Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 10:23
And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
23. in Solomon’s porch ] This was a cloister or colonnade in the Temple-Courts, apparently on the east side. Tradition said that it was a part of the original building which had survived the various destructions and rebuildings. No such cloister is mentioned in the account of Solomon’s Temple, and perhaps the name was derived from the wall against which it was built. It is mentioned again Act 3:11 (where see note) and Joh 5:12. Foundations still remaining probably belong to it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Solomons porch – The porch or covered way on the east of the temple. See the notes at Mat 21:12.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. Solomon’s porch.] By what we find in Josephus, Ant. b. xx. c. 8, s. 7, a portico built by Solomon, on the east side of the outer court of the temple, was left standing by Herod, when he rebuilt the temple. This portico was four hundred cubits long, and was left standing, probably, because of its grandeur and beauty. But when Agrippa came to Jerusalem, a few years before the destruction of the city by the Romans, and about eighty years after Herod had begun his building, (till which time what Herod had begun was not completed,) the Jews solicited Agrippa to repair this portico at his own expense, using for argument, not only that the building was growing ruinous, but that otherwise eighteen thousand workmen, who had all of them, until then, been employed in carrying on the works of the temple, would be all at once deprived of a livelihood.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of this Solomons porch we read, 1Ki 6:3, that Solomon built the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits long, and ten cubits broad. This was the place where they walked in winter. Though this was destroyed when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians; yet it seemeth that there was one built that was like it, and kept that name. It should seem that it was a place better defended from the weather, than those other parts of the temple where in summer time they used to walk.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Jesus walked . . . in Solomon’sporchfor shelter. This portico was on the east side of thetemple, and JOSEPHUS saysit was part of the original structure of Solomon [Antiquities,20.9.7].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Jesus walked in the temple,…. To keep himself warm, and to secure him the better from the inclemency of the weather:
in Solomon’s porch; which was covered over, and the outside of it was enclosed with a wall, which made it very convenient for such a purpose: this was on the outside of the temple eastward, and was a very magnificent structure: the account Josephus n gives of it is this;
“there was a porch without the temple, overlooking a deep valley, supported by walls of four hundred cubits, made of four square stone, very white; the length of each stone was twenty cubits, and the breadth six; the work of king Solomon, who first founded the whole temple.”
Now, though this was not the porch that was built by Solomon, yet as it was built on the same spot, and in imitation of it, it bore his name; mention is made of it in Ac 3:11.
n Antiqu. l. 20. c. 8. sect. 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Was walking (). Imperfect active of , to walk around, picturesque imperfect.
In Solomon’s porch ( ). A covered colonnade or portico in which people could walk in all weather. See Acts 3:11; Acts 5:12 for this porch. This particular part of Solomon’s temple was left uninjured by the Babylonians and survived apparently till the destruction of the temple by Titus A.D. 70 (Josephus, Ant. XX. 9,7). When John wrote, it was, of course, gone.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Solomon ‘s porch. A covered colonnade on the eastern side of the outer court of the temple. According to Josephus it was a relic of Solomon ‘s days, which had remained intact in the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And Jesus walked in the temple,” (kai periepatei ho lesous en to hierou) “And Jesus walked about in the temple area,” with His disciples.
2) “In Solomon’s porch.” (en te stoa tou Solomonos) “in the porch of Solomon,” mentioned also Act 3:11; Act 5:12; 1Ki 6:3, a porch on the east side of the temple, overlooking the Mount of Olives. It was evidently erected over where Solomon had formerly built the temple. Some believe it is a part of the temple left undestroyed by the Babylonians, Josephus Antiq. 20:7, 9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
23. And Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. The Evangelist gives to Solomon’s porch the designation of the temple; not that it was the sanctuary, but only an appendage to the temple Nor does he mean the ancient porch which was built by Solomon, which had been altogether destroyed by the Chaldeans, but that which the Jews — perhaps immediately after their return from the Babylonish captivity — built after the pattern of the ancient porch, and gave it the same name, that it might be more highly honored; and Herod afterwards built a new temple.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) And Jesus walked in the temple . . .Better, and Jesus was walking. The scene is remembered and pictured as it took place.
In Solomons porch.The place is mentioned again in Act. 3:11; Act. 5:12. It was rather a cloister or arcade than what we usually call a porch. It is said to have been on the east of the Temple, and to have been a relic of the original building which had survived all destructions and restorations, and had brought down its founders name from its founders time. (Comp. Jos. Ant. xx. 9, 7.) It does not seem clear, however, that Josephus calls anything more than the eastern wall by the name of Solomon, and he calls the cloister above it simply the Eastern cloister. It is more likely that the true position of Solomons porch is to be found in one of the subterranean structures which existed in the time of our Lord, and exist now as they did in the time of Solomon. Caspari would identify the corridor under El-Aksa with Solomons porch, and thus connect the place where our Lord walked at this feast with the Holy Church of Zion, and the place of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. (Chron. and Geogr., Introd., Append. 22; Eng. Trans., pp. 297-9. Comp. Note on refs. in Acts.) The place as mentioned here is another instance of the writers remembrance of topographical details connected with the Temple. (Comp. Joh. 8:20.) The fact that it was winter, and the fact that He was walking in this covered cloister or crypt, explain each other.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Jesus walked in Solomon’s porch With an expressive abruptness the Evangelist presents Jesus walking in the great eastern piazza of the temple, and relates the scene which is counterpart and completion of the above discourse. Protected by the covert of the portico from the wet storm of a Jewish winter day, walking perhaps with the Evangelist, he is suddenly, , encircled by a number of the very doubters of Joh 10:19-21, the sight of whom calls up to mind the image of shepherd and sheep, Joh 10:26-29.
To the pagan temples of Greece there was customarily fixed a portico for the convenience of walkers and talkers; and it is curious to remark that from two of the words used in this verse, and , two philosophical sects were named, respectively, Peripatetics and Stoics. This porch of Solomon was by some held to have been a work of that monarch, left undestroyed by the Assyrians.
We endorse the opinion of Lange, (against the protest of Stier,) that these Jews were not ironical, but most earnest in this movement, yet earnest after their own way. By the miracles of Jesus they were compelled to attribute to him some more than human power; but his teachings, so anti-Judaic, and, as they felt, anti-Mosaic, repelled them. They therefore, as in a body, encompassed him round, as if to make him prisoner, and if he will consent to be their sort of a Messiah, to make him their Messiah. It was an attempt, upon a much smaller scale, resembling the effort to make him king, in Joh 6:15.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon’s porch. The Judaisers therefore came round about him and said to him, “How long will you take away our life? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly”.’
When the Judaisers found Jesus walking in the Temple area in Solomon’s collonade ( the detail confirming the memory of an eyewitness) they gathered round Him, saying ‘How long will you keep us in suspense?’ or, literally, ‘How long will you take away our life?’ The idea behind ‘taking away their lives’ is that He was withholding from them what was their very life, ‘the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord’ (Lam 4:20), that is, the opportunity of following the Messiah, bys keeping them in suspense. Their request was not genuine, they were trying to get Him to condemn Himself. It is significant that in fact it was the other way round. It was they who were seeking to take away His life. Yet in the end they were right, for it was true that they might in the end lose their very souls at His hands.
What their full intentions were we do not know. Perhaps there were some who were becoming convinced that He was a man sent from God of some kind or other, without actually committing themselves to Him. These were probably ready to commit themselves if He proved to be the kind of Messiah they were looking for, and demonstrated His status by acts of spectacular power. But there were others who inwardly hated Him and were seeking to bring about His downfall. These were trying to get Him to claim to be the Messiah and thus cause unrest to spring up among the people, a sure way to ensure He was arrested and put to death.
It is interesting that here these Judaisers confirm the fact of the ‘Messianic secret’, the fact that Jesus did not portray Himself openly under the name of ‘the Messiah’.
Possibly, in the excitement stirred up by the feast, if He had made the claim to be the Messiah firmly and clearly, some of them would have sided with Him against the Romans. There were, as we know, many who were impressed by Him. And others would follow other leaders who gave that impression to the death. But however that may be, way this was not what Jesus had come to do.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
Ver. 23. And Jesus walked in the temple ] Taking the opportunity of that public meeting to do good, as the bee is abroad as soon as the sun ariseth. The Greeks were great walkers, as the Stoics in their porch, &c. But the Turks wonder to see a man walk to and fro, and usually ask him whether he be out of his way, or out of his wits? (Biddulph.) Pliny said to his nephew, when he saw him walk out some hours without studying, Poteras has horas non perdere.
In Solomon’s porch ] So the Jews called that porch (for honour’s sake) which they built again after the Captivity; and which, together with the whole temple, was beautified by Herod the Great, to curry favour with the people, which yet would not be, for they hated him extremely. Partim ambitione ductus, partita Iudaeorum benevolentiam captans. (Bez. Annot. in Joh 1:20 )
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joh 10:23 . For the sake of shelter Jesus was walking with His disciples [ ] in Solomon’s Porch, a cloister on the east side of the Temple area (Joseph., Antiq. , xx. 9, 7) apparently reared on some remaining portions of Solomon’s building.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
walked = was walking. in. Greek. en. App-104.
temple. Greek. hieron. See note on Mat 23:18.
Solomon’s porch. According to Josephus (Antiquities xx. 9, 7), this was a relic from Solomon’s temple (compare Act 3:11; Act 5:12).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joh 10:23
Joh 10:23
it was winter;-Near the time when the people in this country celebrate Christmas. [This feast came in December, but the day is not certain.]
and Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomons porch.-This was a large portion of the temple, four hundred feet long, in which numbers could congregate.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
in Solomon’s: Act 3:11, Act 5:12
Reciprocal: 1Ki 6:3 – General 1Ki 7:12 – the porch 2Ch 3:4 – the porch 2Ch 8:12 – before the porch Hag 2:7 – I will fill Mar 10:30 – eternal Mar 11:27 – as he Mar 14:49 – was Joh 18:20 – I spake Act 7:58 – stoned
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Solomon’s porch. Thayer explains this as follows: “A porch or portico built by Solomon in the eastern part of the temple (which in the temple’s destruction by the Babylonians was left uninjured, and remained down to the times of King Agrippa, to whom the care of the temple was intrusted by the emperor Claudius, and who on account of its antiquity did not dare to demolish and build it anew).” It is elsewhere described as a covered walk where people would be protected from the weather and sun. All of this explains why we read of various gatherings of the people at this place.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 10:23. And Jesus walked in the temple-courts, in Solomons porch. The porch which bore Solomons name was a covered colonnade on the eastern side of the outer court of the temple. According to Josephus this porch was the work of Solomon: at all events we may well believe that the massive foundations were laid by him, though the cloisters which he built were in ruins when Herod began his restoration of the temple.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
In these verses we have recorded a new and fresh debate betwixt our Saviour and the Jews, and therein we have observable, 1. The time of this debate, Joh 10:22.
It was at the feast of dedication, in the winter, our Saviour taking that opportunity to publish his doctrine, when a concourse of people were gathered together at that solemnity.
Observe, 2. That place of this debate, in Solomon’s porch.
Although the temple and porch built by Solomon were destroyed by the Babylonians: yet when the temple was rebuilt, there was a porch like it, which retained the ancient name.
Observe, 3. The debate itself; If thou be the Christ tell us plainly. Not that they affected the knowledge of the truth, but only designed to ensnare him: for it he had affirmed himself to be the Messias, he had brought himself in danger of the Roman governor; because the Jews expected the Messias to be a temporal prince, that should deliver them from the Roman power.
Now if Christ had declared himself such a Messias as the Jews expected, it might have cost him his life. Therefore his hour being not yet come, he answers with his usual prudence and weariness to their ensnaring question.
Learn hence, That Christ’s enemies are full of subtile policies, and can turn themselves into all shapes, that, if possible, they may entrap and ensnare him; and accordingly, they pretend here great earnestness of desire to be satisfied, whether he was indeed the true and promised Messias; when in truth they had another design.
Observe, 4. The wisdom and caution of our Saviour’s answer; he refers them to his miracles, The works that I do in my father’s name, they bear witness of me. Our Saviour’s miraculous work were sufficient for the Jews to have grounded and bottomed their faith upon, and to have confirmed them in the belief, that he was the promised and expected Messias, had not prejudice, obstinacy, and malice, blinded their eyes, that they could neither see nor consider.
Observe, lastly, How Christ points out to these Jews the true cause of their infidelity: which was not the obscurity of his doctrine, but their not being his sheep; that is, not as yet converted, they not having the properties of his sheep, which he sites down in the following verses.
Learn hence, That men’s final unbelief under the means of faith, is a clear evidence of their being in a lost and perishing condition.
Infidelity is the sin that doth consign a man over to damnation; and to such as sit under the gospel, doth not only procure damnation, but no damnation like it.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 23
Solomon’s porch; an extensive piazza, or covered walk, on the eastern side of the temple.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
10:23 {7} And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
(7) The unbelievers and proud men accuse the gospel of darkness, and this very darkness is indeed within themselves.