Research RectangleTHE PILLARS
There were two pillars at the front of King Solomon’s Temple in Biblical times, and they are said to be on the sides of the entrance to our Masonic Lodges. The pillars in King Solomon’s Temple were called Boaz and Jachin, and they symbolized strength and establishment, power and control. Man must have both in his life if he is to be successful. (Masonic Questions & Answers, by Paul M. Bessel, Cornerstone Book Publishers)
WHICH IS WHICH?
Numerous quotations from Old Testament which, taken together, indicate that the ‘lefthand’ and ‘right-hand’ pillars are to be understood as though they are being described by someone standing inside the Temple, looking out towards the entrance. Perhaps the simplest explanation is Whiston’s note, in his edition of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book VIII, Chap. iii, Section 4. I quote first the passage from Josephus, followed by Whiston’s note:
"...the one of these pillars he set at the entrance of the porch on the right hand, and called it Jachin, and the other at the left hand, and called it Booz [sic]..."
Whiston’s footnote: "...Here Josephus gives us a key to his own language, of right and left hand in the tabernacle and temple, that by the right hand he means what is against our left, when we suppose ourselves going up from the east gates of the courts towards the temple, and so vice versa; whence it follows that the pillar Jachin, on the right hand of the temple, was on the south against our left hand, and Booz [sic] on the north against our right hand..."
Thus the Masonic Record is correct; our ritual is at fault, only because it lacks the very necessary explanation. (Freemason at Work, by Harry Carr, Lewis Masonic)
Fraternally,
Norm Leeper, PM, HA
