The Destruction of the Second Holy Temple
A Historical Overview
The Second Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem for 420 years (349 BCE–70 CE). Unlike the period of the First Temple, when the Jews were for the most part autonomous, for the vast majority of the Second Temple era the Jews were subject to foreign rule: by the Persians, the Greeks, and eventually the Romans.
Aside from the troubles caused by these external powers, the Jews were also plagued internally by tumultuous politics, and they divided into many factions—a phenomenon that ultimately led to the Temple’s destruction and our nation’s torturous exile.
Nevertheless, for 420 years, the Temple constituted a divine presence in our midst, the point where heaven and earth met. Its presence is sorely missed, its absence mourned. Our sole consolation is the knowledge that very soon we will merit to see the Third Temple, an edifice that will last for all eternity, and which will eclipse both of the first Temples in every way imaginable.
Below is a concise history of the Second Temple. The lessons to be learned from this often-sad saga speak for themselves.
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The Second Temple era spanned 420 years, ending with the Romans’ destruction of the Holy Temple in 70 CE. But for much of this period, Judea was under foreign domination.
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By allowing Pompey to become involved in the internal affairs of the Holy Land, Hyrkanus and Aristobulus had inadvertently given Judea into the hands of the Roman Empire...
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The Roman governors allowed lawlessness to reign. Arab gangs and corrupt Roman officers plundered and killed. Former High Priests formed their own militias to control the Temple.
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If the Jews had been united, they would have merited G‑d's protection. It was the factionalism among Jews that ultimately brought about the destruction of the Second Temple.
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But now the Jews began revolting against the Romans throughout the land. In ever-increasing numbers they joined the movement of the Zealots who were openly preparing for war...
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Bar Kamtza stood up, brushed the dust from his clothing and said to himself: "Since the rabbis were present at the feast and did not stop him, this shows they agreed with him. I'll slander them to the Emperor!"
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Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai wisely foresaw that Jerusalem was doomed and understood the need to transplant the center of Torah scholarship to another location.
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The extremists, pretending to be Jews coming to offer sacrifices, also entered. Once inside, they took out their swords and began to kill moderates as well as visiting Jews...
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The best of friends would snatch food from each other. The Talmud recounts the sorry tale of a woman who killed and consumed her own baby.
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Titus saw that the Jews were now weakened by hunger. He had his soldiers cut down all the trees in a thirteen-mile swath around Jerusalem in order to build a new rampart for their assault.
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Romans and Jews were crowded together, and their dead bodies fell on top of each other. The sound of screaming filled the air and the floor of the Temple was covered with bodies...
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Wohoever the Romans found alive they slaughtered and fed to their dogs. They burned all the houses filled with the starved dead.
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The victorious troops marched through the arch with Titus at their head and in front of him the young and handsome captives, carrying the golden vessels of the Temple.
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Titus went ashore and a gnat came and entered his nostril, and pecked at his brain for seven years.
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The redeemer, and with him the potential for redemption, was born the moment after the destruction.
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Join the Discussion
Is it true that after the destruction AD 70 a group of rabbis gathered together and recorded everything they could remember about the design of the temple? Is there a primary or secondary source reference?
I don't know if there was a specific event, but sections of the Mishna and Talmud basically do that -- record the sages' recollection of the Temple's design.
Did Caesar decree that a bust of himself be installed in the 2nd Temple? If so, do you know what year that happened? Was it a number of years before the destruction of the 2nd Temple?
Josephus (Wars of the Jews Book 2 Chapter 10) records that Gaius Caesar commanded that his bust be placed in the Temple. This was somewhere in the 1st century BCE, around 75 years before the destruction of the 2nd Temple.
Why wasn’t a third Temple built ?
Because Hashem has not yet allowed it. We know the 3rd will only be built when Moshiach ben Dovid comes. So we wait and yearn and pray
Was the Temple destroyed in Sabbath Year? Mishna Tract,'Arakhin, 11b
Was it 3830 from Creation? 5650-3830=1820/7=260. But, see Rashi for Ezekiel 40.1.
See also Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Spektor of Kovno: ",,.as the shemittah year is approaching in 1889(5650)."
1890-70=1820/7=260
I believe this was a Sabbatical year. 69/70 CE. 3830 from Creation -3352(see below for Jubilee year 25 years after vision)=Not divisible by 7? Rashi's chronology in error?
I believe this was 40 years after loss of Hall of Hewn Stones.
Rashi on Ez 40.1: on Rosh Hashanah, on the tenth of the month: What “year” is it whose Rosh Hashanah falls on the tenth of the month? The answer is that this is the Jubilee year. The Temple had been destroyed in [3338] the thirty-sixth year of the [50-year] Jubilee [cycle] which had commenced in the eighteenth year of Josiah [3303]. Fourteen years later [3352], the [beginning of the next] Jubilee would have fallen, and this was the twenty-fifth year of the exile of Jeconiah, who had been exiled in [3327], the twenty-sixth year of the Jubilee [cycle] [consisting of] fourteen years of Josiah, from the eighteenth to the thirty-first year [3302-3316], and eleven years of Jehoiakim [3316-3327]
This relates to vision of 3rd Temple in haftarah Emor.
Where exactly was the temple. Was it on the mount or not?
The Temple was located on the mount. See here
this is an amazing website but about the first temple it could use some work on summarizing it more and making it better to understand.
There is no prophesy for a rebuilding of 3rd temple, is there?
The third Temple will be built according to the prophecy of Ezekiel (40-48).
Ez 40-48 rebuilt temple Wasnt that speaking of the temple rebuilt after Babylon? So it was fulfilled? That was the second temple?
Real History Thank you for a real description of history
Wow ! Such an incredible history; one we can all learn from.
I'm grateful for the sharing of this history! Thank you !! It filled in many gaps for me. So much I wasn't aware of.
Thanks for this sad and touching history which we all need to remember
Mark,
"Love your neighbor as you love yourself" was actually said by G-d Himself in our Torah!
I will always remember that! Thank-you!
Beautifully written Mark Wagner!
I hope the 3 rd Temple will be rebuilt
Believe One thing i know for sure! If you believe in His words you shall be established.
Did the people from Jerusalem return after the destruction of the second temple?
A very notable Jew once said "Love your neighbor as you love yourself".
A very notable musician once said "All you need is Love."
Question? Is it true that the Roman’s took every brick and scrape out the gold when they destroyed the temple?