Chapters 5-7

Chapters 5-7 began the discussion on the diaspora of the Jews in late BC. I thought that these chapters were slightly more dry than the ones before; they probably had the same amount of details as before, however I just did not enjoy them as much.

The maps in these chapters are a good frame of reference to show us what was where, at this time period. I do understand where the old city's walls are currently, however every time I open this book it shows me more about what was where in the old city. I did not realize that Golgatha was outside of the Upper City and the Lower city, but is inside of the current city walls. It is kind of confusing to think where is all of this stuff. I did know that Christs' tomb and Golgatha were outside of the old city, but now they are inside of the current "old city."

The author also describes how the city and region of Israel was governed and controlled, after popular kings like Solomon and David. I did not realize that the guys like Ezekiel and Nehemiah actually had a lot of political influence. I thought that they were just writer/scribes, but the way she describes them, they seemed like more than laymen.

Not to go out of chronological order, but I just remembered from chapter 5 she talks about the destruction of Solomon's temple with the loss of the gold and cedar trees. This destruction happened, only to be rebuild by Herrod years later. I still do not understand how Herrod's reconstruction was said to be the second temple but she says it was the actual third temple? I got lost on who built the second temple and why Herrods temple was not considered the third? Moreover, why was it important for Herrod's temple to be the second and not the third? Pg. 128-129