Bible Dictionaries

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Pinnacle

Pinnacle. (of the Temple). Matthew 4:5; Luke 4:9. The Greek word ought to be rendered not "a pinnacle", but "the pinnacle". The only part of the Temple, which answered to the modern sense of pinnacle was the golden spikes erected on the roof, to prevent birds from settling there. Perhaps, the word means the battlement ordered by law to be added to every roof. (According to Alford, it was the roof of Herod's royal portico of the Temple, "which overhung the ravine of Kedron from a dizzy height" - 600 or 700 feet. - Editor).