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

Chapter 6 - Peculiarities of Masonic Language 363
[...] nor will I pledge it a second time until it is lawfully redeemed from
the first pledge. Furthermore I do promise and swear, that I will receive
a brother's mark when offered to me requesting a favor, and grant him
his request if in my power; and if it is not in my power to grant his
request, I will return him his mark with the value thereof, which is half a
shekel of silver, or quarter of a dollar. 1140
In the Mark degree as published in the 'Standard' Ritual of Scottish
Freemasonry from Edinburgh, 1915, the passage about the shekel is left out, and
the obligation merely contains the following promise: "That I will receive a
Bro.'s mark when presented to me requesting a favour, and grant his request
when just and lawful, if in my power to do without detriment to myself or
family." 1141 The illustration below shows the front and back side of such a
Masonic shekel 1142 (auction photo).
Masonic shekel
At this point, we want to explain shortly how the Jewish shekel came to be
used in Freemasonry: The earliest specimens of coined shekels were issued about
144 B.C.; before that, they there a measure of weight. Generally, they depicted a
pot of manna on the one side and the Rod of Aaron on the other, carrying on the
first side the inscription of "Shekel Israel," and on the other "Kadoshah" or
"Jerusalem the Holy." In 1895, brother Pitts of Cyrus Chapter No. 133 in
Michigan saw a full-shekel of the second year of the coinage of Simon
Maccabeus and made a jeweler copy the reverse. For the front side, he chose the
1140 Cf. Richardson, p. 47.
1141 Cf. Cowan (publ.), The 'Standard' Ritual of Scottish Freemasonry.
1142 The marks or pennies in Masonic symbolism are the wages for good and faithful service. They
have the value of 25 cents, or half a Jewish half-shekel of silver, as is taught in the Master Mason
degree. However, this is a mistake, since the original coin copied for Masonic use was a full
shekel, not a half. Cf. Pollard, p. 86/87.