Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

BIBLICAL HEFEEEB ' CES .

At page 305 , in the footnote , we read , — "No living English brother ever heard read a single verse in open lodge ; " After what has been already said , it is almost unnecessary for me to contradict that untrue assertion ; it is now about seven years since I was initiated , and during that time I have been in the

constant hahit of hearing certain portions of the Bible read at particular ] 5 ortions of the several ceremonies ; and , further , wheu performing the ceremonies myself , it is quite usual for me to do so , and at our next meeting , were I called upon to Avork e . g . the first degree , I should very likely read several perilous of the Bible .

In the first degree Ave have read—Psalm 133 ; portion of 2 nd chapter of Euth , also 16 th and I 7 th verses of 1 st chapter , and 7 th and Sth verses of 4 th chapter . In the second degree—Ist Cor ., 13 th chap . ; Judges , chap . 12 ; 1 st Kings , chap . 7 . The foregoing extracts are quite common ; there is also Exoduschap . 12

, , verses 22 to 27 , which , although I have never yet heard read or referred to , would , I consider , be exceedingly apropos in a certain portion of the second negree , if properly b"ought in by one who understood the subject . The beauty of this reference consists in the simplicity of the signthe spots of Mood the

, upon Jintel and door posts being the sign of life to the Israelites while their absence from , and the presence of the usual inscriptions or invocations to their gods ' on the doorways of the Egyptians proved the symbols of death to the latter . " The LORD " saw and acknowledged His own signwhile the symbols of the

, gods many and lords many of the Egyptians only brought down upon them His wrath ; the pretended "E gyptian deities being utterly powerless to protect -themselves , far less their worshippers ; as the 12 th verse says , — " Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgmentI the LOED . " If ofthe readers

, any of the Magazine have seen the above passage alluded to in the way I mean , perhaps they will say so . When we come to understand the customs and practices of the ancient nations , we then begin to appreciate the full meaning and beauty of many passages in the Bible .

In third degree . —Genesis , chap . 4 th . Prom the above " Senex " will observe that we come pretty near each other . In reference to the mysterious looking passage in 1 st Kings , chap . 20 , verses 30 to 33 , — " And Benhadad fled , and came into the city , into an inner

chamber . " ( 31 ) . "And his servants said unto him , Behold now , we have heard that the Kings of the house of Israel are merciful Kings : let us , I pray thee , put sackcloth on our loius , and ropes upon our heads , and go out to the King of Israel : peradveniure he will save thy life . " ( 32 . ) " So they girded sackcloth

¦ on their loius , aa & put ropes on their heads , and came to the King of Israel , aud said , Thy servant Ben-hadad saith , I pray thee , let me live . And he said , Is he yet alive ? he is my brother . " ( 33 . ) " Wow the men did diligently observe whether anything would come from him , and did hastily catch it : and they said , Thy brother Ben-hadad . Then he

said , Go ye , bring him . Then Ben-hadad came forth to him ; and he caused him to come up into the chariot . " Bro . " Danum , " referring to the above at page 368 , says , — " The question is whether the allusion is to Masonry . " After considering the passage , I most decidedl-Sink that it has nothing whatever to do

y with Masonry ; such Masonic ideas were not in existence then , nor anything like them in connexion with " Masonry . " More , even supposing it had alluded to the brotherhood of the two kings in some secret society , it would not be a Masonic but a religious fraternity . Howevernot only were the two

, kings of different nations and races , but there is nothing in the passage to lead us to consider that Beh-hadad possessed any such pull upon Ahab . Observe also , it is not Ben-hadad who starts the idea and tells his servants to go to Ahab thus ; but " his servants said unto him" we will go to Ahab and

, demeaning ourselves humbly , beseech him to spare thy life ; " we have heard that the Kings of the House of Israel are merciful Kings , '' therefore , " peradventure he will save thy life . " We thus see that all was conjecture ; there is no reason even hinted why of rigid he should spare him , but merely—it was

worth while experimenting upon Ahah's presumed clemency . The appellation " my brother ' ' is too common to put any stress upon it . In 1 st Kings , chap . 9 , verse 13 , we find King Hiram in anything but a pleasant mood , saying to Solomon , " What cities are these which thou hast given memy brother ? " And

, Hiram called them the land of Cabul , that is , the displeasing , or dirty cities . It seems to me that Solomon does not look quite Masonic , or show to much advantage , in this transaction ; but was acting rather meanly toAvards his brother king who had done so much for him ; however , I daresay Solomon

was pretty " cute , " and knew how to drive a good bargain even Avith a " brother . " The words " anything ivould come'' are printed in italics , thereby showing they are not in the original , being inserted or interpolated by the translator to give the meaning he supposed was intended ; also

anent " catch it , " the word "it" is not in the original . I am not a Hebrew scholar or even student myself , or I could say more ; yet twice two will not make five in Hebrew any more than in English ; and to sum up , in reference to this passage in 1 st Kings , chap . 20 , 1 would consider the whole incident to be very simple .

Ben-hadad , being beaten in battle , flies for his life ; the unfortunate accident of the wall at A phek falling upon his troops further discourages him , and , loosing heart , he goes into an inner chamber to bide or rest ; his servants try to rally his courage or raise his hopes by proposing to plead to Ahab for him , at same time

arranging to give a signal to some one on the lookout for it , by which he might know if they were successful or otherwise ; if they were fortunate , all right ; but , if not , and they observed the countenance of Ahab getting clouded and angry at the mention of his ( Ben-hadad's ) namethen he would have to flee

, for his life . ( The " sackcloth on our loins" and " ropes upon our heads " are simply put on to show their humility and submission . ) Signals or signs are quite common among all sorts of peoples , and come