The classic book on the temples of ancient Israel is Menachem Haran's Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel. It's a little dated now, so you'll want to supplement it with recent archaeological studies that touch on sites like Arad and Kuntillet 'Ajrud -- Dever's The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel is a good one for that.
But Haran's book will get you a good overview of the Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple. It will also get you into some of the issues relating to the conflicts among different priesthoods in ancient Israel, and the composition of the Old Testament. Haran shows his real integrity and excellent when he touches on points he can't explain... for instance, that there are drinking vessels in Solomon's Temple, and no one quite knows what they're for (pp. 216-217). Kings and Chronicles don't tell us anything about it, but there was a feast of bread and wine inside Solomon's Temple.
No comments:
Post a Comment