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1. THE TEMPLE.
The Temple portrayed on the sela’im (tetradrachms) of Bar Kokhba is a stylized version of a messianic
approach to how an idealized Jerusalem Temple. It combines both fantasy and reality. It was created by
competent die engravers who were not fine artists, hence the elegant but two dimensional images. By all
accounts the façade to the Jerusalem temple had four columns with twelve steps leading up to it, which are
portrayed under the temple as a horizontal ladder—usually with 10-12 divisions. It was previously described
as a “fence” or a “colonnade” neither of which are mentioned in the sources.
Isadore Goldstein observed that the wavy line, the cross, and the rosette over the Temple are not fanciful,
but have a literal meaning. And their meaning has nothing to do with one translation of Bar Kokhba’s
name “son of the star.” Nor does the cross relate to Christianity. The Mishna states that “a golden vine was
positioned over the entrance to the sanctuary and hung over the beams” (m. Midd. 3.8). The vine was used
to hang donated objects, often in the form of golden grapes and vine leaves that were brought by pilgrims
who came from near and far. The wavy line seems to represent that vine.
Another portion of Mishnah (m. Yom. 3:10) refers to a gift to the Temple by Helena, Queen of Adiabene,
who “set a golden candelabra over the door of the Sanctuary. Helena was a converted Jew, who visited
Jerusalem and was buried there around 56 CE. Rabbinic literature says that Helena’s candelabra sparkled
with rays and reflected light that could be seen from many places in Jerusalem. Thus the star and the cross
apparently represent this well-publicized bright light hung above the entrance to the Temple.
The object in the center of the temple was described by Barag as the show-bread table, and others have
described it as a Holy Ark in which we can see the ends of the scrolls. This would be a highly messianic
description since the Holy Ark never stood in the Second Temple, it disappeared after the destruction of
the First Temple.
2. BAR KOKHBA’S NAME.
We learned from the Bar Kokhba letters discovered in the Judean desert in the mid-20th century, that his
name was Simon ben Kosiba (“ben” is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew “bar”). Admirers later called
him bar Kokhba (son of the star) but those who were disappointed that he was a false Messiah, referred to
him for years as “ben Koziba” (son of the lie).
Before the discovery of the Bar Kokhba letters, the only knowledge we had about this man’s first name
was on coins struck during his revolt, which referred to him as “Simon.”
3. ELEAZAR THE PRIEST.
In a 2014 article in the Israel Numismatic Journal (18:155 – 167), I proposed that Eleazar was not a living
person—such as Eleazar ben Azaria, of a priestly family and an eminent rabbi or Bar Kokhba’s uncle, Elea-
zar of Modi’in. Instead I suggested that the use of the name Eleazar is a messianic and heroic reference to
Eleazar the Priest, son of the biblical Aaron, whose name was known to every Jew of Bar Kokhba’s time.
When the already-legendary Joshua crossed the Jordan River to conquer Canaan, Eleazar the Priest was at
his side. Eleazar’s persona was directly related to various aspects of Bar Kokhba’s cause: first, the redemp-
tion of Jerusalem; second, the rebuilding of the Temple, and finally, at least in the eyes of Bar Kokhba’s
early rabbinic loyalists, the coming of the Messiah.