THEOSISBeda Venerabilis
The Jewish people remarked, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it in three days?" (John 2:20). Their response reflected their understanding. To prevent misinterpreting our Lord's words literally, the evangelist promptly clarified which temple He referred to. Regarding the claim that the temple took forty-six years to build, it concerns the second temple, not the first. Solomon, who constructed the initial temple, completed it relatively swiftly—in seven years—during a time of peace in his reign (see 3 Kings 6:38). This first temple was ultimately destroyed by the Chaldeans (see 4 Kings 25:9), but after seventy years, rebuilding commenced under the decree of Cyrus the Persian, following the end of captivity (see 1 Ezra 1:1-3).
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The descendants of those exiled were unable to complete the work initiated under Zerubbabel and Joshua until forty-six years had passed, as they faced opposition from neighboring nations. This span coincides with the maturation of our Lord's physical body. Experts on natural history inform us that the human form reaches its perfection over a similar count of days. In the first six days post-conception, it resembles milk; the next nine days witness its transformation into blood; after twelve days, it solidifies; and during the subsequent eighteen days, it develops the complete features of all its parts, continuing to grow until birth. The calculations reveal that six plus nine plus twelve plus eighteen equals forty-five. By adding one more day—the day when the body, formed into distinct members, begins its development—we arrive at forty-six days, corresponding to the years taken to construct the temple alongside the growing of our Lord's body.