MASONIC INFORMATION

by VW Conrado V. Sanga, PDDGM
(source:  The Cabletow, November-December 2007 Vol. 84 No. 4, p10 - 11)

1.  What were the Boundaries of the Temple?
     On the East, by the brook of Kadron; on the South, the reservoirs and water sheds; on the West,
      by Jerusalem; and on the Southwest, the City of David.

2.  From whom did King Solomon acquire Mount Moriah as the site of the Temple?
     From Ornan the Jebusite, to whom he paid 600 shekels of gold.

3.  What is a shekel?
     In the 4th, or Mark Master, degree, it is said that the value of a mark is a Jewish half-shekel
     of silver or 25 US cents.  The shekel of silver was the weight used in antiquity among the Jews.
     Its value is roughly half of a US dollar.

4.  Did Hiram Abif survive the construction of the Temple?
     Yes!

5.  Were there any bells used in King Solomon's Temple?
      Bells were not invented till the 5th century A.D.  Therefore, the use of a bell in the Third,
      of Master Mason, degree is but an anachronism.

6.  Who was King Hiram of Tyre?
      King Hiram of Tyre was a contemporary of King Solomon of Israel.  The former assisted
      the latter in the building of the Temple.  He loaned King Solomon 120 talents of gold (which
      is roughly 230 million pesos).

7.  Who succeeded Solomon as King of Israel?
      His Son Rehoboam.

8.  Which way did King Solomon take to arrive at the middle chamber of the Temple?
      By way of a flight of winding stairs (2nd Degree Ritual; I Kings VI-8).

9.  What mosque is now located on one of the slopes of Mount Moriah?
      The mosque of Oman.

10. How old was the Temple when it was destroyed by the Chaldeans?
      Four Hundred thirty-five (435) years old.

11. What was Jachin?
      The name of one of the pillars standing at the porch of the Temple.  The other pillar was
      called Boaz.  The name Jachin was derived from jah and jachin, meaning will establish and
      God will establish, respectively.

12. What were the dimensions of the great pillars Boaz and Jachin?
       According to our Monitor, there were five and thirty cubits high, twelve in circumference
       and four in diameter and were surmounted by chapiters of five cubits each, making in all
       forty cubits in height.

13. How many times was the Temple built?
       Three times - by King Solomon, Zerubabel, and Herod, respectively.

14. Who was Aaron?
       Aaron was a brother of Moses.  He was the first High Priest of the Mosaic dispensation.

15. Where is Mount Sinai?  What is its significance?
       Mount Sinai is a mountain of Arabia, between the horns of the Red Sea.  It is where Moses
       received the two tablets on which were inscribed the Decalogue or Ten Commandments.

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"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it." - Winston Churchill, UK Prime Minister, Freemason.