Who was Adoniram

Adoniram appears in Biblical history as the principal collector of tribute under David, Solomon, and Rehoboam, who was placed by Solomon as superintendent over the thirty thousand workmen sent in courses to labor on Mount Lebanon 12. In orthodox Craft Masonry, he is traditionally recognized in connection with this role on Lebanon, keeping him distinct from Hiram Abif, the Master Builder 1.

During the mid-eighteenth century, a major error arose among French ritualists who confounded or intentionally substituted Adoniram for Hiram Abif 1. Publications such as Louis Travenol's 1744 catechism and Guillemain de Saint-Victor's later works promoted the theory that Adoniram, rather than Hiram Abif, was the chief architect of the Temple 1. This spawned a distinct branch known as Adoniramite Freemasonry 12.

Albert C. Mackey categorizes eighteenth-century Masonic opinion on the subject into three schools: the orthodox majority holding Hiram Abif as the architect; a short-lived group adding the title Adon ("Lord") to Hiram to produce "Adonhiram"; and the Adoniramites, who ignored Hiram Abif entirely and attributed the central legend of the Third Degree to Adoniram, the son of Abda 1.

Both Mackey and Arthur Edward Waite maintain that substituting Adoniram for Hiram Abif in the Craft legend distorts both Scriptural history and Masonic tradition 12. Although Adoniram features prominently in side degrees and higher rites—such as Mark Masonry and the Cryptic degrees—his historical and symbolic place in the Craft is strictly confined to his role as superintendent of the laborers on Lebanon 12.

---