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Corbespondence
CORBESPONDENCE
[ The Editor does not hold himself ' responsible for anyopinions entertained by Correspondents ^
SYMBOLISM OF THE EQFILATEEAL TRIANGLE
TO THE EDITOB OF THE FREEMASONS MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRKOR . Dear Sir and Brother , —I was exceedingly delighted with Bro . D . Wf Nash ' s highly interesting paper " On the Symbolism of the Equilateral Triangle ,, " hut that learned Brother must permit me , with all due deference to him , to submit a few remarks on the following passage in that article at page 292 , of jour Magazine for Feb . 17 th . ' ¦ . '¦¦¦
"In this sense the number 666 may be called a golden number . We may also imagine a connection between the number 666 and the three principal personages concerned in the building of the Temple . The number of the names of Solomon , Hiram king of Tyre , and Hiram A biff , are each respectively equal , in their lesser number , to 6 , so that we may look upon 666 as a Masonic number , representing the three ancient Grand Masters of the Craft * " ¦
I cannot by examination satisfy myself of the correctness of the statement , that the number of the names of Solomon and of the two Hirams , are each respectively equal in their lesser number to 6 . What is meant by lesser number , we may find in the paragraph , at page 292 , immediately preceding the one I have quoted , viz ., " The sum of the figures in each column of squares , whether taken perpendicularly , horizontally , or diagonally amounts to 6 x 6 x 6 = 216 , which is equal in its lesser number to 9 , " so that the lesser number is ascertained by adding the three figures 216 together , thus making 9 . I would here remark , that my talented Brother has left a greater portion of his readers in the dark , as to how he deduces the number 14 from the word " zahab , " gold .
The Hebrews had no figures to express numbers , they used the letters of their alphabet for that purpose . Now the word zahab consists of only three letters in the Hebrew , the two «' s are vowel points ; the three letters are zain , lie , and beth ; as numbers , their powers are respectively 7 , 5 , and 2 = 14 . Let us now examine the names of the three ancient Grand Masters , according to these premises . Solomon , in the original , consists of four letters , schin , lamed , mem , and he ; as numerals , 300 , 30 , 40 , 5 , which added together amounts to 375 ; add these three figures together , they will amount to 15 , and these two added together will amount to 6 .
Hiram , in the original , consists of four letters , but is spelt differently in Chronicles to what it is in Kings ; in Kings it consists of ckelh , jod , resit , and final mem ; as numerals , 8 , 10 , 200 , 600 , which added together amounts to 818 ; add these three figures together they will amount to 17 , and these two added together make 8 , two more than 6 . In Chronicles a vau is used in Hiram ' s name instead of a jod . Our numerals would then be 8 , 6 , 200 , 600 , which added together will amount to 814 : add
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Corbespondence
CORBESPONDENCE
[ The Editor does not hold himself ' responsible for anyopinions entertained by Correspondents ^
SYMBOLISM OF THE EQFILATEEAL TRIANGLE
TO THE EDITOB OF THE FREEMASONS MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRKOR . Dear Sir and Brother , —I was exceedingly delighted with Bro . D . Wf Nash ' s highly interesting paper " On the Symbolism of the Equilateral Triangle ,, " hut that learned Brother must permit me , with all due deference to him , to submit a few remarks on the following passage in that article at page 292 , of jour Magazine for Feb . 17 th . ' ¦ . '¦¦¦
"In this sense the number 666 may be called a golden number . We may also imagine a connection between the number 666 and the three principal personages concerned in the building of the Temple . The number of the names of Solomon , Hiram king of Tyre , and Hiram A biff , are each respectively equal , in their lesser number , to 6 , so that we may look upon 666 as a Masonic number , representing the three ancient Grand Masters of the Craft * " ¦
I cannot by examination satisfy myself of the correctness of the statement , that the number of the names of Solomon and of the two Hirams , are each respectively equal in their lesser number to 6 . What is meant by lesser number , we may find in the paragraph , at page 292 , immediately preceding the one I have quoted , viz ., " The sum of the figures in each column of squares , whether taken perpendicularly , horizontally , or diagonally amounts to 6 x 6 x 6 = 216 , which is equal in its lesser number to 9 , " so that the lesser number is ascertained by adding the three figures 216 together , thus making 9 . I would here remark , that my talented Brother has left a greater portion of his readers in the dark , as to how he deduces the number 14 from the word " zahab , " gold .
The Hebrews had no figures to express numbers , they used the letters of their alphabet for that purpose . Now the word zahab consists of only three letters in the Hebrew , the two «' s are vowel points ; the three letters are zain , lie , and beth ; as numbers , their powers are respectively 7 , 5 , and 2 = 14 . Let us now examine the names of the three ancient Grand Masters , according to these premises . Solomon , in the original , consists of four letters , schin , lamed , mem , and he ; as numerals , 300 , 30 , 40 , 5 , which added together amounts to 375 ; add these three figures together , they will amount to 15 , and these two added together will amount to 6 .
Hiram , in the original , consists of four letters , but is spelt differently in Chronicles to what it is in Kings ; in Kings it consists of ckelh , jod , resit , and final mem ; as numerals , 8 , 10 , 200 , 600 , which added together amounts to 818 ; add these three figures together they will amount to 17 , and these two added together make 8 , two more than 6 . In Chronicles a vau is used in Hiram ' s name instead of a jod . Our numerals would then be 8 , 6 , 200 , 600 , which added together will amount to 814 : add