Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #462571 in Books
• Published on: 1950-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

Customer Reviews

Evokes the atmosphere of the Jewish Temple very well
This book was written towards the end of the 19th century, and the style of writing betrays this. Edersheim occasionally adds Christian interpretations, which can be a bit distracting. However, the images he builds up of the services in the Jewish Temple of the 1st century CE, are very edifying and uplifting. It is often difficult to realise, even in the 20th century, the sense of holiness and reverence that the ancient worshippers felt; also the feeling that, when they entered the Temple, they were actually coming into the presence of God. This book is a valuable historical work; very few books are dedicated to the spirituality of a lost, ancient institution such as the Jerusalem Temple. It is an excellent book, both from an historical and a spiritual perspective. The only improvement on this work would be to remove the Christian overlay on what was essentially a Jewish institution, so that people can read about the Temple, not only to gain a sense of what the people who used it (Jews) felt, but also so that the reader can make up their own mind, and develop their own interpretations. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the Temple in Jerusalem as it was in the 1st century CE.

Brilliant but flawed scholarship
Edersheim was a Jew who converted to Christianity. And it is through the eyes of an evangelical Christian that he describes and criticises Temple worship. His purpose inw riting was, in part, to prove how much better Christianity he had adopted was than the Judaism he had abandonned.

His work is uninformed by Biblical criticism, thus he believes in the absolute historical accuracy of the Gospels. An evangelical Christian can read this and find all their prejudices affirmed. A true scholar will need to read it critically.

Nevertheless his work is superb, his knowledge of Talmud and Mishna is encyclopedic, which is why it is still in print. This is a great book as long as it is not the only book you read on the subject.

Well-written, understandable, essential for Messianic study
This is a great book for foundational learning in Bible study. It presents the Temple as it was in the time of Solomon and in the context of the Mosaic Law. It relates that Temple to the ministry of Jesus and how all that He did was set within the context of atonement, sacrifice and worship of the One True G-d.