Bible & Christianity › Exile & the Second Temple
The Second Temple
completed c. 516 BC; destroyed AD 70· Place· Bible story & events
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
The Jerusalem Temple rebuilt by returning exiles, finished about 516 BC, expanded by Herod and destroyed by Rome in AD 70.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
Ezra 3 to 6 tells how the returnees laid foundations, stalled under local opposition, and finished in the sixth year of Darius I, about 516 BC (Ezra 6:15). Old men who remembered Solomon's Temple wept at how modest it was (Ezra 3:12). Its inner room stood empty: the Ark was gone. Priests offered daily sacrifices and pilgrims crowded in for Passover. Desecrated in 167 BC, it was rededicated by the Maccabees and then rebuilt lavishly by Herod. This is the Temple Jesus taught in.
Why it matters
For almost 600 years it was the center of Jewish worship; historians call the whole era 'Second Temple Judaism'. Its loss in AD 70 reshaped both Judaism and Christianity.
Sources and history
Josephus and the Gospels describe it. Herod's platform survives, including the Western Wall. A Greek inscription warning Gentiles away from the inner courts (found 1871) confirms Josephus' description.
Questions and debates
Almost nothing survives of the 516 BC building, so its size and layout before Herod are largely unknown.
Inside this (5)
Connections (5)
▸Solomon's Temple (the First Temple) was replaced after the exile by The Second TempleHistorical record
The connection
Babylon destroyed Solomon's Temple in 587/586 BC. Returning exiles rebuilt on the same site, completing a humbler Second Temple about 516 BC; old men who had seen the first one wept (Ezra 3:12). The Ark of the Covenant, lost with the first Temple, was never recovered.
When and where
Jerusalem's Temple Mount; rebuilding led by Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, urged on by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (Haggai 2:3).
Historical evidence
A Babylonian chronicle records the 597 BC capture; burn layers mark the 586 BC destruction. Ezra, Haggai and Josephus describe the rebuilding. Little of either early Temple has been found: the site cannot be excavated.
Questions and debates
How the Second Temple compared with the first in size and layout, and what became of the Ark, remain unknown.
▸Return from exile led to the building of The Second TempleHistorical record
The connection
Rebuilding the Temple was the returnees' first goal. They set up the altar and laid foundations, but local opposition halted work for years. Spurred by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah in 520 BC, under governor Zerubbabel, they finished in the sixth year of Darius I (Ezra 6:15).
When and where
Jerusalem, 538 to about 516 BC; Zerubbabel, the high priest Joshua, and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
Historical evidence
Ezra, Haggai and Zechariah give precise dates tied to Persian kings' reigns. Persian records confirm the kings but not the building work.
Questions and debates
Who opposed the rebuilding (Samaritans, or Judeans who had never left) and how much Sheshbazzar versus Zerubbabel achieved are unclear.
▸Maccabean revolt and Hanukkah rededicated The Second TempleHistorical record
The connection
After retaking Jerusalem (except a Seleucid fortress, the Acra), Judas Maccabee's forces removed the pagan altar, built a new one and rededicated the Temple with eight days of celebration. Jews still mark this each winter as Hanukkah ('dedication'), lighting candles for eight nights.
When and where
Jerusalem, 25 Kislev (December) 164 BC, three years after the desecration, under Judas Maccabee.
Historical evidence
1 Maccabees 4:36–59 and 2 Maccabees 10 describe it; John 10:22 places Jesus in the Temple at 'the Feast of Dedication'.
Questions and debates
The tale of one day's oil lasting eight days first appears in the Talmud (c. AD 500); 2 Maccabees instead links the eight days to the Festival of Booths.
▸Herod the Great rebuilt on a grand scale The Second TempleHistorical record
The connection
Around 20 BC Herod began rebuilding the Temple, roughly doubling the Temple Mount with massive retaining walls. He trained priests as builders so the sacred areas stayed in priestly hands. Work went on long after his death, finishing about AD 63, only seven years before Rome destroyed it.
When and where
Jerusalem, from c. 20 BC; the remark that the Temple 'has taken forty-six years to build' (John 2:20) fits this date.
Historical evidence
Josephus describes it; the Western Wall, Robinson's Arch and stones over 13 meters long survive. The Talmud says whoever has not seen Herod's building has never seen a beautiful building.
Questions and debates
Exactly where the sanctuary stood on the platform, now the site of the Dome of the Rock, is uncertain, and excavation there is not permitted.
▸The Second Temple was destroyed in Rome destroys the Temple (AD 70)Historical record
The connection
The Second Temple, rebuilt after the exile and lavishly enlarged by Herod the Great from about 20 BC, was the center of Jewish worship. When the revolt of 66 failed, Titus's legions stormed it in August 70 and it burned. It has never been rebuilt; part of Herod's retaining wall survives as the Western Wall.
When and where
Jerusalem's Temple Mount, August AD 70; the Jewish fast of Tisha B'Av still mourns the loss of both Temples.
Historical evidence
Josephus's eyewitness account, the Arch of Titus in Rome, and huge Temple Mount stones found toppled onto the street below by excavators since 1968.
Questions and debates
Because excavation on the Temple Mount itself is not permitted, the Temple's exact position on the platform is still debated; most place it where the Dome of the Rock now stands.