CHAPTER XIX. 519 the holy place, and the most holy,' which were more properly called the temple, were finished in a year and a half, so that divine worship was performed there, and in eight years more he completedthe several walls and galleries, and pillars and courts according to his design. 20. Q. How could it be said then ; John ii. 20. " Forty and six years was this temple in building ?" A. It was begun near forty-six years before that passover, when our Saviour being near thirty-one years old, was present at Jerusalem ; and though the grand design and plan was executed in nine years and-a half yet Herod and his successors were always building outworks round it, or adding new ornaments to it, even to that very day when Christ was there, and long afterward. 21. Q. When was it dedicated ? A. The same year when it was finished, and on the anniversary-day of Herod's accession to the crown, and on this account it was celebrated witha vast number of sacrifices and universal rejoicing. Note, Within four years after this dedication Jesus Christ our Saviour was born, and was presented there an infant accord-' Mg to the law. 22. Q. Was not this then the third temple of the Jews? A. No, it was called the second temple still, because though it was built anew from the foundations, yet it was only by way of reparation, it not having been rased and demolished with a ruinous design, nor did it lie in ashes or desolation, as it did when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it. 23. Q. Did Herod do any thing after this in favour of the Jews? A. When the Jews who were scattered throughout Greece and Asia Minor grew very numerous, and were much disturbed and oppressed by the other inhabitants, Herodprocured for them a new establishment oftheir liberties and privileges, and permission to live in other countries according to their own laws and religion, which had been granted them beforeby the kings of Syria and by the Romans. 24. Q. What further troubles did Herod meet with in his _family ? A. His two eldest sons by Mariamne, viz. Aristobulus and' Alexander, whom he had sent to Rome for education, being returned to Jerusalem, in the heat of their youth they frequently expressed their resentments for the death of their mother, and thereby they became obnoxious to the rage of Salome, Herod's sister and favourite : and thus she had been one great and con- stant instrument to blow thecoals of jealousy and discontent be- tween Herod and his queen, and at last to occasion her death, pursued the same course to make him jealous of somedesigns of . his sons against his life. 25 Q. What issue had these quarrels and jealousies ? A, Theycontinued several years: plots were invented on both sides; these gave Herod in his old age perpetual disquietudes, suspi- a
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