Solomon's Porch

In our study of the Book of Acts, we read about the early Christians often congregating in Solomon's Porch. One such occurrence is in Acts 3, which is the account of Peter and John healing the lame man at the Beautiful Gate.

Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. - Acts 3:6-11

So, what is "Solomon's Porch"? When King Herod expanded the Temple platform, he constructed a covered colonnade around the entire perimeter. The colonnade on the eastern wall was commonly called "Solomon's Porch". We even read of Jesus walking in Solomon's Porch during the winter.

Now that we know where it was, think about the passage we mentioned earlier. When Peter and John healed the lame man near the Beautiful Gate, the lame man was overjoyed. He began leaping and praising God. (Wouldn't you?) Even though the passage doesn't mention it, you can assume that this reaction would have been a distraction to all of the people who had specifically come to the Temple to pray (see Acts 3:1). It would have been very easy for Peter and John to accommodate the crowd that surely would have gathered by simply walking away from the gate to the covered area of Solomon's Porch located a few hundred feet away.

In the picture at the top of this blog was taken in 2010 from the Temple Mount with the Mount of Olives in the background. Solomon's Porch would have been located on the eastern edge of the platform. (NOTE: If you are reading this blog post from email, then you might need to click on the blog title to go to the webpage to see the image.)