Solomon's Porch

Solomon's Porch is a portico of the outer courtyard of the temple — a colonnaded walkway along the eastern side of the Herodian complex retaining the older Solomonic name. In the UPDV scope it is the place where, at the Feast of Dedication in winter, Jesus walks among the people who press him for a plain answer about who he is.

A Portico of the Temple

The single UPDV scene set in the porch is in John's Hanukkah passage: "and Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon's porch" (Jn 10:23). The detail is precise — not the inner courts, but the outer portico that sheltered teachers and crowds from the winter weather. The colonnade is the setting in which the dialogue that follows ("If you are the Christ, tell us plainly") unfolds, and it is from this porch that the confrontation escalates to the attempted stoning at the end of the chapter.