Jachin and Boaz

Referring to Hiram of Tyre:
"He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits around [that is, about 27 feet (about 8.1 meters) high and 18 feet (about 5.4 meters) around] by line]. He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits [that is, about 7 1/2 feet (about 2.3 meters)] high. A network of interwoven chains festooned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. He made pomegranates in two rows encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars. He did the same for each capital. The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits [that is, about 6 feet (about 1.8 meters)] high. On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin [which probably means 'he establishes'] and the one to the north Boaz [which probably means 'in him is strength']. The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed."
     - I Kings 7:15-22

"It was a common practice in antiquity to erect two independent pillars flanking the entrance to a temple. Their precise purpose is unknown. The pillars for Solomon's temple are huge in size, each nearly six feet thick and about twenty-seven feet high. Each has an elaborately decorated capital of almost eight feet made of bronze three inches thick. The two pillars have names, Jachin (meaning 'he set up') and Boaz (meaning unknown, though with different vowels it would mean ('with strength'). Why these names were given and what they signified is unknown."
     - John Wiliam Wevers, "The First Book of Kings" in Old Testament History

"In I Kings 7:15,16 we are told that the two pillars (Jachin and Boaz) measured 18 cubits plus 5 cubits for the capitals, a total height of 23 cubits for each pillar; and Jeremiah 52:21,22 gives exactly the same measurements. II Kings 25:17,though, says the pillars were 18 + 3 cubits, but this is not a problem since the writer is very likely excluding a decoration such as a cluster of bronze leaves around each capital. It was, and still is, customary to put leaf decorations around capitals, and particularly these because each one represented a lily flower.

"The real problem is II Chronicles 3:15 which says the pillars were 35 cubits + 5 for the capitals, a total of 40 cubits. Some have tried to say that perhaps this verse is totaling the height of both pillars, 18 + 18 = 36, but others say the particular Hebrew wording excludes such an interpretation. II Chronicles also says that the Porch of the Temple was 120 cubits when I Kings says it was only 30. The figure of 120 is symbolic (basically it stands for Israel's 12 tribes multiplied, 10 x 12= 120). Symbolism is also the purpose of the pillars' 35+5 cubit measurements and are the proportions of a man.

"In ancient architecture, the capitals of a column represented a man's head, and a man was (and is) 7-8 heads tall. This is the formula that was used by the ancient Greeks, Romans and others to build columns for the temples of their gods and the practice is referred to rather matter-of-factly in books about ancient architecture. Solomon even gave his two pillars personal names, Jachin and Boaz, and obviously they depict the proportions of a man, which one may figure as 35 divided by 5 = 7 heads, or 40 divided 5= 8 heads. Either computation is no problem."
     - Tony Badillo (private communication)

Visit Temple Secrets of Solomon

In the lore of Freemasonry, Boaz was the great-grandfather of King David - representing "strength, or it is in strength". Jachin was the high priest who assisted the dedication of Solomon's Temple - representing " to establish" and united "stability".
Boaz, the left-hand pillar, stood to the south representing the land of Judah and signifying 'strength'; Jachin stood in the north representing the land of Israel signifying 'establishment' and when united by the lintel of Yahweh the two provided 'stability'. As in ancient Egypt, so long as the two lands were conjoined by the appropriate pillars political stability would endure."
     - Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas, The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus

Knight and Lomas write that Boaz stood to the south whereas I Kings clearly states that it stood to the north. According to Knight and Lomas, two pillars - one located in Upper Egypt and the other in Lower Egypt - symbolically united the ancient kingdom.

"Jachin and Boaz represent two giant plants or tree whose top is a lotus flower and stem or trunk are that of a palm tree. Solomon created a hybrid plant, essentially. These plants, like other things in the Temple are multi-symbolic, representing more than one thing at the same time.

"In case of the plants or trees, they depict Israel being 'planted' in the new land of Canaan. These two trees, in turn, depict the two kings mostly responsible building the temple, David and Solomon. David is Boaz, Solomon Jachin. This explains the dynastic oracle well known to temple students but not fully understood, 'By his strength he (or the king) will be established.' The word 'strength' can also be translated 'striker.' However it is rendered, it refers to a man of war, David. Jachin refers to making something firm, establishing it; this is Solomon. David is told that the kingdom would be 'established' by his son at a time of 'peace' (a reference to Solomon whose name means peace or pacific).

"The lotus flower was recognized as a love flower anciently and here it signifies God's love for Israel by 'establishing' it in the new land. 'Establishing' applies to the stem of the tree. The name David means 'beloved.' As for Solomon, he had a second name, Jedidiah, which also means beloved. Since the two kings are given credit for founding and establishing Israel as a 'kingdom' they form the legs of the Temple Man. 'Establishing' something is to cause it to stand or stand up (as if one were planting post on the ground) and, hence, the legs. Therefore, Temple Man must be seen as standing.

"However, since the establishing (enlarging and becoming known) would take place only during a time of peace -- Solomon's time -- it must also be seen as a man lying down, which depicts being at 'peace,' i.e., 'resting' is portrayed by a man lying down asleep (Jacob). Rest and peace are used somewhat as synonyms. Jacob and Solomon are both men of peace or rest.

"From this we can see how Boaz and Jacob also represent two concepts, War and Peace. But further, these two relate to the Sacrificial Altar (war) and the Sea of Bronze (peace). The purpose of this is to portray the ultimate purpose of the whole Temple, redemption. The Sacrificial Altar depicting the feet of Temple Man depicts God at war with world and conquering it. The sacrifice representing surrender to God, and as a result, one is put at peace with him by being given his spirit (the water in the Sea of Bronze), which portrays conception or fusion (the spirit of God and man uniting, devekut). Actual birth is portrayed by the ulam or porch which depicts the reproductive organs in the pelvic area or 'loins.' In this way one is 'born' into the Temple and enters it as a new priest. The Temple is a miniature, idealistic reproduction of the kingdom, or at least stands for it, since it was recognized as God's 'palace.' These new priests must be seen, therefore, as a 'kingdom' of priests."
     - Tony Badillo, discussing his upcoming book, King Solomon's Astonishing Temple Secrets

"According the 'old ritual' [of Freemasonry] these two great pillars had been hollow. Inside them had been stored the 'ancient records' and the 'valuable writings' pertaining to the past of the Jewish people. And amongst these records, the Freemasons claimed, had been 'the secret of the magical Shamir and the history of its properties'."
     - Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal