According to the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
, Boaz ( he, ''Bōʿaz'') and Jachin ( ''Yāḵīn'') were two copper, brass or bronze
pillars
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...
which stood on the porch of
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...
, the first
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...
. They are used as symbols in
Freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
and sometimes in religious architecture. They were probably not support structures but free-standing, based on similar pillars found in other nearby temples.
Description
In the Bible
The pillars were nearly six feet (1.8 metres) thick and 27 feet (8.2 metres) tall. The eight-foot (2.4 metres) high brass chapiters, or
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
s, on top of the pillars bore decorations, in brass, of
lilies
''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...
. The original measurement as taken from the Torah was in
cubit
The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding No ...
s, which records that the pillars were 18 cubits high and 12 cubits around, and hollow—four fingers thick. (). Nets of checkerwork covered the bowl of each chapiter, decorated with rows of 200
pomegranate
The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall.
The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...
s, wreathed with seven chains for each chapiter, and topped with lilies (, ).
The pillars did not survive the destruction of the First Temple;
Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
reports: "The Chaldeans broke up the bronze columns of the House of the Lore". II
Kings has a similar account. The pillars were carried away in pieces for ease of transportation. When the
Second Temple
The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...
was built, the pillars were not returned, and there exists no record of new pillars being constructed to replace them.
Orientation
Jewish commentators
According to rabbi
Raymond Apple, "Jewish commentators on I Kings 7:21 maintain that it was when one stood inside the building and looked out toward the entrance in the east" that Jachin was on the right (to the south) and Boaz was on the left (to the north).
Josephus
According to the first-century
Romano-Jewish scholar
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
' book ''
Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the re ...
'', Jachin (Hebrew יָכִין ''yakin'' "He/it will establish") stood on the right on the portico of Solomon's Temple, while Boaz (Hebrew בֹּעַז ''boʿaz'' "In him/it
sstrength") stood on the left, and the two were made by an Israelite craftsman named
Hiram. An explanatory note by William Whiston on paragraph 6 of the same chapter, explains this as agreeing with the opinion of the Jewish commentators.
Opposing view
Carl Watzinger
Carl Watzinger (9 June 1877 in Darmstadt – 8 December 1948 in Tübingen) was a German archaeologist, who with Ernst Sellin, worked on uncovering the site of the ancient city of Jericho (1907–09), and earlier, with Heinrich Kohl (1877–1914), c ...
(1877-1948), a German archaeologist, assuming that the point of view was in the east looking toward the temple, reversed this traditional placement of the pillars in a drawing of the temple which has been used by subsequent sources including ''
Encyclopaedia Judaica
The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a 22-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, langua ...
''. Due to this, some recent sources place Jachin to the north and Boaz to the south, contrary to the older tradition.
Later references
The Romanesque Church of
Santa Maria Maggiore
The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...
at
Tuscania
Tuscania is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio Region, Italy. Until the late 19th century the town was known as Toscanella.
History
Antiquity
According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by Aeneas' son, Ascanius, whe ...
, Italy, has a recessed entrance flanked by a pair of free-standing stone columns intended to evoke Boaz and Jachin. Similar pillars intended to represent Boaz and Jachin also exist in
Würzburg Cathedral
Würzburg Cathedral (german: Würzburger Dom) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Wür ...
(Germany) and
Dalby Church
Dalby Church ( sv, Dalby kyrka), sometimes also called the Church of the Holy Cross in Dalby (''Helgakorskyrkan i Dalby'') is a church in Dalby, Lund Municipality in the Swedish province of Scania. It is one of the oldest churches in Sweden. When ...
(Sweden).
Columns representing Boaz and Jachin can be found in most Masonic lodges and are emblematic of their use in
Masonic ritual
Masonic ritual is the scripted words and actions that are spoken or performed during the degree work in a Masonic lodge. Masonic symbolism is that which is used to illustrate the principles which Freemasonry espouses. Masonic ritual has appeared ...
. The pillars are part of a symbolic use of Solomon's Temple itself.
Jakin, an incorporated town in the U.S. state of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, takes its name from the pillar.
Some variants of the
Tarot
The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...
card
The High Priestess
The High Priestess (II) is the second Major Arcana card in cartomantic Tarot decks. It is based on the 2nd trump of Tarot card packs. In the first Tarot pack with inscriptions, the 18th-century woodcut Tarot de Marseilles, this figure is crowne ...
depict Boaz and Jachin.
Gallery
File:Dalby kyrka 200920-7.jpg, Romanesque representation of one of the pillars in Dalby Church
Dalby Church ( sv, Dalby kyrka), sometimes also called the Church of the Holy Cross in Dalby (''Helgakorskyrkan i Dalby'') is a church in Dalby, Lund Municipality in the Swedish province of Scania. It is one of the oldest churches in Sweden. When ...
, Sweden, 11th century
File:St John's Church, Chester - Hiram-Fenster 2.jpg, Hiram the Architect, in Freemasonry known as Hiram Abiff
Hiram Abiff (also Hiram Abif or the Widow's son) is the central character of an allegory presented to all candidates during the third degree in Freemasonry.
Hiram is presented as the chief architect of King Solomon's Temple. He is murdered ins ...
, flanked by the pillars. Stained glass window, St John's Church, Chester, 20th century
File:JachinBoaz.jpg, Illustration from ''The compass of the wise'', a 1782 Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...
book
See also
*
Asherah pole
An Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religion, Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother goddess Asherah, consort of El (deity), El. The relation of the literary references to an ''asherah'' and archa ...
*
Bronze laver (Temple)
*
Molten Sea
The Molten Sea or Brazen Sea ( ''yām mūṣāq'' " cast metal sea") was a large basin in the Temple in Jerusalem made by Solomon for ablution of the priests. It is described in and . It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. A ...
*
Solomonic column
The Solomonic column, also called Barley-sugar column, is a helical column, characterized by a spiraling twisting shaft like a corkscrew. It is not associated with a specific classical order, although most examples have Corinthian or Composite c ...
References
External links
* Treasury of Scripture Knowledg
Definition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boaz And Jachin
Columns and entablature
Solomon's Temple