The Gigantic Dimensions of the Visionary Temple in the Temple Scroll

The Temple Scroll and its contents have already been described at some length for BAR readers by the scroll’s editor, the late Yigael Yadin. Until his untimely death in 1984, Professor Yadin was Israel’s most famous archaeologist.^a The Temple Scroll is the longest of all the Dead Sea Scrolls (27 feet), and it may well be the most important.

I would like to make one small additional point about the Temple Scroll relating to the size of the temple envisioned in it.

Of five major subjects dealt with in the scroll, the foremost is the temple, its design and the ordinances pertaining to it. This subject occupies almost half the length of the scroll; hence, the name Yadin gave to the scroll (the original name is unknown).

The temple compound as described in the scroll consists of three concentric square courts—the inner court, the middle court and the outer court. In the midst of the inner court would stand the temple and the various buildings connected with it.