Master Mahan

In the religious texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, Master Mahan 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" whereby they covenanted with Satan to kill for personal gain. The term is found in Joseph Smith, Jr.'s translation of the Bible, Genesis 5 (currently published by the Community of Christ), and as an excerpt in the Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses 5, a religious text of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Scholars approaching the issue from a secular perspective, who argue that Joseph 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. Another suggestion is that the term is related to Mahoun, a pejorative reference to Muhammad during the Middle Ages which eventually became associated with witchcraft by Joseph Smith's era. Apologists, however, generally argue that references to Master Mahan were restored by Joseph Smith from missing parts of the Bible, and therefore the term has middle-Eastern roots. Consequently, the LDS Church's publications suggest that the term Mahan could mean either mind, destroyer, or great one, and one prominent Mormon apologist speculates that the term is related to Arabic and Sanskrit words meaning "keeper of a great secret".