CHAPTER ELEVEN
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE IN JOSEPHUS AND THE TEMPLE SCROLL
Studies on the descriptions of the Jerusalem Temple found in the works of Josephus have generally concerned the correspondence between those descriptions and the Second Temple as it stood in the last days before its destruction.1 Accordingly, such studies have usually attempted to establish a correspondence between Josephus’s accounts and the Temple plan found in Tractate Middot of the Mishnah.2 It has generally been assumed that some form of harmonization of the data in these two sources would yield a reasonable reconstruction of the architec- tural plan and appearance of what is generally termed the Herodian Temple—the Temple as rebuilt by King Herod (37–4 B.C.E.).3 In his detailed introduction to the Temple Scroll, Yigael Yadin assumed that in some way the details of the Temple plan included in the completed Temple Scroll by the author/redactor4 paralleled the Temple structure as it existed in his day—sometime in the early Hasmonean period.5 While certainly this must have been the case regarding certain
1 E.g., M. Avi-Yonah, “Beit Ha-Miqdash Ha-Sheni,” in Sefer Yerushalayim ( Jerusalem: Bialik Institute and Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1956), 392–418; S. Safrai, “The Temple,” in The Jewish People in the First Century, ed. S. Safrai et al., CRINT 1/2 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976), 865–869. Cf. L.I. Levine, “Josephus’ Description of the Jerusalem Temple: War, Antiquities, and Other Sources,” in Josephus and the History of the Greco-Roman Period: Essays in Memory of Morton Smith, ed. F. Parente and J. Sievers, Studia Post-Biblica 41 (Leiden: Brill, 1994) 233–246. 2 A critical edition is available in A.S. Kaufman, Massekhet Middot, Shizur Nusa Qadum ( Jerusalem: Har Yéraxeh Press, 1991). 3 Such a synthesis is opposed by Ch. Albeck, Shishah Sidre Mishnah, Qodashim ( Jeru- salem: Bialik Institute and Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1958) 313. 4 Y. Yadin, The Temple Scroll, vol. 1 ( Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983). Yadin saw the scroll as the product of the work of a single author. Subsequent schol- arship has identified several sources which were brought together by a final redactor who was responsible for the complete scroll. See A.M. Wilson and L. Wills, “Literary Sources in the Temple Scroll,” HTR 75 (1982) 273–288; M.O. Wise, A Critical Study of the Temple Scroll from Qumran Cave 11, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 49 (Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1990), 195–198; F. García Martínez, “Source et rédaction du Rouleau du Temple,” Hen 13 (1991) 219–232. 5 Yadin, Temple Scroll, 1, 386–390. For an introduction to the Temple Scroll, see L.H. Schiffman, “The Temple Scroll and the Nature of its Law: The Status of the Question,” 176 chapter eleven elements common to all the Jewish Temple plans, the Temple plan of this scroll was a utopian, reformist document which sought to change radically the religious status quo of the author’s time. It is possible that the Temple plan included in the scroll was composed even before the Maccabean Revolt. Similarly, scholars have argued that Josephus was describing Solo- mon’s Temple based on his first-hand knowledge of Herod’s Temple. Yadin adds that Josephus may even have been influenced by the Temple Scroll itself and the Essenes with whom he spent some time in his youth.6 This constellation of interrelated issues has led us to undertake a detailed comparison to the Temple plans of Josephus and of the Temple Scroll. This discussion will read Josephus independently of the mishnaic material and will, in turn, compare Josephus’ descriptions to those found in the Temple Scroll. A few words should be said about the nature of the material in Josephus which will be studied. Josephus presents three descriptions of the Jerusalem Temple. In Ant. 8, he describes the Temple as it was built by Solomon. In narrating the life of King Herod in Ant. 15, Jose- phus describes the Temple that Herod built. Finally, in War 5 Josephus describes the Temple within the context of the description of Jerusalem on the eve of the Roman conquest. The Temple plan found in the Temple Scroll is set out in one of the sources of the Temple Scroll.7 Probably dating to the early Hasmonean period or to earlier in the Hellenistic period, this plan is spelled out in great detail with exacting dimensions. It is based on exegesis of the Tabernacle texts in the Pentateuch, as well as the descriptions of the Temple in Exodus, Kings, and Chronicles, with some literary depen- dence on the Temple plan of Ezekiel as well.8 In this context, we should note that Josephus’s description of the Solomonic Temple was, no doubt, to a great extent the product of biblical interpretation on his part.
in The Community of the Renewed Covenant: The Notre Dame Symposium on the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. E. Ulrich and J.C. VanderKam ( Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994) 37–55 (pp. 33–51 in this volume). 6 Yadin, Temple Scroll, I, 192–196. 7 For a study of this source, see Wise, Critical Study of the Temple Scroll, 61–99. 8 See L.H. Schiffman, “Architecture and Law: The Temple and its Courtyards in the Temple Scroll,” in From Ancient Israel to Modern Judaism. Intellect in Quest of Understanding: Essays in Honor of Marvin Fox, ed. J. Neusner, E.R. Frerichs and N.M. Sarna, BJS 159 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989) vol. 1, 267–284 (pp. 215–232 in this volume).