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Master Mahan, in the religious texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, is a title assumed first by Cain and later by his descendant Lamech. The title indicates that Cain and Lamech were each the "master" of a "great secret" in which they covenanted with Satan to kill for personal gain.[1] The term is found in Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible in Genesis 5 (currently published by the Community of Christ) and in the Pearl of Great Price (in Chapter 5 of the Book of Moses), a religious text of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Critics, who approach the issue from a secular perspective and argue that Smith's translation of the Bible was influenced by his cultural environment, including strong local anti-Masonry, generally suggest that the term is related to "Master Mason," the highest degree of the Blue Lodge of freemasonry.[2] Another suggestion is that the term is related to "Mahoun," a pejorative reference to Muhammad during the Middle Ages that eventually became associated with witchcraft by Smith's era.[3] Apologists, however, generally argue that references to "Master Mahan" were restored by Smith from missing parts of the Bible and that the term thus has Middle Eastern roots. Consequently, the LDS Church's publications suggest that the term "Mahan" can mean "mind," "destroyer," or "great one,"[4] and the prominent LDS scholar Hugh Nibley has speculated that the term is related to Arabic and Sanskrit words meaning "keeper of a great secret."[5]
- ^ Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses 5:29-31, 49; Inspired Version, Genesis 5:14-16, 35.
- ^ Arbaugh 1932, p. 72; Homer 1994, p. 91; Brown 1997, p. 147; Quinn 1997, p. 208; Whelan 1964, p. 197; Tanner & Tanner 1969, pp. 156–157.
- ^ Brown 1997, p. 148; Quinn 1998, ch. 6.
- ^ Book of Moses 5:31 footnote d; Brown 1997, p. 148.
- ^ Hugh Nibley, Ancient Documents and the Pearl of Great Price, p. 12. Nibley suggests that the word "Master" is not the English word "master" but derives from the Arabic word "Mustirr" ("keeper of secret") and "Mahan" is related to the Sanskrit word "maha" ("great").