In the afternoon Iddo conducted him to one of the places of public instruction, called by the Greek name of Synagogue. Such buildings had come into use only since the captivity, but there were already a considerable number of them in Jerusalem. In the days of David and Solomon we find no trace of them. It is true, we find very early mention of the schools of the prophets, from which they may be considered to have taken their rise. In the days of Elisha it was customary to visit the prophets on the day of the new moon and on the sabbath.[121] In the captivity the people must have felt the necessity much more of assembling on solemn days, to obtain consolation and hope from the discourses of some man learned in the scriptures. On the fifth day of the sixth month, it happened, we are told in the book of the Prophet, that Ezekiel “was sitting in his house and the elders of Judah were sitting before him.”[122] After the return from the captivity this custom was kept up, from the experience of its utility; and these assemblages were held at first in the porticoes of the temple, afterwards in buildings appropriated to the purpose. Sacrifices could be offered only in one place, the temple, but prayer might be offered, and instruction communicated, any where. Footnote 121: 2 Kings iv. 23. Footnote 122: Ezek. viii. 1. They went into a synagogue in the Lower City, where an eloquent expounder of the law was accustomed to teach. The arrangement of the building had a good deal of resemblance to that of the temple. A large quadrangular space was surrounded on all sides with covered walks or porticoes, resting upon a double row of columns. In the middle, a circular roof rested upon four pillars, and beneath it, on a raised place, lay the rolls of the law. The people stood upon the open space, which was covered with an awning, and in rainy weather took shelter in the porticoes, one of which was set apart exclusively for the women. Before the rolls of the law stood the reader and expounder, who was also called the apostle or ambassador of the assembly. He read the law and the letters of other congregations; he delivered the prayer, and thus, as it were, was the messenger of the people to God, and the interpreter of their desires. Besides him there was also a ruler of the synagogue, or superintendent of the school, who maintained order, several elders of the congregation who assisted him in his functions, a gatherer of alms, and a servant. Any one who chose, not excepting strangers, might stand up and teach.