The Masonic letter G reminds us that our every act
is done in the sight of the Great Architect of the Universe.
"By letters four and science five, this “G”
aright doth stand, in due Art and Proportion; you have your answer, friend.”
What are the "letters four"? It is believed that they stand for "YHWH", the name of the Great Architect of the Universe (pronounced "Yahway". (sometimes pronounced Jehovah) in
the ancient Hebrew language, from which the Bible was translated:
Which is the 5th science? Geometry.
The Letter G stands for "Geometry", which is the
mathematical science upon which Architecture and Masonry were founded.
When did the letter G become part of the Square and Compass? No one
knows exactly, but it is believed to be somewhere between 1730 and 1768, here in
the United States. The "G" is not used in the center of the square and compasses in all jurisdictions around the world.
In Hebrew, the language our Bible was originally written in, it is called Gheemel (or Gimel) and has a numerical value of 3.
Throughout history, we
see reference to the number 3 when we speak of the Supreme Architect of the
Universe...no matter which language we speak!
Gimel (in slightly different forms) is the 3rd letter of many Semitic
languages including Phoenician, Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Syriac.
Phonecian: Gimel (11th century BCE)
(9th century BCE)
Aramaic: Gamal (800 BCE to 600 CE)
(800 years Before Common Era
to 600 years after Common Era)
Hebrew: Gimel (3rd century BCE)
Syriac: Gomal / Gamal
(2nd century BCE)
G Throughout the Centuries
B.C.E. means "Before Common Era".
The Common Era (C.E.), also known as the
Christian Era and sometimes as the Current Era, is the period beginning with the
year 1 onwards.
The term is used for a system of reckoning years that is
chronologically equivalent to the Anno Domini (A.D.), which is Latin for "In the
year of our Lord".
Therefore, the 3rd letter of the Phonecian alphabet, "gimel", was in use 11
centuries Before the Common Era, which
is 8 centuries before the Hebrew language...give or take a few hundred years.
Why give or take a few hundred years? While scholars who study
languages are very thorough; we have to remember that they have very little from
which to study.
Much of our knowledge of ancient languages comes from the
study of hieroglyphics carved into stone and the subsequent attempt to determine
which time frame they were carved; from mummies and their accompanying
sarcophagi (carved wooden coffins), etc.
Note, however that while the letter G is the 7th letter in the English, Latin
and Romanic alphabets, in Russian, and some others, it is 4th; in the
Arabic the 5th, and in the Ethiopian language, the 20th.
These languages are much "younger" than the "ancient"
languages and most, therefore, are propagations (changes that occurred) to the
ancient languages throughout the centuries due to many factors.
The letter G in Freemasonry stands for both the
Great Architect of the Universe and Geometry....or,
to be more technically correct, it stands for Geometry under the Great
Architect of the Universe.
Just as the Supreme Architect of the Universe watches the revolutions of the
planets and stars in the sky, so does HE, who placed each of us here, watch each
of our movements, hears not only our words, but our thoughts, as well ...and it
is to HIM that we are ultimately responsible.