The
First Temple was built in the 10th century B.C.E. by King Solomon, according to
the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 5-9). But the sanctity of the site goes back hundreds
and possibly thousands of years before that.
The
land on which Solomon built the temple had been acquired by King David,
Solomon's father, who thought to build a grand temple himself. But the Lord,
according to the biblical story, rejected David's ambition because of the
king's sins and the job passed to the son.
The
land David chose, a threshing floor, was associated with Moriah, where the
patriarch Abraham brought his son Isaac for sacrifice (Genesis 22:14). (In the
Bible, the mount is also referred to as “Zion,” a name that eventually came to
encompass the entire Land of Israel.) That too is a tradition shared by the
three great monotheistic religions. Other than that, and a few other minor
references to the site in the Bible, however, there is no obvious explanation
why Solomon built his temple here.
What
is clear is that the Temple was meant to be a permanent residence for the Ark
of the Covenant (Aron Habrit), which held the stone tablets of the law Moses
received on Mt. Sinai, and [which traveled with the Israelites during their
journey through the desert.
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