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Friday, January 22, 2016

The Saint John's Bible- Solomon's Temple



Solomon's Temple, 2010
1 Kings 8:22-8:66
Donald Jackson
Scribe:Sue Hufton

"The completion of Solomon's temple fuses together
 several elements in Israelite history. 
With the religious overtones
associated with the dedication, 
the pro-monarchist faction of the the Israelites 
(which had been prominent since the time of David) 
received official approval. 
The political capital now
 also became the religious capital;
 both the king and the Lord inhabited the same city, 
and all the elders, tribal heads, 
and ancestral heads were assembled
 to witness the event.
Solomon's prayer and blessing
before the people 
established his legitimacy as king
 and sanctioned his decision to build the temple,. 
citing the Lord's promise to his father, David. 
Solomon may be glorious,
 but the glory belongs to the Lord."


"The illumination of King Solomon's temple mirrors 
two other illuminations. 
Ezekial's Vision of the New Temple
 as well as theVision of Chebor. 
The structure of the temple with its Gateways
 at the Four Points of the Compass,
 a delicate filigree version of the labyrinth pathway
 to the Holy of Holies directly references 
the Vision of the New Temple. 
The two winged guardians of the Holy of Holies 
have the four animal heads from the 
Vision of the Chebor in Ezekiel. 
They peer out from amongst the smoke
 and the power of the interior temple
 and tap into the mystery involved in close contact
 with the revelation of God's power."

A bit of the story of the setting and process of illumination-

"In Donald Jackson's scriptoriun in Wales, 
all this work was carried on as it would have been
 in a medical monastery. 
Tools and materials were prepared by hand, on site. 
Unblemished calfskins were scraped
 and sanded to produce a perfect writing surface. 
Goose, swan,, and turkey quills, 
taken straight from the birds, 
were cleaned, cured, and trimmed. 
Antique ink sticks were ground to make dense black ink. 
Paint was made by mixing hand-ground pigments
 with egg yolks- lapis lazuli for brilliant lies, 
vermilion for rich reds and malachite for glistening greens.

But there is also much that is modern. 
To ensure seamless continuity, the layout of every page- 
even the placement of every word- 
was planned on a computer. 
This enabled the team of scribes, working simultaneously, 
to produce perfect sheets that could later
 be combined in perfect order. 
So that their writing would be uniform
 throughout the Bible, 
all the scribes used a script specially
 designed by Donald Jackson."


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