Joachim
and Boaz
13. And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
14. He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naph'tali, and his father
was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom,
and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And
he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
15. For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high
apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them
about.
16. And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the
tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits,
and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:
17. and nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the
chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the
one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.
18. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the
one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with
pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter.
19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were
of lily work in the porch, four cubits.
20. And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also
above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the
pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other
chapiter.
21. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and
he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Joachim:
1 and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.
2
22. And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the
work of the pillars finished.
1. In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay
ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
Jachin (Joachim) means "He shall establish."
Boaz means "In it is strength."
Jachin (Joachim) means "Justice." Boaz means "Mercy."
The Building of the first temple of Israel (King
Solomon's Temple) was the first major public works organized and
executed by the United Kingdom. The two columns as described in
scripture would have qualified to be one of the wonders of the
ancient world, the shear size and magnitude in scale of the project
made the technology that went into making these columns an engineering
marvel.
The two columns in there original form represented
an artistic metaphor for the balance between the male and female
aspects of nature. They make a statement about the creative nature
of god in the human equation as the divine union between the male
and female. The Pomegranate and its seeds are a reference to the
union and seed of the sexual act. The water lily (Lotus) capitols
are a reference to the females vulva and the column itself represents
the male phallus. In this metaphor it is demonstrated how God
embraces our human sexuality but places the emphasis on its divine
nature in the creation and evolution of his kingdom.
The creative aspect of God's plan on earth places
its empathizes on/in the generational histories represented in
the scriptures. The classic example of this are the opening lines
to the New Testament which outline the genealogy of the Christ.
If you have spent some scholastic time trying to put these genealogies
into a Julian calendar you will understand the scriptural emphasis
on the hereditary nature of the Biblical plot.
The white water lily (Nymphaea alba) and the blue
water lily (Nymphaea caerulea) are examples of two water lilies
from Israel. These populations of water lilies were unique to
Israel and because each marked in Israel the southernmost and
northernmost areas, respectively, of distribution of their species.
It can be said that historically at the time Solomon's
Temple was built the distribution of these lilies also marked
the Northern and Southern boundaries of Israel and symbolically
represented the geographical boundaries of the United Kingdom.
Solomon's Temple faced due East to receive the rising
sun into its entry each morning so Joachim would have symbolically
Represented the Northern portion of Israel and Boaz the Southern
ares of the Kingdom. Jesus was a direct descendant of the House
of David and the tribe of Judah in which Boaz was a patriarch.
The Columns must have contained basins at the top
of the column and were probably used as giant torches which were
lit at night on the occasion of celebratory occasions in the Hebrew
calendar such as the passover. When lit the torches were a spectacle
which could be seen for miles around.
As an artist who has work in foundries castings
bronze for the last thirty five years I feel qualified to say
these columns deserve to be ranked with the ancient Ten Wonders
of the World. The shear size and magnitude of undertaking these
as castings is an amazing accomplishment in engineering and metallurgy.
The capitols being made of brass would have required
a great deal of tin in the alloy, brass being 25% or greater tin
in its composition. At this time in history the tin may have come
from as far away as the British Isles on the ships of Tharshish
in Hiram of Tyre's trading fleet.
See:
Ships of Antiquity/Solomon's Navy
The British Museum is currently undertaking archeological
excavations of the region in which these castings were made. This
is the area of the Jordan River Valley between Beth Shean and
the entry of the River Jobbak to the Jordan River Valley. Scripture
describes the region between Zaredathan (Zareda) (Zerathan) and
Succoth as the general region in which Solomon's (Hiram's) foundry
was located.
Geologically and environmentally this region is
a perfect place for an ancient foundry. The Jordan River Valley
had lots of trees for fuel and clay rich soils with which to make
the molds and investments for the castings.
The exact location of Hiram's foundry has not been
determined however there is much evidence to support that this
region controlled by the Tribes of Dan and Naph'tali during the
United Kingdom could have produced such a feat, however more archeological
work needs to be done to find the specific site where the columns
and temple implements were made.
See also
the "Ark of the Covenant"
