, on pain

of death. One of those very tablets, bearing almost the same words as those given by

Josephus, has been discovered in late excavations. It was because they thought Paul

had infringed this order, that the infuriated multitude 'went about to kill him' (Acts 21:31).

Beyond this enclosure a flight of fourteen steps, each 9 inches high, led up to a terrace

15 feet bro ad, called the 'Chel,' which bounded the inner wall of the Temple. We are now

approaching the Sanctuary itself, which consisted, first, of three courts, each higher

than the former, and, beyond them, of the Holy and Most Holy Places, with their

outbuildings. Entering by the principal gate on the east we pass, first into the Court of

the Women, thence into that of Israel, and from the latter into that of the Priests. This

would have been, so to speak, the natural way of advancing. But there was a nearer road

into the Court of the Priests. For both north and south, along the terrace, flights of steps

led up to three gates (both north and south), which opened into the Court of the Priests,

while a fourth gate (north and south) led into the middle of the Court of the Women.

Thus there were nine gates opening from 'the Terrace' into the Sanctuary --the principal

one from the east, and four north and south, of which one (north and south) also led

into the Court of the Women, and the other three (north and south) into that of the