Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible

by John H. Walton

From the standpoint of deity, the temple is his or her estate and residence. The earthly temple was a symbol, an echo, a shadow of the heavenly residence.4 As such it served as a link, a bond, or even a portal to the heavenly residence. The heavenly archetypal temple can sometimes be identified as the cosmos itself.5 In Mesopotamia the ziggurat stood beside the temple as the place where the deity descended from the heavens to reside among the people and to receive their worship. These temples were constructed to be a place of “rest” for the deity.6 Though the concept of relaxation (or even indolence) is not lacking, rest concerns most importantly the achievement of stability, security, and order. The deity can rest in his or her temple because the threat of chaos has been dispelled. The deity then takes his or her place in the ordered, controlled cosmos with the leisure of enjoying his or her estate.