GAZOFILACIO (γαζοφυλάκων). - From γάξα (cf. Acts 8, 27; which in Persian means “treasure”) and φυλάκων (= “to guard”): in the Septuagint, the Gospels, Josephus Flavius, and Strabo it denotes the place where the treasure of the Temple of Jerusalem was kept and, by metonymy, the treasure itself.
The treasure of the sanctuary, established by Moses and increased by the gifts of the faithful and of rulers, underwent various vicissitudes and plunderings (Ex. 30, 11-16; I Mach. 1, 21-24; II Mach. 3, 5, 21). In the Temple restored by Herod the Great, the g. must have been located in rooms to the right of the court of the women. According to the Talmud, there were 13 flared chests in the g., with an upper opening in the shape of a trumpet (šūphārāth), into which the faithful cast their offerings.
Jesus taught in the g., that is, in its vicinity (John 8, 20). He praised the widow who cast into the g. two small coins (leptā), “all that she possessed,” unlike the vainglorious rich, who cast in much, but “from their surplus” (Mc. 12, 41-44; Lc. 21, 1-4).
BIBLI: H. Lesdère, Gazophylase, in DB. III, cols. 133-38. Pietro De Ambrosi