place to God for
the speed with which it was finished, and in the second place for the
zeal which the king had shown. They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding
of the temple; the king sacrificed three hundred oxen to God, as did the
others, each according to his ability. The time of this celebration of the
work about the temple also fell upon the day of the king's inauguration,
which the people customarily observed as a festival. The coincidence of
these anniversaries made the festival most notable.

I. Herod's Motives. It is not difficult to appreciate the reasons which
influenced Herod to begin the rebuilding of the temple. Chief among these
was doubtless the desire to win still further the approval of his master
Augustus. It is also a characteristic of a man of Herod's type to seek to
gain popular approval by the munificence of his public gifts. Throughout
his reign he was painfully aware of the suspicions of his Jewish subjects.
He trusted, and the event proved the wisdom of his judgment, that he might
conciliate them by giving them that about which their interest most
naturally gathered. The methods which he employed in building the temple
clearly indicate that this was one of his leading motives. He also
gratified that love of construction which had found expression in many of
the cities of Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean. He desired to rear
a great memorial for himself, and in this hope he was not disappointed,
for later generations continued to think of him with gratitude because of
the temple which bore his name.

II. Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple. Herod's temple was
begun in 20 or 19 B.C. and was not entirely completed until a few years
before its destruction in 70 A.D. The task in itself was a difficult one,
for on the north the city prevented the extension of the temple area, and
on the south the hill rapidly descended toward the juncture of the
Tyropoean and Kidron valleys. Herod met the difficulty by filling in to
the south with vast stone constructions which rose to the height of
seventy to ninety feet above the virgin rock. To economize building
materials he built the huge underground vaults and arches known to-day
as Solomon's Stables. Thus with a vast expense of labor and wealth he
extended the temple area to the south until it was double that which
surrounded Solomon's temple. It was also important to regard in every
detail the ceremonial scruples of the Jews. To this end a