Guide
Visiting the Second Temple in Jerusalem
Mid-5th Century BCE–2nd Century CE
By Carol Bakhos
A variety of sources testify that Second Temple–era Jews would travel to the Temple on various occasions, including the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot; personal events requiring sacrificial offerings, such as childbirth or release from a vow; and occasions of personal or collective thanksgiving. Visitors would bring offerings and would undergo ritual purification before entering the Temple grounds. Visits on festive occasions could involve celebratory processions and songs of praise or thanksgiving.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
A Pilgrimage of Thanksgiving following Military Victory
Judith 16:18–20
When they arrived at Jerusalem, they worshiped God. As soon as the people were purified, they offered their burnt offerings, their freewill offerings, and their gifts. Judith also dedicated to God…
Primary Source
Jesus Travels to the Temple
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in…
Primary Source
A Pilgrimage for a Rite of Purification
Acts 21:17–26
When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly. The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the…
Primary Source
Tobit Brings Firstfruits to Jerusalem
Tobit 1:6–7
But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the festivals, as it is prescribed for all Israel by an everlasting decree. I would hurry off to Jerusalem with the first fruits of the crops and the…
Primary Source
Philo on Offering Firstfruits
Philo
On the Special Laws 2.215–222
But besides these we have what is not a feast, but is a general ceremony of a festal character called the Basket, a name which describes what takes place, as we shall shortly shew. That it has not the…
Primary Source
The Mishnah on Offering Firstfruits
m. Bikkurim 3:1-8
1. How do they separate the firstfruits? A person descends into their field and sees a fig that has ripened, a cluster of grapes that has ripened, [or] a pomegranate that has ripened [and] ties it…
Primary Source
Philo on the Barley Offering
Philo
On the Special Laws 2.162–164, 170–175
But within the feast there is another feast following directly after the first day. This is called the “Sheaf,” a name given to it…
Primary Source
The Mishnah on the Barley Offering
m. Menaḥot 10:2, 4–5
2. The mitzvah of the omer is that it should be brought from [what grows] nearby. If [the crop] near Jerusalem was not yet ripe, it could be brought from any place. It once happened that the omer was…