Charles Ellicott Commentary John 10:23

"it was winter; and Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon`s porch." — John 10:23 (ASV)

And Jesus walked in the temple . . .—Better, and Jesus was walking. The scene is remembered and pictured as it took place.

In Solomon’s porch.—The place is mentioned again in Acts 3:11; Acts 5:12. It was rather a cloister or arcade than what we usually call a porch. It is said to have been on the east of the Temple, and to have been a relic of the original building which had survived all destructions and restorations, and had brought down its founder’s name from its founder’s time. (Compare to Josephus, Antiquities 20.9.7.)

It does not seem clear, however, that Josephus calls anything more than the eastern wall by the name of Solomon, and he calls the cloister above it simply the “Eastern cloister.” It is more likely that the true position of “Solomon’s porch” is to be found in one of the subterranean structures which existed in the time of our Lord, and exist now as they did in the time of Solomon.

Caspari would identify the corridor under El-Aksa with “Solomon’s porch,” and thus connect the place where our Lord walked at this feast with the Holy Church of Zion, and the place of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. (Chronology and Geography, Introduction, Appendix § 22; English Translation, pages 297–299. Compare to Note on references in Acts.) The place as mentioned here is another instance of the writer’s remembrance of topographical details connected with the Temple. (Compare to John 8:20.) The fact that it was winter, and the fact that He was walking in this covered cloister or crypt, explain each other.