Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

Temple has taken 46 years, or that the Temple has stood for 46 years since its rebuilding. Both of these 

meanings are correct. First, over the course of 46 years something was built, the Temple of Christ's body, and 

second, it had been 46 years since the Temple Sanctuary had been rebuilt. 

    This dual meaning is natural when referring to the Temple of Jerusalem, since this Temple (called the 

Second Temple of Jerusalem) was a symbol and a foreshadowing of the Messiah. The first Temple of 

Jerusalem, built by Solomon, was also a symbolic representation of the Messiah. That is why Sacred Scripture 

gives us such a detailed description of the first Temple (2 Chron 3:1 to 5:1, 2 Kings 6) because it is a symbolic 

and prophetic description of the Christ. For this reason, it is also fitting that the completion of the rebuilding of 

the Sanctuary of the Temple coincided with the Immaculate Conception, which laid the foundation for the 

Sanctuary of Christ's humanity. 

The Rebuilding of the Temple 

    Since the Jews were not counting the 46 years as the time it took to rebuild the temple, but instead were 

counting the number of years since its rebuilding, the 46 years should be counted from the completion of the 

reconstruction work on the Temple. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich tells us that the Jews, whom Jesus was 

speaking to after He drove the sellers and money changers out of the temple, were  a crowd of priests from the 

Sanhedrim. 

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 These Jews must have been speaking about the completion of the work done on the Sanctuary 

itself, which took 1  years, not the work on the outer areas, which took 8 years. The work on the Sanctuary 

itself was done solely by the priests, since none but priests were allowed to enter this holy place.

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 A group of 

Jewish priests would certainly consider the number of years since the Sanctuary itself was rebuilt to be 

important. The sacrifices which the priests offered to God took place in this Sanctuary. They would not 

concern themselves as much with the number of years since the completion of the outer areas of the Temple. 

    Furthermore, God chose to put these words in Sacred Scripture, counting 46 years since the rebuilding of 

the Temple. The Sanctuary itself is the holiest part of the entire Temple, so God counts the 46 years from the 

completion of the Sanctuary itself, not from the completion of the work done on the outer areas. Similarly, if a 

church parish today were rebuilt and rededicated to God, the dedication ceremony would take place when the 

work on the  Sanctuary was completed. The parish would not wait for work on other parish buildings to be 

completed before dedicating God's holy Sanctuary. 

    Since it did not take 46 years to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, the Jews were not saying that the Temple 

required 46 years of work to be ready to use. Instead, they were saying that, after the Temple Sanctuary had 

been rebuilt and rededicated to God, the Temple was in use for 46 years. The temple of Jerusalem was being 

spiritually rebuilt by prayer and sacrifice for the 46 years of its use since the physical reconstruction of the 

Temple Sanctuary was completed. Thus, the period of 46 years is to be counted from the completion of the 

work on the Temple Sanctuary. 

    According to Josephus, the rebuilding of the Temple Sanctuary took 1  years and there was a great festival 

upon its completion. This festival also coincided with the anniversary of the day of the inauguration of Herod 

as king over the Jews.

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 Herod gained his kingship over the Jews through a war which ended on the Fast Day, 

that is, the Day of Atonement on Tishri 10.

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 (The month of Tishri occurs in early fall, in Sept./Oct.) His 

inauguration ceremony must have taken place not too soon and not too long after the war was won. Herod 

would not have tolerated a hastily thrown together inauguration ceremony, for he was vain and self important. 

Nor would he, for much the same reason, have waited too long before holding a ceremony to declare his 

kingship. Thus the inauguration of king Herod likely occurred while it was still the fall season, within several 

weeks of Tishri 10. This reasoning places the festival at the completion of the rebuilding of the temple also in 

the fall, since the anniversary of the inauguration ceremony coincided with this festival. 

    Since the work on the Temple Sanctuary was completed in the fall, the work must have begun in springtime, 

a year and a half earlier. And it stands to reason that spring would be the most likely time for this rebuilding 

work to begin. The best time to begin a major building project is when the best weather begins, in spring, not 

in fall or winter. This also means that the 46 years is to be counted from the fall of one year (when the work 

was completed) to the spring of another year (when Jesus spoke to the Jews at Passover, in the spring). The 

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