Based upon the practice of the workmen in post-exilic times in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, under Nehemiah, in which they carried in one hand the trowel as an instrument of construction and the sword in the other as a means of protection against enemies of the enterprise, this combination has been adopted as a symbol in the Fifteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite. "Next to obedience to lawful authority, resistance to lawless violence is an essential part of social duty." Example of the Jews under Nehemiah… — ( Nehemiah 4:17 )
Biblical Reference
Nehemiah 4:17
They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
~~ooOoo~~
This page is adapted from the Glossary at Phoenixmasonry — Used with permission.
