Isaiah 64:11 Our holy and our beautiful house
Meaning the temple, the house of God, as Aben Ezra: called "holy", because dedicated to holy uses; where the holy sacrifices were offered up, the holy service of God performed; and where the holy God granted his presence, and where were the symbols of it: and "beautiful", in its building, as the first temple was that was built by Solomon; but here the second temple is meant, built by Zerubbabel, which being repaired and beautified by Herod, was a very beautiful building; and the Jews say F4, that
``he who has not seen the building of Herod has never seen a beautiful building;''
or it may be rendered, "the house of our holiness, and of our glory" {e}; where their holy services were performed, and which was the glory of their nation, and on which they gloried and boasted:
where our fathers praised thee:
with psalms and songs; the singers in the temple, as Aben Ezra; and the priests and all the people also, who, by their various services, as well as songs, gave praise and glory to God in this place; they do not mention their own services and praises, which they had been very negligent of, or not sincerely performed; but their fathers, which had been acceptable to the Lord, and therefore would bear mentioning when theirs would not: now this place, in which the glory of God and the interest of his people were concerned,
is burnt up with fire;
this is true, as Kimchi observes, both of the first and second temple; the first was burnt with fire by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, (
Jeremiah 52:13 ) , and the second by the Romans under Titus the man emperor, as Josephus
F6 relates:
and all our pleasant things are laid waste;
their pleasant land, and pleasant cities, and especially Jerusalem, the palaces of their princes and nobles, and all the riches and grandeur of them, the temple, and all the rich vessels and utensils in it.