The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
The Temple and Temple Mount—the sacred precinct surrounding it, known in Greek as the temenos—were dramatically expanded and rebuilt under Herod the Great, beginning around 20/19 BCE. The project was both a monumental architectural achievement and the religious center of Jewish life in the first century.
The Jewish historian Josephus describes the enormous scale of Herod’s building program. To create the vast Temple platform, Herod’s engineers expanded the existing sacred precinct, constructing massive retaining walls and effectively doubling the size of the Temple Mount, from roughly 17 acres to approximately 36 acres.
Although the Temple sanctuary itself was completed relatively quickly, construction and embellishment of the larger Temple complex continued for decades. In fact, the work was not fully completed until shortly before the Jewish revolt against Rome—and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE.
Jesus, therefore, knew the Temple Mount as an active construction site as well as the spiritual center of Israel. During his lifetime, workers were still expanding, decorating, and completing portions of this magnificent complex.
The Gospel of John preserves an intriguing chronological detail. When Jesus speaks of the destruction and raising of the Temple, his opponents respond:
“It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”— John 2:20
If Herod’s project began around 20/19 BCE, the reference to forty-six years would place this encounter at approximately 27–28 CE, near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
The Temple Jesus encountered was therefore not an ancient structure slowly falling into ruin. It was a massive, magnificent, and still-developing building project—one of the architectural wonders of the Roman world and the sacred center of Jewish worship.
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