What was Solomon’s Porch?

Answer  
  

Solomon’s Porch was the name of two porches associated with the temple in Jerusalem. The [original temple](Solomon-first-temple.html), constructed by King Solomon, is described in 1 Kings: “As for the house which King Solomon built for the LORD, its length was sixty cubits \[90 feet] and its width twenty cubits \[30 feet] and its height thirty cubits \[45 feet]. The porch in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits \[30 feet] in length, corresponding to the width of the house, and its depth along the front of the house was ten cubits \[15 feet]” (1 Kings 6:2–3, NASB).  
  

The reconstructed [temple](Herod-third-temple.html) was later modified by King Herod, and it included an area also known as Solomon’s Porch (Acts 5:12, KJV), Solomon’s Portico (ESV), or Solomon’s Colonnade (NIV). This structure was on the east side of the temple and was covered with a roof, thus providing more protection from the weather than the temple courtyards. Passing west through Solomon’s Porch (toward the temple) would place one in the [Court of the Gentiles](Court-of-the-Gentiles.html).  
  

The Jewish historian [Josephus](Flavius-Josephus.html) describes Solomon’s Porch this way: “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” (*Antiquities* l. 20\. c. 8\. sect. 7\).  
  

One winter, at the Festival of Dedication (or Hanukkah), Jesus was in Jerusalem, and John describes Him as “in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade” (John 10:23\). The KJV says, “Solomon’s porch.” In Acts 5:12, Solomon’s Porch was the gathering place for believers in Jerusalem before the [Diaspora](diaspora.html). Earlier, in Acts 3:11, Peter and John had healed a lame man at Solomon’s Porch and preached to a large crowd that had gathered there.  
  

Solomon’s Porch, along with the rest of Herod’s temple, was destroyed by the Romans in [A.D. 70](AD-70.html).  
  

