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Bible Terms and Customs: Holies
Tabernacle. An oblong tent with a wooden framework covered with cloth and skins, made by God's order as a movable place of worship in the wilderness. It consisted of a small inner room, the Holy of Holies, containing nothing but the ark with the Mercy Seat, and a larger room, the Sanctuary, used for the daily service. These two were separated by a thick veil.
Tablets. These were part of the ornaments of women, and are still in use. They are little cylinders -like bodkin cases of wood or metal, attached to chains, by some thought to be scent bottles, but they are charms in which women placed little rolls of parchment on which their secret wishes were written. Temple. This was the name given to the whole sacred precincts of Mount Moriah, including all the temple, courts, court-yards, steps, and trellises, etc. The summit of the mount was covered with the "fane" erected by Solomon and contained the Holy of Holies.
Tittle. The fine minute stroke which often distinguishes one Hebrew letter from another.
Treasury was a vestibule in the Temple of Herod the Great, in which were placed 13 large money chests with trumpet shaped-mouths, into which the worshippers dropped their offerings for supporting the public services of the Temple.
Tribute. Tribute was of two kinds: the 12 shekel, which every Jew wherever resident was bound to contribute for the maintenance of the Temple, and the tax exacted by the Romans. The first was paid in Jewish, the second in Roman coin.
Vestment. It was, and still is, customary for every Jew on entering the synagogue for religious worship to put on the Tallith a scarf of white lamb's wool with blue stripes and fringes at the end.
Watchmen were servants or soldiers placed as "lookout-men" in towers or on city walls, in palaces and vineyards, to give notice of invaders. Windows were mere holes in the wall for the admission of light and air. They were sometimes closed by curtains and sometimes by trapdoors. Wise Men. The Magi were a Persian caste of philosophers, and men of science, especially astrology. The priests belonged to the same caste. Young Men. The attendants upon a court in the judgment hall, and upon the apostles when sitting in council at Jerusalem.
Zealots. A fanatical section of the Galileans.
The actual Sentence passed upon Jesus Christ. The following is a copy of the most memorable judicial sentence which has ever been pronounced in the annals of the world-namely, that of death against the Saviour, the knowledge of which must be interesting in the highest degree to every Christian. The sentence is word for word as follows:-
SENTENCE pronounced by PONTIUS PILATE, Intendant of the Province of Lower Galilee, that Jesus of Nazareth shall suffer death by the cross. In the seventeenth year of the reign of the EMPEROR TIBERIUS and on the 25th of the month of March, in the most holy city of Jerusalem, during the Pontificate of ANNAS and CAIAPHAS, PONTIUS PILATE, Intendant of the Province of Lower Galilee, sitting in judgment in the presidential seat of the Prætors, sentences Jesus Christ of Nazareth to death on a cross between two robbers, as the numerous and notorious testimonials of the people prove :-1. Jesus is a misleader. 2. He has excited the people to sedition. 3. He is an enemy to the laws. 4. He calls himself the Son of God. 5. He calls himself falsely the KING OF ISRAEL. 6. He went into the Temple followed by a multitude carrying palms in their hands. Orders: -The first Centurion, Quintus Cornelius, to bring him to the place of execution, forbids all persons, rich or poor, to prevent the execution of Jesus. The witnesses who have signed the execution against Jesus are:-1. Daniel Robani, Pharisee; 2. John Zorobabel; 3. Raphael Robani; 4. Capet. Jesus to be taken out of Jerusalem through the gate of Tournea.
The sentence is engraved on a plate of brass in the Hebrew language, and on its sides are the following words:-" A similar plate has been sent to each tribe." It was discovered in the year 1280 in the city of Aquill (Aquilla?), in the kingdom of Naples, by a search made for the discovery of Roman antiquities, and remained there until it was found by the Commissaries of Art in the French army of Italy. Up to the time of the campaign in Southern Italy it was preserved in the sacristy of the Carthusians, near Naples, where it was kept in a box of ebony. Since then the relic has been kept in the Chapel of Caserta. The Carthusians obtained by their petitions that the plate might be kept by them, which was an acknowledgment of the sacrifices which they made for the French army. The French translation was made literally by members of the Commission of Arts. There seems to be no historical doubt as to the authenticity of this piece of history. The reasons of the sentence correspond exactly with those of the gospels.