Robert Atkin RobertAtkin.

net October 2011

What cosmic symbolism did Solomons Temple have, what purpose did that
symbolism have (and what contribution to biblical theology and spirituality does
that symbolism make)?

The first temple dedicated to YHWH in Jerusalem was constructed under King
Solomon in the tenth century BC at the top of Mount Zion; where it stood until it
was destroyed by the Babylonians in 585 BC. 1 Solomons Temple was symbolic as
the dwelling place of Israels god, a restored Eden, a microcosm, the cosmic centre, a
bulwark against chaos and the story of Creation in stone. 2 This essay will consider
two of these categories in greater detail and the contribution to biblical theology and
spirituality they make.

The house of YHWH

The account of the construction of the temple, called the house of YHWH, is
recorded in 1 Kings 5-8 and 2 Chronicles 3-4. The rock, upon which the temple was
built, is significant for a number of reasons according to Jewish tradition. Margaret
Barker explains that this rock was the beginning of creation, the fixed point from
which the land was formed.3 From there the dust was gathered to form Adam,
Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac and, Barker continues, Jacob slept there when he
saw the ladder which reached up to heaven. 4

Barker describes, The temple was a rectangular building, twenty cubits wide and
seventy long. It was divided into three parts; the porch or vestibule (the lm),
which was ten cubits long; then the temple or palace (the hkl) which was forty
cubits long; and finally the holy of holies (the d br) which was twenty cubits long.5
The hkl and d br together were called the house. The d br formed a perfect cube
and was overlaid with gold. In the d br were two cherubim, each ten cubits high and
with a wingspan of ten cubits, made of olivewood and covered with gold. Under the
cherubim was placed the Ark of the Covenant.

Surrounding the house on three sides were store chambers. In front of the lm
were two bronze pillars, eighteen cubits high, with capitals on top that were five
cubits high. The names of the pillars were Jachin (ykn) meaning YHWH will
establish, and Boaz (baz) which means in strength.6 Around the house was the
temple courtyard containing an enormous bronze basin called the Sea (ym) and ten
smaller bronze lavers; each filled with water. In front of the house was the bronze
altar for burnt offerings.

1 M. Barker, The Gate of Heaven: The History and Symbolism of the Temple in Jerusalem, (Sheffield:
Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2008), p. 5.
2 C. H. T. Fletcher-Louis, course notes, 5. Solomons Temple: Part 2, OT: Creation & Worship, slide 6.

3 Barker, p. 19.

4 Ibid., p. 19.

5 Ibid., p. 22.

6 Ibid., p. 30.

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The temple as the Garden of Eden

Garden imagery filled the temple, evoking the idea of Eden. Barker writes, Solomon
built the temple as a garden sanctuary; the walls of the hkl were decorated with
golden palm trees and flowers, set with precious stones; the bronze pillars were
decorated with pomegranate patterns and the great lamp was a stylized almond
tree.7 Victor Hurowitz suggests the pillars, which drew the eye heavenward, may
be stylized trees, bringing to mind the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge which
stood in the centre of the Garden of Eden.8

This imagery spoke of abundant life, a theme picked up by the psalmist.

7How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of
your wings.
8They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give to them to drink the river of your
delights (adnk).
9For with you is the fountain of life (mqr ayym);
in your light we see light.

Psalm 36:7-99

Crispin Fletcher-Louis highlights the Edenic language in Psalm 36; the wings
suggest those of the cherubim, the root of the Hebrew word adnk, meaning your
delights, is den, the fountain of life is a picture of the rivers that run from Eden
(Genesis 2:10-14).10 Gordon Wenham draws a parallel between the two cherubim
that guarded the entrance to the garden east of Eden11 with the cherubim who
guarded the entrance to the d br, which is also entered from the east. 12 Wenham also
notes that the language used to describe Adam working the garden is the same as
that used to describe the Levites duties in the tabernacle, the forerunner of the
temple, suggesting that perhaps Adam should be described as an archetypal
Levite.13

7 Barker, p. 57.
8 V. A. Hurowitz, Ascending the Mountain of the Lord A Glimpse into the Solomonic Temple, in
Capital Cities: Urban Planning and Spiritual Dimensions. Proceedings of the Symposium Held on May 27-29,
1996, Jerusalem, Israel (ed. J. G. Westenholz; Jerusalem: Bible Lands Museum, 1999), p. 218.
9 Fletcher-Louis, 5. Solomons Temple: Part 2, slide 3.

10 Ibid., slide 5.

11 Genesis 3:24.

12 G. J. Wenham, Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story, PWCJS 9 (1986) pp. 19-25,

reprinted in G. J. Wenham, Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story, I Studied Inscriptions
from before the Flood: ANE literary and linguistic approaches to Gen 1-11 (eds. R. Hess and D. T. Tsumura;
Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1994), p. 401.
13 Ibid., p. 401.

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The meaning of the garden symbolism

The aforementioned garden imagery in the temple, and other parallels, demonstrate
that Solomon was in some way recreating Eden in the location, according to Jewish
tradition, of the original garden. Eden represented the ideal that was to be attained,
and the temple represented a restored Eden. Gregory Beale identifies the Garden of
Eden as the first temple. He writes, Israels temple was the place where the priest
experienced Gods unique presence, and Eden was the place where Adam walked
and talked with God.14

God placed Adam in the garden to serve as a priest-king and to subdue the entire
earth. 15

And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill
the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Genesis 1:28, ESV.

Beale suggests that Adam and Eve were to extend the geographical boundaries of
the garden until Eden covered the whole earth. 16 Beale notes that this is similar to
the idea in Babylonian and Egyptian tradition where the people would serve their
god by enlarging the size and influence of their temples.17 Adam was created to
continue the work of creation; the image of God taking the presence of God
throughout the whole earth. However, Adam and Eve did not subdue the serpent
and so failed in their task and were cast out of the garden. 18

Beale traces the Adamic commission being passed first to Noah, then to Abraham
and Jacob and on to David and Solomon. Elizabeth Bloch-Smith suggests the bronze
Sea in the temple courtyard represents the primordial waters issuing forth from
Eden and, together with the house, they display to the people YHWHs defeat of
the chaotic forces of nature and his endorsement of the king and people.19 The task
had been passed to Solomon to continue the work left unfinished by Adam.

The prophets foresaw a future Edenic idyll which was reflected in some of the
temple imagery. Hurowitz identifies in the bronze lavers a link to the ideal world of
the future [because] they were decorated with lions, cattle and cherubs. The

14 G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Churchs Mission: A biblical theology of the dwelling place of God
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), p. 66.
15 Ibid., p. 81.

16 Ibid., pp. 81-82.

17 Ibid., p. 82.

18 Ibid., p. 87.

19 E. Bloch-Smith, Who is the King of Glory? Solomons Temple and Its Symbolism, in Scripture and

Other Artifacts: Essays on the Bible and Archaeology in Honor of Philip J. King (ed. M. D. Coogan;
Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1994), p. 27.

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combination of lions and cattle recalls Isaiah's prophecy20 of the idyllic future when
the calf and the lion cub will graze together, and when the lion will eat straw like the
cattle.21 Ezekiel, prophesying twenty five years after the destruction of Solomons
Temple, had a vision of a future temple where a river flowed from the temple
threshold to the east. The river brought abundant life, to the animals and plants on
its banks and into the Dead Sea, in the same way as the river that flowed from Eden.

The temple as microcosm

The temple was also symbolic as a microcosm; that is a model of the universe.
Fletcher-Louis quotes the psalmist who says:

He built his holy place like the high heavens, like the
earth, which he has founded forever.

Psalm 78:6922

His holy place, the temple, is modelled on the heavens and earth. Jon Levenson
writes the Temple is the epitome of the world, a concentrated form of its essence, a
miniature of the cosmos.23 He adds, [it] is not a place in the world, but the world in
essence.24 Fletcher-Louis and Levenson point out the poetic parallelism in the
Psalms which highlight this.

YHWH is in his holy place (hkl),

YHWH's throne is in heaven.

Psalm 11:425
1 YHWH answer you in the day of trouble!
The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary,

and give you support from Zion.

6Now I know that the LORD will help his
anointed; he will answer him from his holy
heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.

Psalm 20:1-2, 626

The holy place, the hkl, and the most holy place, the d br, are identified as the
heavens. The psalmist is saying that when YHWH is in the house he is in heaven.

20 Isaiah 11:6-8.
21 Hurowitz, Mountain, p. 217.
22 Fletcher-Louis, 7. Solomons Temple. Part 3, slide 2.

23 J. D. Levenson, Sinai and Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible (New York: Harper & Row, 1985), p. 138.

24 Ibid., p. 139.

25 Fletcher-Louis, 7. Solomons Temple. Part 3, slide 8.

26 Ibid., slide 9.

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In the temple courtyard was the altar of earth (mizba dm), which represented
the earth and was made of uncut stone to symbolise it was made by God. 27 Ezekiel
called it the mountain of God (haril).28

The bronze Sea represented the sea, gathered together into one place as the waters
were in Genesis 1:9. The courtyard was the space that humans could occupy. The Sea
was chaotic-water conquered. It was fruitful, signified by the twelve bronze oxen
which supported it, and peaceful, signified by the lily work around its brim. 29

The meaning of the microcosm symbolism

During the temples construction neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was
heard in the house while it was being built.30 This indicates that the temple was
created by a god rather than made by human hands. God created the heavens and
earth and, as there was no sound of metal tools during the building of the house,
that too was created by God.

In other ancient Near Eastern temples there would be many shrines to the pantheon
of gods that were worshipped in them. Unusually, compared to the Egyptians and
Babylonians, Israel only worshipped one god and their temple had only one shrine
to Israels god.

YHWH has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.

1 Kings 8:12 (cf. Ps. 18:11, 97:2).

The d br, which was without windows, was where YHWH was enthroned, in the
middle of the temple. Therefore God is enthroned in the centre of all creation.

The temple as microcosm is the perfectly ordered creation. Fletcher-Louis notes that
the dimensions and the ratio of the measurements of the house add up to twenty
eight, which is the seventh perfect number. Since the house represents heaven, it is
fitting that its dimensions are perfect.31 The Sea represents vanquished chaos that
provides the irrigation of the earth, leading to fruitfulness and abundance of life. The
priests represent true human beings in a perfectly ordered world. The entire temple
is flawlessly ordered.

This is a picture of the Kingdom of God; the perfectly ordered cosmos, with God
enthroned in the centre; a perfectly ordered world, with everything in its place. In
the temple, the Kingdom of God is breaking into this earth.

27 Fletcher-Louis, 7. Solomons Temple. Part 3, slide 15.

28 Ezekiel 43:15-16.
29 Fletcher-Louis, 7. Solomons Temple. Part 3, slide 19.

30 1 Kings 6:7, ESV.

31 Fletcher-Louis, 7. Solomons Temple. Part 3, slide 14.

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Further, Fletcher-Louis suggests the pictures of trees and living creatures on the
walls of the house are alive and praising God.32 This is illustrated by the psalmist:

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the firmament above proclaims his
handiwork.

Psalm 19:133

The temple is therefore also created, rather than made by human hands, because it is
thought of as being alive. The human worshippers in the temple are surrounded by
the praises of the rest of the cosmos.
3Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
7Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
8fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!

Psalm 148:3-4, 7-934

Here the Edenic symbolism in the temple reinforces the temple as a microcosm. The
abundance of life and the reality of Eden permeate the reality of the whole temple
and therefore creation. The temple as microcosm is the world and cosmos as it
should be, with God enthroned in the centre; which is the Kingdom of God.

The contribution to biblical theology and spirituality of the cosmic symbolism

Solomons Temple stood for over four centuries before being destroyed. A second
temple was rebuilt following the exile and extended by Herod, before that too was
destroyed by the Romans. However, the Adamic commission to subdue the entire
earth, extending the geographical boundaries of Eden, remains incomplete.

The book of Revelation looks forward to the realisation of this commission. John has
a vision of a new heaven and a new earth, followed by a vision of the heavenly city,
the new Jerusalem, garden-like and which is in the shape of a cube, like the d br.35

32 Fletcher-Louis, 7. Solomons Temple. Part 3, slide 21.

33 Ibid., slide 21.
34 Ibid., slide 22.

35 Revelation 21.

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The new heaven and earth bring to mind the language of temple symbolism. Beale
writes the new creation and Jerusalem are none other than Gods tabernacle, the
true temple of Gods special presence. 36 He adds, Everything of which Old
Testament temples were typologically symbolic, a recapitulated and escalated
Garden of Eden and whole cosmos, will have finally been materialized. 37

Jesus, in proclaiming the Kingdom of God, began to inaugurate this eschatological

temple. The New Testament writers speak of a temple of living stones, with Christ as
the cornerstone.38 Beale explains, Christ is affirming that he is the new Adam and
true Israel, and ... that he has finally begun to fulfil successfully the commission of
Genesis 1:26-28 ... by establishing the true temple and increasing its borders
throughout the earth.39

The church, as the body of Christ, is the new temple and its role is to extend the
garden; continuing the work of creation by subduing it and having dominion over
the earth. Not being ruled over by creation or sin, but bringing order from chaos.
This is therefore the call on the life of every believer, to live their lives doing the very
thing they were created to do, using the gifts they have received and worshipping in
a way that connects them as worshippers of God to creation.

Conclusion

Adams purpose in the Garden of Eden was to expand it until it filled the entire
earth. His failure led to the establishment of first the tabernacle and then the temple.
The temple was modelled on Eden and was a microcosm of the whole cosmos. It
symbolised the Kingdom of God and points to the future realisation when the
presence of God will fill the whole earth.

36 Beale, p. 368.
37 Ibid., p. 369.
38 Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:4-6.

39 Beale, p. 196.

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Bibliography

Barker, M., The Gate of Heaven: The History and Symbolism of the Temple in Jerusalem,
(Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2008).

Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Churchs Mission: A biblical theology of the dwelling place
of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004).

Bloch-Smith, E., Who is the King of Glory? Solomons Temple and Its Symbolism,
in Scripture and Other Artifacts: Essays on the Bible and Archaeology in Honor of Philip J.
King (ed. M. D. Coogan; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1994), pp. 18-31.

Hurowitz, V. A., Ascending the Mountain of the Lord A Glimpse into the
Solomonic Temple, in Capital Cities: Urban Planning and Spiritual Dimensions.
Proceedings of the Symposium Held on May 27-29, 1996, Jerusalem, Israel (ed. J. G.
Westenholz; Jerusalem: Bible Lands Museum, 1999).

Hurowitz, V. A., YHWHs Exalted HouseAspects of the Design and Symbolism of

Solomons Temple, in Temple and Worship in Biblical Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford
Old Testament Seminar (ed. J. Day; London: T. & T. Clark, 2007), pp. 63-110.

Levenson, J. D., Sinai and Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible (New York: Harper &
Row, 1985).

Parry, D. W., Garden of Eden: Prototype Sanctuary, Temples of the Ancient World:
Ritual and Symbolism (ed. D. W. Parry; Salt Lake City: Desert Book Company, 1994),
pp. 126-151.

Smith, M. S., Like Deities, Like Temples (Like People), in Temple and Worship in
Biblical Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar (ed. J. Day; London T. &
T. Clark, 2007), pp. 3-27.

Wenham, G. J., Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story, PWCJS 9 (1986)
pp. 19-25, reprinted in G. J. Wenham, Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden
Story, I Studied Inscriptions from before the Flood: ANE literary and linguistic
approaches to Gen 1-11 (eds. R. Hess and D. T. Tsumura; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns,
1994), pp. 399-404.