Temple treasury
Encyclopedia
The temple treasury was a storehouse (Hebrew אוצר 'otsar) first of the tabernacle
then of the Jerusalem Temples mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The term "storehouse" is generic, and also occurs later in accounts of life in Roman Palestine where the otzar was a tax-collector's grainhouse.
The first mention of the "treasury of the " occurs in Joshua 6:19 where all the silver and gold vessels are consecrated to a "storehouse" which travelled with the tabernacle. Later this was made permanent in the First Temple, till the treasury was pillaged by Nebuchadnezzar
's army.
In the Second Temple
the treasury was used for storing the grain for the Levites. In Nehemiah and Zechariah this became the subject of contention when Eliashib, grandson of Joshua the high priest, leased the storehouse to Sanballat
.
The treasury storehouse is to be distinguished from the hanuyot
or "shops" near the Temple into which the Sanhedrin relocated from 30 to 70 CE.
Tabernacle
The Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
then of the Jerusalem Temples mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The term "storehouse" is generic, and also occurs later in accounts of life in Roman Palestine where the otzar was a tax-collector's grainhouse.
The first mention of the "treasury of the " occurs in Joshua 6:19 where all the silver and gold vessels are consecrated to a "storehouse" which travelled with the tabernacle. Later this was made permanent in the First Temple, till the treasury was pillaged by Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar was the name of several kings of Babylonia.* Nebuchadnezzar I, who ruled the Babylonian Empire in the 12th century BC* Nebuchadnezzar II , the Babylonian ruler mentioned in the biblical Book of Daniel...
's army.
In the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
the treasury was used for storing the grain for the Levites. In Nehemiah and Zechariah this became the subject of contention when Eliashib, grandson of Joshua the high priest, leased the storehouse to Sanballat
Sanballat
Sanballat can refer to one of several governors of Samaria during the Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods:*Sanballat I, governed in the mid- to late 5th century BCE*Sanballat II, grandson of the former, governed mid-4th century BCE...
.
The treasury storehouse is to be distinguished from the hanuyot
Chanuyot
The temple shops or Hebrew plural hanuyot were buildings near the Temple in Jerusalem mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud . According to the Talmud the Sanhedrin relocated to the temple shops, hanuyot, at some point before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE...
or "shops" near the Temple into which the Sanhedrin relocated from 30 to 70 CE.