When did Herod ("the Great") start rebuilding the Jewish Temple ?

Question

I ask because it would perhaps enable one to date Jesus cleansing the Temple in John's gospel chapter 2. In a heated discussion regarding Jesus' authority to remove the money changers some religious leaders say that it has taken 46 years to build the Temple (and I remember reading somewhere that building wasn't complete even in Jesus' time)

Answer 1

One, the bible is a story book, and the new testament was written one hundred years after the events.

two a lot of things that were reported, were either exaggerated for effect, or taken from earlier stories - selective editing.

for fact, you have to refer to other more reliable sources.

The Temple Mount is the holiest site for Judaism. The Jewish Temple Bet HaMikdash and meaning literally "The Holy House") was located on the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit) in Jerusalem: the First Temple was built c. 967 BCE, destroyed c. 586 BCE by the Babylonians.

The First Temple was built by King Solomon in seven years during the 10th century BCE in 957 BCE. This First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and was rebuilt seventy years later by Cyrus the Great in 535 BCE. Centuries later. after a number of delays, the Temple was completed in 516 BCE.

This was the building that was renovated by Herod in about 20 BCE. Herod's Temple in Jerusalem was a massive expansion of the Second Temple along with renovations of the entire Temple Mount. Herod the Great's expansion project began around 19 BC. The renovation by Herod began with the building of giant underground vaults upon which the temple would be built so it could be larger than the small flat area on top of Mount Moriah. Ground level at the time was at least 20 ft. (6m) below the current level, as can be seen by walking the Western Wall tunnels. The edge of this platform remains everywhere; part of it forms the Western Wall. This Second Temple was subsequently destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. during the siege of Jerusalem.

According to a commonly held belief in Judaism, it is to be the site of the final Third Temple, to be rebuilt with the coming of the Jewish Messiah.

Herod the Great appears in The Gospel according to Matthew (ch. 2), which describes an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents. The historical accuracy of this event has been questioned, since no other document from the period makes any reference to such a massacre. However, Bethlehem was a small rural town, and the number of children actually killed may have been as few as five or six.

The scholarly consensus, based on Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews is that Herod died at the end of March, or early April, 4 BC. Because of apparent inconsistencies in the method Josephus counted years, it has sometimes been suggested that 5 BC might be a more likely date.

Herod's son, Herod Antipas is even more prominently featured in the New Testament for his role in John the Baptist's arrest and execution.

Answer 2

To make some slight corrections Herod basically did massive remodeling to the second temple compound

the second temple was originally built in 515 BCE.

but to answer your question directly Herod started his work in 19 BCE

Legend has it that the construction of the entire complex lasted only three years, but other sources such as Josephus say that it took far longer, although the Temple itself may have taken that long. It is possible that the complex was only a few years completed when the future Emperor Titus burnt the place to the ground in 70 CE.

Answer 3

I`m afraid that, unwittingly, you have your facts wrong.
The story of cleansing the temple did not take place in the time of Jesus, it happened about 40 years prior to that but it was such a good story that the writer put it in as the work of Jesus, it made him look better than he was, as most stories were embellished if they sounded dull and uninteresting. That was also true of all the bible stories; most were supposition, make-believe, or enhanced to make them look good. Newspapers do the same today, so nothing`s changed.
Also, Herod was much misaligned, he did not slay thousands of children whom he thought threatend his throne, but only about three or four in Bethlehem, which, in itself, was bad enough for the unfortunate parents.
Apart from that, bible stories are just historical data with a few miracles scattered about to make it look good. You know what devils these christians are!!