Biblical Hebrew Blog by ClassicalHebrew.com

Biblical Hebrew - The Alphabet - Lesson 1

The Jerusalem Temple is a general name which conveys two different temples, operating from the 10th century BCE to the 1st century CE on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, with a seven-decade-long gap during the 6th century CE due to the Babylonian exile.

The Temple was the religious center of the Israelite and later Judean religion, and was the place of offerings and festivals, and included many ritual objects: the candlestick which provided light for the temple, the altar upon which the sacrifices were given, the altar of incense, and the Tabernacle, existing only during the First Temple Period, which contained the tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments and the manna. But first and foremost, the Temple was a place of prayer for all those wishing to pray to YHWH, whether Israelites or gentiles. The Temple became the religious center of the people only during the reign of Solomon, and was preceded by the desert Tabernacle and the temples of Shilo and Bethel.

The First Temple was built by Solomon, who completed David’s task of establishing the kingdom and its religious and governmental institutions. The Temple was to be the symbol of God’s presence amongst his people, as God says to Solomon: “This house which you are building, if you walk in my statutes . . . then I will keep my word with you . . . And I will dwell among the people of Israel, and I will not forsake my people, Israel” (1 Kings 6:12-13).
The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and approximately 70 years later, the first exiles returned from Babylon and re-established the Temple. This Temple was a small and meager version of the first, but was an important symbol of the return of Israel to their land. In the 1st century CE, King Herod renovated the building and turned it into a beautiful and glorious architectural masterpiece, as the Rabbis said: “He who did not see the Temple of Herod has never seen a truly beautiful building” (Babylonian Talmud Baba Batra 4a).
The Second Temple was the center of Jewish religious and political life for over half a millennium, witnessing revolts, changes of external empires and internal governments, and many religious disputes. Among the reformers active in this Temple was Jesus, who overturned the tables of the money-changers who were working inside the temple court and drove out the animals being sold for sacrifice, in order to protest the state of the Temple and the fact that it had become a place of market rather than the house of God. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.

Map of Jerusalem

Technorati Tags: The Jerusalem Temple,the Temple Mount,city of Jerusalem,history of Jerusalem,King Solomon,book of Kings,biblical Hebrew

The Wisdom literature of the Bible was not necessarily officially defined as such in biblical times, but can be described as those books which include different kinds of advice which is based on wisdom and experience. The books included in this category are Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job, and from the Apocrypha – the Proverbs of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon.

While the meaning of the word “wisdom” is rather clear in modern times, in biblical times it is slightly more complex. Initially, this word denoted any kind of expert: God says of Bezalel, who designed the instruments of the desert Tabernacle, that “I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom and intelligence…”. However, eventually, the word came to denote an expert in rhetorical arts, and from there received its meaning as one who is an expert in giving advice.

Contrary to popular thought, biblical wisdom is not necessarily religious in character. It often has more to do with good practical and moral advice, which is usually presented in the form of a proverb. The most significant compilation of such proverbs is found, naturally, in the Book of Proverbs, which is comprised of nine collections of proverbs. In these are included different kinds of advice, scolding, general sayings defining different aspects of life, encouragement of the fear of God, and in the last chapter – the description of the Woman of Valor.

Another important book belonging to the Wisdom Literature is the Book of Ecclesiastes, in which Qoheleth, traditionally identified as Solomon, describes his life-time search after Wisdom in a manner reminiscent of the Greek philosophers. After presenting the various questions he tried to solve and discovering the limits of human thought, Qoheleth pessimistically concludes that all human efforts to understand the world are futile and people must simply enjoy what they have in life and fear God.

Technorati Tags: Wisdom Literature,Bible,Proverbs,Ecclesiastes,Job,Wisdom of Solomon,biblical wisdom,Solomon,Qoheleth