Master Mahan

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In the religious texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, Master Mahan is a title assumed first by Cain and later by his descendant Lamech. The title indicates that Cain and Lamech were each the "master" of a "great secret" whereby they covenanted with Satan to kill for personal gain.[1] The term is found in Joseph Smith, Jr.'s translation of the Bible, in Genesis 5, which is also published in the Inspired Version of the Bible by the Community of Christ, and in an excerpt published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as the Book of Moses.

Based on perceived Hebrew roots, the LDS Church speculates that the term Mahan could mean either mind, destroyer, or great one.[2] Non-Mormon scholars, however, suggest based on contextual and historical analysis that the term is related to Master Mason, the highest degree of the Blue Lodge of freemasonry.[3] Another suggestion by both Mormon and non-Mormon scholars is that the term is related to Mahoun, a pejorative reference to Muhammad during the Middle Ages which eventually became associated with witchcraft.[4]

Contents

[edit] References in Joseph Smith's version of the Bible

The reference to Master Mahan is found in a revision by Joseph Smith, Jr. of Genesis chapter 5 of the Bible, now published in the Inspired Version of the Bible (I.V.), Genesis chapter 5, and in the Pearl of Great Price (PGP), Book of Moses chapter 5. The passage discussing the term begins after the ritual sacrifice by Cain and Abel, when God accepted Abel's sacrifice of a sheep, but not Cain's sacrifice of crops.[5] According to this passage, the angry Cain made a secret pact with Satan, who asked Cain to:

[s]wear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy bretheren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.[6]

After entering this secret pact with Satan, Cain said, "Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder to get gain."[7] Then, the passage comments, "Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan; and he gloried in his wickedness."[8] This arrangement was referred to as a secret combination.[9]

Later, the passage states that Cain's descendant Lamech had "slain a man to [his] wounding, and a young man to [his] hurt", and Lamech "entered into a covenant with Satan, after the manner of Cain, wherein he became Master Mahan, master of the great secret which was administered unto Cain by Satan."[10] When a man named Irad, one of the sons of Enoch who knew about Lamech's secret pact, revealed that secret to others, the passage states that Lamech killed him to enforce the blood oath of secrecy.[11]

[edit] Theories about the term's etymology

A footnote to Moses 5:31 in the LDS Church edition of the Pearl of Great Price states that "'Mind,' 'destroyer,' and 'great one' are possible meanings of the roots evident in 'Mahan'"[12] but no further explanation is provided. In referring to this footnote, Matthew B. Brown, a Mormon apologist, has stated that he believes Mahan means "destroyer", because "the Hebrew word maha means 'destroy,' and the addition of an n would make the word a noun. Hence, maha(n) = destroy(er)."[13]

Some commentators have suggested that Master Mahan is derived or related to Master Mason, the highest degree of the Blue Lodge of freemasonry.[14][15][16][17] A Mormon apologist has acknowledged that "[a]nti-Mormon critics have long claimed that Master Mahan is a thinly veiled variation of Master Mason" and that they believe that "the presence of this title in LDS scripture clearly demonstrates that Joseph Smith plagiarized Masonic material for his creative ventures".[18] D. Michael Quinn has suggested that this interpretation "ignor[es] textual and linguistic context" of the passage, and as an alternative favors the interpretation of the phrase's derivation from Mahoun.[19]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses 5:29-31, 49; Inspired Version, Genesis 5:14-16, 35.
  2. ^ Book of Moses 5:31 footnote d; Brown (1997), p. 148).
  3. ^ Arbaugh (1932), p. 72); Homer (1994), p. 91); Brown (1997), p. 147); Quinn (1997), p. 208); Whelan (1964), p. 197); Tanner & Tanner (1969), pp. 156–157).
  4. ^ Brown (1997), p. 148); Quinn (1998, ch. 6).
  5. ^ I.V. Genesis 5:6–7; PGP Moses 5:20–21.
  6. ^ I.V. Genesis 5:15; PGP Moses 5:29.
  7. ^ I.V. Genesis 5:16; PGP Moses 5:30.
  8. ^ I.V. Genesis 5:16; PGP Moses 5:30.
  9. ^ I.V. Genesis 5:37; PGP Moses 5:51.
  10. ^ I.V. Genesis 5:35; PGP Moses 5:49.
  11. ^ I.V. Genesis 5:36; PGP Moses 5:49–50.
  12. ^ Moses 5:31, footnote d.
  13. ^ Brown (1997), p. 147)
  14. ^ Arbaugh (), p. 72)
  15. ^ Whelan (1964), p. 197)
  16. ^ Tanner & Tanner (1969), pp. 156–157).
  17. ^ Homer (), p. 91)
  18. ^ Brown (1997), p. 147)
  19. ^ Quinn (1998), p. 147–148, 208–210)

[edit] References