{Was rent} (eschisth(885c)). Both Mark ( Mr 15:38 ) and Luke
( Lu 23:45 ) mention also this fact. Matthew connects it with the
earthquake, "the earth did quake" (h(8820)g(8820)eseisth(885c)). Josephus
(_War_ VI. 299) tells of a quaking in the temple before the
destruction and the Talmud tells of a quaking forty years before
the destruction of the temple. Allen suggests that "a cleavage in
the masonry of the porch, which rent the outer veil and left the
Holy Place open to view, would account for the language of the
Gospels, of Josephus, and of the Talmud." This veil was a most
elaborately woven fabric of seventy-two twisted plaits of
twenty-four threads each and the veil was sixty feet long and
thirty wide. The rending of the veil signified the removal of the
separation between God and the people (Gould).