The Failed Attempts To Rebuild The Great Jewish Temple In Jerusalem
The so-called “Third Temple” and why it has never been built
The ancient Israelites famously built two elaborate temples where they worshiped their god, YHWH. The first temple was erected by King David’s son Solomon in the heart of Jerusalem. That temple was destroyed in 586 BCE by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. The Israelites wasted no time in rebuilding their temple and construction efforts restarted just a few decades later in 516 BCE. The Second Temple was worked on for centuries before being finished with a grand flourish in 18 BCE by Herod the Great.
The Second Temple was famously razed in 70 CE by the Romans during the great Jewish revolt. (An event heavily prophesized by Jesus and many other Biblical writers.) The Romans utterly destroyed the temple and left Jerusalem a smoking ruin in which Jews were barred from returning for centuries.
Since the destruction of the Second Temple, numerous efforts have been made to rebuild it once again. The Jews rebuilt the temple after the Babylonians knocked it down. Then, they refurbished the Second Temple multiple times. Why not rebuild it again? This idea of a hypothetical new Jewish temple in Jerusalem is called the “Third Temple,” and it has been a subject of fascination for…
