The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

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Chapter 6 - Peculiarities of Masonic Language
der Festesfreude als memento mori der Toten gedenken läßt. 1087 This has a
parallel in the "silent battery" ("Stille Salve" or "batterie de deuil"), the
rhythmical clapping of the hands as a sign of honor.
Some Masonic drinking ceremonies have a touch of Christianity about them.
For example, the Royal Arch banquet ceremonies commence and conclude with
a religious saying, which is "Benedictus, Benedicat (May the blessed One bless)"
before the banquet, and "Benedicto, Benedicatur (May the blessed One be
blessed)" after the banquet, to which all companions answer, "Deo gratias." 1088
6.8 Hebrewisms
In Masonic rituals, there are several unusual expressions, like "Macbenac,"
and others. There even exists a Dictionnaire des Hébraismes et d’autres termes
spécifiques d’origine franςaise, étrangère ou inconnue, dans le Rite Ecossais,
Ancien et Accepté, written by Michel Saint-Gall in 1988, that tries to explain
such peculiarities and to trace them to their roots. Let us see how it defines the
strange word "Mac-Benac": "ne veut strictement rien dire, en quelque langue que
ce soit. Version très déformée de Ma-Haboneh, encore utilisée pourtant dans
certains rites et obédiences." 1089 This dictionary defines the origin of this pseudo-
Hebraic term as follows:
MA-HABONEH (mem, hé, - hé, beth, noun, hé): qui est l'architecte (ou
le constructeur?). De MA, de l'article HA et de BONEH, architecte,
constructeur (1 Rois V-18). Sans aucun doute il s'agit de la forme la
plus ancienne et la seule correcte du mot. D'origine compagnonique, le
mot, dont l'hébreu est correct, apparaît dès 1760 dans 'Les Trois Coups
Distincts'. Il est préconisé par le Tuileur de Lausanne. MAC-BENAC et
MOHABON n'en sont que des déformations, sans doute tardives. 1090
It might be misleading, if not a waste of time, to search for Hebrew roots of
Masonic technical terms, trying to establish scientific accuracy, for "[i]t was the
invariable habit of those who believed in the Hebraic origin of Freemasonry to
seek the root of every unusual term found in Freemasonry in the ancient Hebrew
language. This led to absurdities." 1091 There are two possibilities - maybe, most
of these strange terms really were not more than gibberish intended to confuse
the non-Masons. Or maybe there is a deeper philosophy behind some of those
terms, as the quotation above anticipates when bringing the term Ma-Haboneh in
relation with the Hebrew word "architect." This alleged relation is also stated by
1087 IFL, p. 1595. Italics added.
1088 Lewis, p. 111/112.
1089 Saint-Gall, p. 75.
1090 Ibid, p. 75/76.
1091 CME, p. 583.