The works of the Reverend and learned John Lightfoot D. D., late Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge such as were, and such as never before were printed : in two volumes : with the authors life and large and useful tables to each volume : also three maps : one of the temple drawn by the author himself, the others of Jervsalem and the Holy Land drawn according to the author's chorography, with a description collected out of his writings.

CHAP. V. Of the West-Gates Shallecheth or Coponius, Parbar, Asuppim. (Book 5)

IN the Talmuds Survey of the Temple, there is but one Gate mentioned or spoken of upon the West quarter, but Josephus doth mention four, and that agreeably to the Scripture. Not but that the Talmudists did very well know there were so many Gates upon this quarter, but they reckon only those by name, a 1.1 that had Guards kept at them, wheras Josephus reckons all that were in being: His words are these; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. b 1.2 On the West quarter of this outmost bound, there were four Gates: The first leading to the Kings Palace, the valley between being filled up for the passage: Two others went into the Suburbs, and the other into the other City, having many steps down into the valley, and many up again to the pitch or coming up. We will survey these Gates parti∣cularly, and take them in the order that he had laid down, beginning first with that Gate that led to the Kings Palace.

SECT. I. The Gate of Shallecheth, or Coponius.

THE Gate that led towards the Kings Palace, was that that stood most North in this West quarter, of all the four, being set directly and diametrically opposite to the Gate Shushan in the East. In the time of the first Temple, this Gate was called Shal∣lecheth, 1 Chron. XXVI. 16. but in the time of Herod's Temple, it was called a 1.3 The Gate of Coponius: The Jews write it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Kiponus; about the derivation of which word there are various conjectures. Some deduce it from b 1.4 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 A hole, or entrance; Some from c 1.5 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 A back door. Some from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 A thorough-passage; but I should rather derive it from Coponius, the Roman Cammander. Josephus recordeth that when Cyrenius was sent by Augustus to be Governour of Syria, Coponius also General of the Horse, was sent with him for Ruler in Judea, d 1.6 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Now this was so near about the time of Herod's finishing the building of the Temple, that it giveth fair occasion to think that he named this Gate in honour of that great Commander Coponius, as he did a building hard by it, Antonia, in memory and honour of his great Friend Antony.

The word Shallecheth, by which name this Gate was first called, in the time of Solomon, doth signifie a casting up, and so saith e 1.7 Kimchi, it is rendred by the Chaldee Paraphast in the sense of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Now this Gate is said in 1 Chron. XXVI. 16. to have been by the Cawsey going up; which going up is that renowned ascent that Solo∣mon made for his own passage up to the Temple 1 King. X. 5. 2 Chron. IX. 4. And the Cawsey is that that Josephus meaneth, when he saith, A Gate led to the Kings House from the Temple, the valley betwixt being filled up for the passage, which was a very great work, for the valley was large and deep: Therefore it may very well be concluded that it was called Shallecheth, or the casting up, from the Cawsey that was cast up to lead to it from the Kings Palace, this being his ordinary way to the Temple.

This Cawsey is held by some f 1.8 to have been set on either side with Oaks and Teyle Trees, which grew up there, and served for a double benefit, the one to keep up the Cawsey on either side, that it should not fall down; and the other was to make the King a pleasant walk, and shade, with Trees on either side, as he came, and went. And so they render that Verse in Esai. 6. 13. where the word is only used besides in all the Bible: In it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and be eaten, as a Teyle-Tree, or a•• an Oak by Shallecheth: that is, as the rows of Trees on the sides of this Cawsey.

SECT. II. Parbar Gate, 1 Chron. XXVI. 18.

FROM the Gate Shallecheth or Coponius, that lay most North on this Western quar∣ter, let us walk toward the South, and the next Gate we come to, was called Par∣bar; of this there is mention in the Book of Chronicles in the place alledged; where the Holy Ghost relating the disposal of the Porters at the several Gates of the Mountain of the House, saith, At Parbar Westward, two at the Cawsey, and two at Parbar. By which it is apparent sufficiently, that this Gate was in the West quarter, and reasonably well apparent that it was the next Gate to the Cawsey, or Shallecheth, because it is so named with it, but by that time we have fully surveyed the situation of it, it will appear to have been so plain enough. The word Parbar, admitteth of a double constructi∣on, for it either signifies 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 An outer place, a 1.9 as many of the Jews do construe it, or it concurrs with the signification of the word Parvar, (which differs but one letter from it, and that very near, and of an easie change) which betokeneth Suburbs, both in the Hebrew Text, 2 Kings XXIII. 11. and in the Chaldee Tongue, as b 1.10 David Kim∣chi averreth there.

And here Josephus his words which we produced a little before, may be taken up again, and out of all together we may observe the situation of the Gate in mention. He saith, That of the four Gates upon this Western quarter, one led towards the Kings Palace, (that is Shallecheth that we have viewed already) and the two next, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 into the Suburbs. These Suburbs that he meaneth, were indeed that part of the City which in Scripture is called Millo, which was the valley at the West end of Mount Moriah, in which Jerusalem and Sion met and saluted each other, replenished with buildings by Da∣vid and Solomon in their times, 2 Sam. V. 9. and 1 Kings 11. 27. and taken in as part and Suburbs of Sion, and so owned always in after times.

And to this purpose is the expression of Josephus in his words that we have in hand, observable, when he saith, that two of these Western Gates were into the Suburbs, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and the other into the other City, that is, into Jerusalem, which he maketh as another City from the Suburbs of which he spake. Take the word Parbar therefore in either of the significations that have been mentioned, either for an outer place, or for the Suburbs; this Gate that we have in survey might very properly be called by that name, because it was a passage from the Temple into Millo, which was an outer place, and the Suburbs of Sion distinguished and parted from Sion by a Wall, yet a mem∣ber of it, and belonging to it.

Now whereas the other Gate that stood next to this that we are about, toward the South, did lead also into the Suburbs as well as this, as is apparent from Josephus, yet, is it not called by the same name Parbar: the reason of this may be given, because it bare a name peculiar and proper, suitable to that singular use to which it was design∣ed, or to that place where it was set, rather than suitable to that place whither it gave passage.

And here because we are in mention of the Suburbs, it may not be amiss to look a little upon that Text, that speaketh of the Suburbs, and out of which we have taken that signification of the word Parbar, namely, 2 Kings XXIII. 11. It is said there, that Josiah took away the Horses that the Kings of Judah had given to the Sun, at the entring in of the House of the Lord, by the Chamber of Nathan Melech the Chamberlain which was in the Suburbs. Whether these Horses were given to the Sun, to be sacrificed to it, or to ride on to meet and salute the Sun-rising, as the Jews suppose, we shall not trouble our selves to enquire into, it is the place that we have to look after at this time, rather than the thing.

These Stables of such Horses, (and it is like the Kings common Stables were in the same place) are said to be in the Suburbs, and at the entring in of the House of the Lord, and we cannot better allot the place, than that whereupon we are, namely that they stood here in Millo, before this Gate Parbar, or thereabout, and from thence there was a way to bring the Horses up to the Kings House, when the King would use, either those Horses that they had dedicated to the Sun for their irreligious use, or their other Horses for their common use. As they went out of Millo to rise up into Sion, they passed through a Gate which was in the Wall that parted between Millo and Sion, which Wall and Gate was but a little below the Cawsey that went up to the Gate Shallecheth: and this help∣eth to understand that passage about Athaliah's death, 2 Kings XI. 11. They laid hands on her, and she went by the way by which the Horses came into the Kings House, and there she was s••ain. That is, they got her out of the Mountain of the Temple, brought her down by the Gate Shallecheth and the Cawsey, and when she came near the Horse Gate,

through which the horses went up out of the Stables in Millo, to the Kings house, there they slew her. There was a Horse gate indeed in the main wall of the City, on the East part of it, Neh. III. 28. Jer. XXXI. 39. but that was distinct from this, which was peculiar for the Kings Horses, and therefore a distinctive Character is set upon this, namely, that it was the Horse gate towards the Kings House, 2 Chron. XXIII. 15. It should be rendred towards the Kings House rather than by the Kings House, for neither of these gates, either that on the East which was a gate of the City, nor this on the West which was a gate into Millo, were near the Kings House, but a good distance off; See the Seventy there.

SECT. III. The two Gates and House of Asuppim.

IN the story of the designing of the Porters to their several places and charges, in Chron. XXVI. 15, 17. it is said thus, To Obed Edom South ward, and to his Sons the House of Asuppim. Eastward were six Levites, Northward four a day, Southward four a day, and toward Asuppim two and two.

Now there are two things that have justly moved divers learned men to conceive, that Asuppim doth betoken the Treasuries of the Temple, or the places where the offered and dedicate things were reserved and laid up. The one is the signification of the word it self, for it betokeneth gatherings or collections; and the other is, because Obed Edom, whose Sons are said here to be at Asuppim as at their charge, is said in 2 Chron. XXV. 24. to have had the keeping of the Treasury. For there it is recorded that Joash the King of Israel took all the gold and silver and Vessels that were found in the House of God with Obed Edom.

Now if this be granted, that Asuppim did betoken and mean the Treasuries, yet are we still to seek where Asuppim was, and indeed there is not a more difficult matter, in all the survey of the Temple, and of the buildings and affairs belonging to it, than to de∣termine aright and clearly concerning the Porters, Treasuries and Treasures and all their charges; there is so much variety of expressions about these in Scripture, and so little explanation and resolution of this matter in other Writers, we shall do the best we can for their discovery as we come to the view of the several places that refer to any such thing.

The word Asuppim is used again, in speech concerning the Porters, Neh. XII. 25. where six men there named are said to be Porters keeping the ward 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 at the Asuppim of the gates. Aben Ezra and Kimchi say it is but the same with Sippim the thresholds, and so is rendred in our English Text. But if it be taken in that sense in the is place of the Chronicles that we have in hand, there can be no difference between the Sons of Obed Edom and the rest of the Porters in this respect, for all of them may be said to be Porters at Asuppim as well as they, since they were all alike Porters at the thresholds.

In the naming of the Porters, and placing them in their stations, there are the East West, North, and South quarters mentioned, and Asuppim comes in as if it were out at all: At the East gate were six of Shelemiahs younger Sons; And his Eldest Son Zecha∣riah and his Sons at the North. At the West were six Sons of Hosa and Shuppim, four at Shallecheth, and two at Parbar. And four of Obed Edoms eight Sons at the South, and the other four at the House of Asuppim, which seems out of square, and who can tell where?

For the searching out of this place, which lies so very covert, and obscure in the Text, it may not be impertinent to consider these four particulars:

• 1. That there were four Gates on the West side, as hath been observed, namely the gate Coponius, two gates into the Suburbs, and one into the City.
• 2. That the Holy Ghost reckoning the Porters as they were disposed after the return out of Captivity, placeth them only upon the four quarters of this outmost wall, 1 Chron. IX. 23, 24. (for the wall that encompassed the Courts had no gate on the West at all, and therefore those verses cannot be understood of that, but of this outmost boundary wall) And why should we hold that he goeth in a different style here?
• 3. Those Porters lodged round about the house of God, and opened the doors every morning. 1 Chron. IX. 27. Now neither Priests nor Levites had any lodgings in the gates of the Court, nor did the Levites open those doors, but the Priests. And
• 4. That though there were four and twenty guards, three of Priests, and one and twenty of Levites every night about the Temple, yet was there not any such by day at the Court gates, or at those places by the Court wall where they were by night: But here the Text doth expresly tell that these Porters attendance was by day.

These things therefore considered, 1. We cannot place the House of Asuppim in any other part, than in some place in this outmost wall that incompassed the Mountain of the House, even as the rest of the gates and the Porters stood. 2. The expression used in the Text doth argue that these Sons of Obed Edom that stood Porters at Asuppim, attended in two places or at two gates, for he saith that at Asuppim there were two and two. 3. Since the Porters at two of the gates only of the four that were on the West quarter are na∣med, namely, Shallecheth and Parbar, it cannot be otherwise conceived in reason, but that the other two gates on that quarter go here under the name of Asuppim, and had their Porters two and two. For 1. Since there were four gates there, why should two of them go without Porters, when all the rest were so exactly manned? And 2. why should we go place these four Sons of Obed Edom as Porters we know not where, and where we never read of any Porters at all, and let these two gates stand void and none to attend them?

I make no scruple therefore to conclude, that Asuppim were the two gates in this Western wall, which stood most South or nearest to Jerusalem, and the House of Asuppim, was a large piece of building, that ran between them, which was a Treasury, or divers rooms for treasuring and laying up something for the use of the Temple. The treasuries of the Temple were divers and in divers places, and committed to divers persons; but the general distinction of them is, into the Treasuries of the House of God, and the Treasuries of the dedicate things, 1 Chron. XXVI. 20.

By the Treasures of the House of God, is meant those things that were in ordinary use and employment, as the Vessels, Vestments, Tithes, Wine, Oyl, and other things which were commonly used, and with these we may joyn whatsoever was offerd to the Treasury, either as due, as was the half shekel, or voluntary, as mony or vessels for the repair of the House and advancement of the Service. But by the Treasures of dedicate things, is un∣derstood whatsoever the Kings, Captains or great men had consecrated and dedicated, which lay as the stock of the Temple, and as the Monuments of their devotion. The former Treasures were some of them under the care and charge of the Porters, 1 Chron. IX. 26, 27, &c. and the rest and the later, under the hand of other Levites, 1 Chron. XXVI. 20, 22, 26, &c. The Porters had their Treasuries at every one of their gates: and so should I render 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The Treasuries of the Gates in Neh. XII. 25. whereas some of them kept vestments, some instruments, some one thing, and some another, and the Sons of Obed Edom kept the silver and gold vessels, which were the richest Utensils of the Temple, and therefore their gates and the buildings between are called Asuppim or Treasuries, by an Emphatical dignity above the rest.

Before we part with this West quarter, let us take our prospect outward, as we have done from the two sides we have been upon before. As you stood on the middle of this wall, Millo lay before you, and there might you see, besides the Kings stables and other buildings, the Pool of Siloam, and the Kings Gardens: On the left hand was the descent of Acra and the buildings of Jerusalem upon it: on the right hand, the rising of Sion, and the stairs that went up into the City, and by which the King came down to Shalle∣cheth, and so into the Temple. And as you rose higher, was the place of the Sepulchers of Davids family, and another Pool, Neh. III. 15, 16.

Notes

• a 1.1

  Mid. per. 1. & Talmid. per. 1
• b 1.2

  Iosph. Antiq. lib. 15. cap. 14.
• a 1.3

  Midd. per. 1▪ Maym. in Beth habbechir. per. 5.
• b 1.4

  Aruch in voc.
• c 1.5

  L. Lemper. in Mid. pag. 12.
• d 1.6

  Ioseph. Antiq. lib. 18. cap. 1.
• e 1.7

  Michol l•• 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• f 1.8

  Vid. R. Sol. in Esai. VI.
• a 1.9

  Gloss. in Ta∣mid. per. 1. Kimch. in 1 Chron. XXVI. Aruch. in voce, &c.
• b 1.10

  Kimch. in 2 King. XXIII.