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In Jhn 2:21, the Jews mentioned it took 46 yrs to build the "temple/sanctuary".
Other than the coincidental fact that the greek word #3485 occurs 46 times in the NT some commentators say it provides an important timeline. Has anyone else got any views on it?
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 20, 21. - *snip*.............
This is one of the most important chronological data for the life of our Lord. Herod the Great, according to Josephus ('Ant.,' 15:11 1), commenced the rebuilding of the second temple in the autumn of the eighteenth year of his reign.
==========================================
John 2:
13 And the passover of the Jews was nigh, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 and he found in the temple those selling oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the money-changers sitting, 15and having made a whip of small cords, he put all forth out of the temple, also the sheep, and the oxen; and of the money-changers he poured out the coins, and the tables he overthrew, 16and to those selling the doves he said, ‘Take these things hence; make not the house of my Father a house of merchandise.’ 17 And his disciples remembered that it is written, ‘The zeal of Thy house did eat me up;’ 18 the Jews then answered and said to him, ‘What sign dost thou shew to us — that thou dost these things?’ 19 Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’ 20 The Jews, therefore, said, ‘Forty and six years was this sanctuary building, and wilt thou in three days raise it up?’ 21but he spake concerning the sanctuary of his body; 22 when, then, he was raised out of the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this to them, and they believed the Writing, and the word that Jesus said.
The veil of the Sanctuary was rent in 2 at the crucifixion, literally rendering it no better than any other building.
Mat 27:51
and behold! the veil of the Sanctuary was rent in two from top unto bottom, and the land did quake, and the rocks were rent,
1 Corinthians 15:4
that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Here is some info and commentaries on John 2:21 and the Greek word #3485
Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
G3485 ναός (naos), occurs 46 times in 40 verses
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 20, 21. -
The immediate reference of the words to the building before them was only one of a thousand misapplications of the words of Jesus. The seeds of truth which his words contain would take root in after days.
Meanwhile the Jews answered and said - taking the obvious and literal sense of the words, and treating them with an ill-concealed irony, if not scoff, to which our Lord made no reply - In forty and six years was this temple built as we see it today.
This is one of the most important chronological data for the life of our Lord. Herod the Great, according to Josephus ('Ant.,' 15:11 1), commenced the rebuilding of the second temple in the autumn of the eighteenth year of his reign.
We find that his first year reckoned from Nisan, A.U.C. 717-718. Consequently, the eighteenth year must have commenced between Nisan, A.U.C. 734-735 and 735-736. The forty-sixth year after this would make the. Passover at which this speech was delivered - the spring of A.U.C. 781 (Wieseler, 'Chronicles Synopsis of the Four Gospels,' translation; and Herzog, 'Encyc.,' 21:546.
The fact that Josephus, in his 'Bell. Jud.,' 1:21, gives the fifteenth year of Herod's reign instead of the eighteenth, is shown by Wieseler to be an error of the transcriber, see p. 152, note), which, if we compare with the other hints, is a fixed point from which to reckon the birth year and death year of our Lord.
The "about thirty years old" of the Lord at his baptism throws us to about A.U.C. 751, B.C. 2, for the year of his birth, and if there be only one Passover mentioned in John's Gospel between this and the last Passover, it gives A.U.C. 783 for the year of his death.
This date is at least coincident with the date derived from the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, as that of the commencement of the mission of John (see my examination of these dates in appendix to 'John the Baptist').
The temple which Herod began to repair in the eighteenth year of his reign was not completed until A.D. , under Herod Agrippa II., a very short period before its utter destruction. The irony and scorn are manifest: Wilt thou raise it up in three days? John shows, in ver. 21, that, in the deep sense in which our Lord used the words, he abundantly justified his promise. But he - ἐκεῖνος, the Lord, not the people, not the disciples - spake of the temple of his body. This is the reflection which was made upon the word of Jesus by the evangelists in after days. Even Mark (Mark 14:58) reveals the presence of a spiritual interpretation of the words by some of his unsympathetic listeners. It must not be forgotten that, in the synoptists, we find the presence of the idea that his service was a temple service, and that he was greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6; cf. also Hebrews 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27; 1 Corinthians 6:15; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:12; Ephesians 1:22, 23; with Ephesians 2:19-22). etc. ........
================================================
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(20) They profess to seek a sign for evidence; they use it for cavil.
Forty and six years was this temple in building.--
It is implied that it was not then finished. The date of the completion is given by Josephus (Ant. xx. 9, ? 7) as A.D. 64. The same author gives the eighteenth year of the reign of Herod the Great (Nisan 734--Nisan 735, A.U.100) as the commencement of the renewal of the Temple of Zerubbabel (Ant. xv. 11, ? 1). This would give A.U.C. 781-782, i.e., A.D. 28-29, as the date of the cleansing.
In another passage Josephus gives the month Kislev A.U.C. 734, as the date of the festival connected with the building of the Temple (Ant. xiv. 16, ? 4). This would fix our present date as the Passover of A.U.C. 781, i.e., A.D. 28.
St. Luke furnishes us with an independent date for the commencement of the ministry of John the Baptist. If we count the "fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (comp. Note on Luke 3:1) from the commencement of his first reign with Augustus (A.U.C. 765, i.e., A.D. 12), this date will be A.U.C. 780, i.e., A.D. 27. The present Passover was in the following year, i.e., as before, A.D. 28. The sole reign of Tiberius commenced two years later (A.D. 14), so that while we have certainly no discrepancy between these independent dates, we have probably a very striking coincidence. Its bearing upon the authenticity of the present Gospel is evident.
Rear it up represents the same Greek word as "raise up," in the previous verse; but the word fits the double meaning. It is the regular term for raising from the dead; but it is also used of rearing up a building, as, e.g., in 3 Ezra 5:44; Ecclesiasticus 49:11.
=============================================
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 2:20. The Jews naturally saw no reference to His own body or to its resurrection, and replied to the letter of His words, τεσσεράκοντα.… The Temple was begun to be rebuilt in the eighteenth year of Herod’s reign that is the autumn of 734–735. Jewish reckoning the beginning of a year was reckoned one year. Thus forty-six years might bring us to the autumn of 779 and the Passover of 780, i.e., 27 A.D. would be regarded as forty-six years from the rebuilding; and this is Edersheim’s calculation. But several accurate chronologists think the following year is meant.
==============================
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
20. Forty and six years, &c.] This was the third Temple. Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Zerubbabel’s was rebuilt by Herod the Great. The Greek implies that the building began 46 years ago, but not that it is now completed. “The building of the Temple, we are told by Josephus (Ant. xv. ii. 1), was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great, 734–735 a. u. c. Reckoning 46 years from this point, we are brought to 781 or 782 a. u. c. = 28 or 29 a.d. Comparing this with the data given in Luke 3:1, the question arises, whether we are to reckon the 15th year of Tiberius from his joint reign with Augustus, which began a.d. 12; or from his sole reign after the death of Augustus, a.d. 14.
Other than the coincidental fact that the greek word #3485 occurs 46 times in the NT some commentators say it provides an important timeline. Has anyone else got any views on it?
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 20, 21. - *snip*.............
This is one of the most important chronological data for the life of our Lord. Herod the Great, according to Josephus ('Ant.,' 15:11 1), commenced the rebuilding of the second temple in the autumn of the eighteenth year of his reign.
==========================================
John 2:
13 And the passover of the Jews was nigh, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 and he found in the temple those selling oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the money-changers sitting, 15and having made a whip of small cords, he put all forth out of the temple, also the sheep, and the oxen; and of the money-changers he poured out the coins, and the tables he overthrew, 16and to those selling the doves he said, ‘Take these things hence; make not the house of my Father a house of merchandise.’ 17 And his disciples remembered that it is written, ‘The zeal of Thy house did eat me up;’ 18 the Jews then answered and said to him, ‘What sign dost thou shew to us — that thou dost these things?’ 19 Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’ 20 The Jews, therefore, said, ‘Forty and six years was this sanctuary building, and wilt thou in three days raise it up?’ 21but he spake concerning the sanctuary of his body; 22 when, then, he was raised out of the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this to them, and they believed the Writing, and the word that Jesus said.
The veil of the Sanctuary was rent in 2 at the crucifixion, literally rendering it no better than any other building.
Mat 27:51
and behold! the veil of the Sanctuary was rent in two from top unto bottom, and the land did quake, and the rocks were rent,
1 Corinthians 15:4
that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Here is some info and commentaries on John 2:21 and the Greek word #3485
Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
G3485 ναός (naos), occurs 46 times in 40 verses
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
John 2:20 Commentaries: The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 20, 21. -
The immediate reference of the words to the building before them was only one of a thousand misapplications of the words of Jesus. The seeds of truth which his words contain would take root in after days.
Meanwhile the Jews answered and said - taking the obvious and literal sense of the words, and treating them with an ill-concealed irony, if not scoff, to which our Lord made no reply - In forty and six years was this temple built as we see it today.
This is one of the most important chronological data for the life of our Lord. Herod the Great, according to Josephus ('Ant.,' 15:11 1), commenced the rebuilding of the second temple in the autumn of the eighteenth year of his reign.
We find that his first year reckoned from Nisan, A.U.C. 717-718. Consequently, the eighteenth year must have commenced between Nisan, A.U.C. 734-735 and 735-736. The forty-sixth year after this would make the. Passover at which this speech was delivered - the spring of A.U.C. 781 (Wieseler, 'Chronicles Synopsis of the Four Gospels,' translation; and Herzog, 'Encyc.,' 21:546.
The fact that Josephus, in his 'Bell. Jud.,' 1:21, gives the fifteenth year of Herod's reign instead of the eighteenth, is shown by Wieseler to be an error of the transcriber, see p. 152, note), which, if we compare with the other hints, is a fixed point from which to reckon the birth year and death year of our Lord.
The "about thirty years old" of the Lord at his baptism throws us to about A.U.C. 751, B.C. 2, for the year of his birth, and if there be only one Passover mentioned in John's Gospel between this and the last Passover, it gives A.U.C. 783 for the year of his death.
This date is at least coincident with the date derived from the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, as that of the commencement of the mission of John (see my examination of these dates in appendix to 'John the Baptist').
The temple which Herod began to repair in the eighteenth year of his reign was not completed until A.D. , under Herod Agrippa II., a very short period before its utter destruction. The irony and scorn are manifest: Wilt thou raise it up in three days? John shows, in ver. 21, that, in the deep sense in which our Lord used the words, he abundantly justified his promise. But he - ἐκεῖνος, the Lord, not the people, not the disciples - spake of the temple of his body. This is the reflection which was made upon the word of Jesus by the evangelists in after days. Even Mark (Mark 14:58) reveals the presence of a spiritual interpretation of the words by some of his unsympathetic listeners. It must not be forgotten that, in the synoptists, we find the presence of the idea that his service was a temple service, and that he was greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6; cf. also Hebrews 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27; 1 Corinthians 6:15; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:12; Ephesians 1:22, 23; with Ephesians 2:19-22). etc. ........
================================================
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(20) They profess to seek a sign for evidence; they use it for cavil.
Forty and six years was this temple in building.--
It is implied that it was not then finished. The date of the completion is given by Josephus (Ant. xx. 9, ? 7) as A.D. 64. The same author gives the eighteenth year of the reign of Herod the Great (Nisan 734--Nisan 735, A.U.100) as the commencement of the renewal of the Temple of Zerubbabel (Ant. xv. 11, ? 1). This would give A.U.C. 781-782, i.e., A.D. 28-29, as the date of the cleansing.
In another passage Josephus gives the month Kislev A.U.C. 734, as the date of the festival connected with the building of the Temple (Ant. xiv. 16, ? 4). This would fix our present date as the Passover of A.U.C. 781, i.e., A.D. 28.
St. Luke furnishes us with an independent date for the commencement of the ministry of John the Baptist. If we count the "fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (comp. Note on Luke 3:1) from the commencement of his first reign with Augustus (A.U.C. 765, i.e., A.D. 12), this date will be A.U.C. 780, i.e., A.D. 27. The present Passover was in the following year, i.e., as before, A.D. 28. The sole reign of Tiberius commenced two years later (A.D. 14), so that while we have certainly no discrepancy between these independent dates, we have probably a very striking coincidence. Its bearing upon the authenticity of the present Gospel is evident.
Rear it up represents the same Greek word as "raise up," in the previous verse; but the word fits the double meaning. It is the regular term for raising from the dead; but it is also used of rearing up a building, as, e.g., in 3 Ezra 5:44; Ecclesiasticus 49:11.
=============================================
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 2:20. The Jews naturally saw no reference to His own body or to its resurrection, and replied to the letter of His words, τεσσεράκοντα.… The Temple was begun to be rebuilt in the eighteenth year of Herod’s reign that is the autumn of 734–735. Jewish reckoning the beginning of a year was reckoned one year. Thus forty-six years might bring us to the autumn of 779 and the Passover of 780, i.e., 27 A.D. would be regarded as forty-six years from the rebuilding; and this is Edersheim’s calculation. But several accurate chronologists think the following year is meant.
==============================
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
20. Forty and six years, &c.] This was the third Temple. Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Zerubbabel’s was rebuilt by Herod the Great. The Greek implies that the building began 46 years ago, but not that it is now completed. “The building of the Temple, we are told by Josephus (Ant. xv. ii. 1), was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great, 734–735 a. u. c. Reckoning 46 years from this point, we are brought to 781 or 782 a. u. c. = 28 or 29 a.d. Comparing this with the data given in Luke 3:1, the question arises, whether we are to reckon the 15th year of Tiberius from his joint reign with Augustus, which began a.d. 12; or from his sole reign after the death of Augustus, a.d. 14.
