Temple Mount

Biblical Text

The term "Temple Mount" refers to the mountain on which the Temple stood. Scripture refers to the site by several names.

• Mount Moriah: 2 Chronicles 3:1 records that Solomon built the Temple "at Jerusalem in mount Moriah." The same verse also states that the site had been a threshing floor in the time of David.
• The threshing floor of Araunah: In 2 Samuel 24, David buys the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and builds an altar there. 1 Chronicles 21 calls the same man "Ornan."
• The mountain of the LORD's house; the mountain of the house: Isaiah 2:2 prophesies that "the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains." Micah 3:12 warns of judgment, declaring that "the mountain of the house" shall become "as the high places of the forest."

In the New Testament, Jesus taught in the Temple on this mount. The Gospels record the cleansing of the Temple that took place here. In Mark 13:1–3, Jesus foretells the Temple's destruction and then sits on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple.

Background

The Temple Mount is an elevated area of Jerusalem north of the City of David, which lies on the city's southern ridge. To the east, across the Kidron Valley, it faces the Mount of Olives.

• The First Temple: The first Temple, built by Solomon, was destroyed by Babylon around 586 BC.
• The Second Temple: After the return from the Babylonian exile, the Temple was rebuilt in the time of Zerubbabel.
• Herod's expansion: In the late first century BC, Herod the Great undertook a major renovation of the Temple, building retaining walls around the mount and creating a broad level platform. The Western Wall (the Wailing Wall), where Jews pray today, is identified as part of these retaining walls.
• Roman destruction and afterward: The Temple was destroyed by the Roman army in AD 70. Since the late seventh century, the Islamic Dome of the Rock has stood on the site, with the al-Aqsa Mosque beside it.

In Modern Hebrew the site is called Har haBayit ("Mount of the House").

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

In the Old Testament, the Temple Mount is the place where God set His name. It was the center of sacrifice and worship and is often mentioned together with Zion. The New Testament reinterprets the meaning of the Temple in terms of Christ and the church.

• In John 2:19–21, Jesus calls His own body the temple.
• John 4:20–23 teaches that true worship is not bound to a particular mountain.
• 1 Corinthians 3:16–17 calls believers the temple of God.
• Revelation 21:22 states that there is no separate temple in the New Jerusalem, for God and the Lamb are its temple.

Interpretations and Issues

• The relationship between the two "Moriahs": The view that the place of the offering on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22) is the same as the Temple site rests on 2 Chronicles 3:1 and Jewish tradition. The Genesis text itself does not directly connect the two, and scholars are divided on the question.
• The location of the Holy of Holies: Scholars disagree as to whether the ancient Holy of Holies stood over the rock beneath the Dome of the Rock or at another spot.
• The question of a Third Temple: Dispensationalism often holds, on the basis of Daniel, Matthew 24:15, and 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4, that a temple will be rebuilt on this site in the last days. By contrast, covenant theology and the Reformed tradition generally read the Temple prophecies as fulfilled in Christ and the church and do not anticipate a literal rebuilding of the Temple.
• Other traditions: The association of this site with Muhammad's "Night Journey" is an Islamic tradition and is distinct from the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, sermons on Genesis 22 frequently present the interpretation linking Mount Moriah with the Temple site, together with the theme of "Jehovah-jireh." On pilgrimages to the Holy Land in Israel, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount area are among the principal sites visited. Sermons and gatherings on eschatology sometimes address the question of rebuilding a Third Temple.