IV. The Organization of the Temple Service. At the head of the temple organization was the high priest. Since the deposition of the ill-fated Hyrcanus the high priests had been appointed by Herod, for to them was intrusted large civil as well as religious authority. The one duty which the high priests could not neglect, unless prevented by illness, was to perform the sacrifice in behalf of the people and to enter the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement. Frequently he also offered the sacrifice or presided at the special services on the sabbath, the new moons, or at the great annual festivals. Otherwise the temple duties were performed by the army of priests and assistants who were associated with the temple. According to Josephus there were twenty thousand priests. They were divided into twenty-four courses. Each course included certain priestly families to which were intrusted for a week the performing of the sacrifices. Corresponding to the twenty-four courses of the priests were the courses of the people, who were represented by certain of their number at each of the important services. The priests not only performed the sacrifices but also guarded the temple treasures and the private wealth placed in their keeping. The Levites attended to the more menial duties in connection with the temple service. They aided the priests in preparing the sacrifices and in caring for the utensils that were used in connection with the sacrifice. Some of them were doorkeepers. Probably from the Levites were drafted the temple police at whose head was the captain of the temple. Their task was to preserve order and to prevent Gentiles from entering the sacred precincts of the temple. The singers constituted a third group of Levites. Two public services were held each day, the first, at sunrise, consisted in the offering of a sacrificial ram with the accompaniment of prayer and song. The same rites were repeated at sunset. After the morning sacrifice the private offerings were presented. On the sabbaths, new moons, and great festivals, the number of sacrifices was greatly increased and the ritual made more elaborate. Upon the Jews, instructed in the synagogue in the details of the law and taught to regard the temple and its services with deepest reverence, the elaborate ceremonies of this great and magnificent sanctuary must have made a profound impression. As the people streamed up to Jerusalem by thousands at the great feasts, their attention was fixed more and more upon the ritual and the truths which it symbolized. Herod's temple also strengthened the authority of the Jewish hierarchy with the people, and gave the scribes and Pharisees the commanding position which they later occupied in the life and thought of Judaism. Section CXX. THE MESSIANIC HOPES AND THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF JUDAISM