HIRAM ABIF MORRIS MARKS AND THE REV MORRIS ROSENBAUM, Masońskie
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Morris Marks
and the
Rev. Morris Rosenbaum
THE personality of Hiram Abif must always be an
interesting one to all Master Masons. Our martyred
Grand Master is the central figure in the Third Degree
which forms the climax of Craft Masonry; he is held
up to us, and rightly so, as a glorious example of
unshaken fidelity, and we are admonished to be as
true to our Masonic obligations as he proved to be to
his.
The traditional history which relates his untimely end,
bears a striking resemblance to various legends of
ancient classical mythology, and it has been argued by
many writers on Masonry that it is nothing but
another form of these legends, devoid of all historical
truth. Thus, Oliver, in his Freemasons' Treasury,
Lecture 45, asks whether anyone can "be simple
enough to believe that Dr. Anderson, in his Defence of
Masonry, [The Defence of Masonry, printed in the
1738 Book of Constitutions, was not written by Dr.
Anderson, but by Martin Clare, A.M., F.R.S., Junior
Grand Warden in 1735 - Ed.] intended to prove a real
historical fact when he explained the exhumation of
the body of Hiram Abif "? and adds "Why, it is well
known that the celebrated artist was living at Tyre
many years after the Temple was completed." In
Lecture 47 he points out certain discrepancies which
exist in the traditional history. No one would venture
to assert that there are no discrepancies, for it must be
remembered, that traditions which are transmitted
orally, become altered in the course of transmission,
either by being misunderstood, or by the caprice of
those who repeat them. But Oliver and others assert,
that there is no trace of the death of Hiram Abif in the
V. of the S.L. Perdiguier, in his work Le Livre du
Compagnonage (Vol. II, p. 8o) says, "The Bible, the
only book of any real authority concerning the
construction of Solomon's Temple, says nothing about
Hiram's murder." Ragon (quoted in Oliver, Lecture
46) says, "The Holy Scriptures tacitly disprove them
(i.e. the Masonic traditions regarding Hiram's death),
for they contain no reference whatever to the
circumstances which constitute the legend of
initiation." Now it is with these statements, and
statements such as these, that this Paper is intended
to deal, and to sketch, if only briefly, a theory to shew
that some reference to the disappearance of our
illustrious Grand Master does exist in the Holy
Scriptures.
The V. of the S.L. contains two accounts of the
building of Solomon's Temple, viz., in I Kings and in II
Chronicles. They apparently differ in many details,
and the differences in the paragraphs referring to
Hiram may be here pointed out. In Chronicles Hiram
is described as being "the son. of a woman of the
daughters of Dan," whereas in I Kings (chap. 7, v. 14)
he is said to be "a widow's son of the tribe of
Naphtali." Now a man's mother could not belong to
two tribes, Dan and Naphtali. We must therefore
conclude that two different Hirams are spoken of -
one, whose mother was of the daughters of Dan,
another, whose mother was of the tribe of Naphtali.
This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that,
according to the two versions, the Hirams mentioned
are engaged in different work. In Chronicles, Hiram is
stated to have been a worker "in gold, and in silver, in
brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in
blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave
any manner of graving, and to find out every device."
In Kings he is called "a worker in brass ; and he was
filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning
to work all works in brass." One is a brass-smith only,
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.
(#
<
/
<
9(7
Morris Marks
and the
Rev. Morris Rosenbaum
THE personality of Hiram Abif must always be an
interesting one to all Master Masons. Our martyred
Grand Master is the central figure in the Third Degree
which forms the climax of Craft Masonry; he is held
up to us, and rightly so, as a glorious example of
unshaken fidelity, and we are admonished to be as
true to our Masonic obligations as he proved to be to
his.
The traditional history which relates his untimely end,
bears a striking resemblance to various legends of
ancient classical mythology, and it has been argued by
many writers on Masonry that it is nothing but
another form of these legends, devoid of all historical
truth. Thus, Oliver, in his Freemasons' Treasury,
Lecture 45, asks whether anyone can "be simple
enough to believe that Dr. Anderson, in his Defence of
Masonry, [The Defence of Masonry, printed in the
1738 Book of Constitutions, was not written by Dr.
Anderson, but by Martin Clare, A.M., F.R.S., Junior
Grand Warden in 1735 - Ed.] intended to prove a real
historical fact when he explained the exhumation of
the body of Hiram Abif "? and adds "Why, it is well
known that the celebrated artist was living at Tyre
many years after the Temple was completed." In
Lecture 47 he points out certain discrepancies which
exist in the traditional history. No one would venture
to assert that there are no discrepancies, for it must be
remembered, that traditions which are transmitted
orally, become altered in the course of transmission,
either by being misunderstood, or by the caprice of
those who repeat them. But Oliver and others assert,
that there is no trace of the death of Hiram Abif in the
V. of the S.L. Perdiguier, in his work Le Livre du
Compagnonage (Vol. II, p. 8o) says, "The Bible, the
only book of any real authority concerning the
construction of Solomon's Temple, says nothing about
Hiram's murder." Ragon (quoted in Oliver, Lecture
46) says, "The Holy Scriptures tacitly disprove them
(i.e. the Masonic traditions regarding Hiram's death),
for they contain no reference whatever to the
circumstances which constitute the legend of
initiation." Now it is with these statements, and
statements such as these, that this Paper is intended
to deal, and to sketch, if only briefly, a theory to shew
that some reference to the disappearance of our
illustrious Grand Master does exist in the Holy
Scriptures.
The V. of the S.L. contains two accounts of the
building of Solomon's Temple, viz., in I Kings and in II
Chronicles. They apparently differ in many details,
and the differences in the paragraphs referring to
Hiram may be here pointed out. In Chronicles Hiram
is described as being "the son. of a woman of the
daughters of Dan," whereas in I Kings (chap. 7, v. 14)
he is said to be "a widow's son of the tribe of
Naphtali." Now a man's mother could not belong to
two tribes, Dan and Naphtali. We must therefore
conclude that two different Hirams are spoken of -
one, whose mother was of the daughters of Dan,
another, whose mother was of the tribe of Naphtali.
This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that,
according to the two versions, the Hirams mentioned
are engaged in different work. In Chronicles, Hiram is
stated to have been a worker "in gold, and in silver, in
brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in
blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave
any manner of graving, and to find out every device."
In Kings he is called "a worker in brass ; and he was
filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning
to work all works in brass." One is a brass-smith only,
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