worm-eaten was always rejected as unworthy to be fuel for the sacred fire. The fourth was the court of the lepers; in which persons used to be washed after having been cured of leprosy. In the court of the women also were the entrances to two rooms situated under the floor of the court of the men, which were appropriated to the reception of musical instruments. Between the sanctuary and the intermural, or outer inclosure towards the north, was the fire-house,* which was divided into four apartments. Two of them, next the sanctuary, were holy on account of their situation: the other two, adjoining the outer inclosure, were common. The first was appropriated to the examination of the lambs destined for the daily sacrifices, lest there should be any blemish in them. The second was assigned to those who prepared the shew bread. In the third the Maccabees had deposited the stones of the altar profaned by Antiochus. The use of the fourth was twofold. For the priests kept guard in it, and from it was the entrance to a bath where they were to wash and purify themselves after the contraction of impurity. Near the bath was a fire, kept constantly burning, that after washing in the one they might immediately be dried and warmed by the other. In the court of the men also there were eight rooms; three on the south, three on the north, and the other two near the eastern gate.† On the north (or, according to Maimonides, on the south) was the room in which the salt prepared for salting the sacrifices was deposited; the room in which the skins of the victims were salted; and that in which the mem • Misna in Middoth, c. 1. + Misna in Middoth, c. 5. bers and entrails of the sacrifices used to be washed. On the opposite side was a room, of which the part next the sanctuary was holy, and the part next the outer inclosure was common; and in this part was the tribunal of the Sanhedrim: the well-room, in which was the fountain that supplied water for the use of the temple: and the wood-room, which, according to Maimonides,* was also the chamber of the high priest. Here the high priest used to be instructed in the sacred ceremonies which he was to perform on the day of expiation, lest he should fail in any of the solemnities of that day. Near the eastern gate was the apartment of those who provided the daily cake for the high priests' meat offering; and the room appropriated to the use of those who had the charge of the pontifical vestments. Over the gate of the sanctuary were two rooms.† In the former the holy incense used to be prepared, and in both the priests kept guard. For the priests used to watch in three places, in these two rooms and in the fire-house, and the Levites in one and twenty places, about the temple, every night. Maimonides supposes this to have been done, not so much for the protection of the temple, as for the honour of it. In the sanctuary were two rooms; one, into which benevolent persons privately conveyed what they wished to be distributed to the poor; the other, into which persons brought all vessels which they presented for the use of the temple, but which, if unfit for the sacred service, were sold by the treasurers, and their value was expended in cleansing the temple. * In Beth Habech. c. 5. Maimon. in Beth Habechira, c. 8. Misna in Middoth, c. 1. VI. As there were many apartments in the temple, there were also many officers belonging to it. The first of these convoked the priests, the Levites, and those who were called stationary men, with the following summons: 'Priests arise; Levites to the desk; 'Israelites to the station. The stationary men were appointed to supply the places of the people at the sacrifices. For as it was required that all persons for whom sacrifices were offered should be present at their respective oblations, but the whole nation could not be present at the sacrifices offered for all the people, hence it became a custom to select a number of the most eligible persons, who should attend at the public sacrifices as the representatives of the whole nation. These were called stationary men, and the business assigned them in relation to the sacrifices was called the station. A second was charged with the care of the gates. A third was the principal officer of the whole guard, and was called the man of the mountain of the house. A fourth presided over the singers. A fifth had the custody of the musical instruments. A sixth superintended the lots that determined the order in which every priest was to perform the sacred services. A seventh procured turtles and doves, which he sold to those who were about to make such offerings. An eighth was the keeper of the tickets on which certain words were inscribed, respectively indicating the appointed portion of wine and flour to be used with every victim. For a fixed price he delivered the ticket to the persons about to offer a sacrifice. A ninth, on receiving the ticket from them, supplied them with the portion of wine and flour expressed on the ticket. A tenth presided over the physicians in Maimon. in Chel. Hammikdash, c. 7. + Ibid. c. 6. trusted with the care of the priests; who, from walking without shoes on the pavement of the sanctuary, were frequently troubled with dysentery. An eleventh was inspector of the aqueducts of the city of Jerusalem, as well as of the sanctuary. A twelfth prepared the shew bread. A thirteenth compounded the holy incense. A fourteenth provided the curtains, and presided over those who wove them. The number of curtains belonging to the temple were thirteen; seven at the seven gates, one at the porch, one before the outer sanctuary, two before the inner sanctuary, and two in the upper part* of the temple. A fifteenth had the care of the sacred vestments of the temple. But what has been said may suffice on this part of the subject. We are now to shew what was the nature of the temple and the design of that sacred edifice. The reason for doing this will appear in another place. Called by the Hebrews, and by the Greeks Tepov. Misna in 41 CHAPTER III. The proper Nature and Design of the Tabernacle and Temple. THE design of the tabernacle and temple was evidently one and the same. Both were equally sacred, and equally, in succession, the sanctuary of God. Not to involve a plain subject in any perplexities, we observe that each was designed to be a sacred mansion for the residence of God, as the king of the Hebrews, in the midst of his subjects. Between that edifice and the synagogues erected in succeeding times there was this important difference : in the synagogues God was merely worshipped, whereas in the temple he not only was worshipped, but resided in a remarkable manner, as we shall proceed to shew. This is evident from the very command given for the construction of the tabernacle. For his language "Let them make to Moses on this occasion was: 66 me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them :"* which is the same as if he had said, I will dwell ' in that sanctuary which shall be in the midst of the camp of the people.' It was on this account that all unclean persons were to be removed out of the Israelitish camp; that they might not defile that camp in the midst of which God resided. Nor was there any other reason why God is said to have “walked” in the midst of the camp,‡ than because he conspicuously resided in that tabernacle, which was carried about from place to place with the camp itself during the travels of the people in the wilderness. Exod. xxv. 8. + Num. v. 3. ‡ Deut. xxiii. 14. Levit. xxvi. 11, 12, |