Bible Thesaurus: Ark

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Thesaurus

Ark (212 Occurrences)
... Noah's ark, a building of gopher-wood, and covered with pitch, 300 cubits long,
50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high (Genesis 6:14-16); an oblong floating house ...
/a/ark.htm - 84k

Ark-cover (21 Occurrences)
Ark-cover. Ark, Ark-cover. Arkite . Multi-Version Concordance
Ark-cover (21 Occurrences). Exodus 25:17 And thou shalt ...
/a/ark-cover.htm - 12k

Bulrushes (3 Occurrences)
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia ARK OF BULRUSHES. ark, bool'-rush-iz (tebhah; Egyptian
tebt; Septuagint thibis, "a chest," "a vessel to float"). ...
/b/bulrushes.htm - 10k

Mercy-seat (23 Occurrences)
... (Hebrews kapporeth, a "covering;" LXX. and NT, hilasterion; Vulg., propitiatorium),
the covering or lid of the ark of the covenant (qv). ...
/m/mercy-seat.htm - 16k

Kirjath-jearim (17 Occurrences)
... 15, 28). The ark was brought to this place (1 Samuel 7:1, 2) from
Beth-shemesh and put in charge of Abinadab, a Levite. Here it ...
/k/kirjath-jearim.htm - 13k

Kirjathjearim (17 Occurrences)
... 15, 28). The ark was brought to this place (1 Samuel 7:1, 2) from
Beth-shemesh and put in charge of Abinadab, a Levite. Here it ...
/k/kirjathjearim.htm - 13k

Chest (15 Occurrences)
... (Hebrews 'aron, generally rendered "ark"), the coffer into ... (BBE). Exodus 25:14 You
shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. ...
/c/chest.htm - 15k

Staffs (47 Occurrences)
... (WBS). Exodus 25:14 And thou shalt put the staffs into the rings by the sides
of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. (WBS). ...
/s/staffs.htm - 19k

Abinadab (12 Occurrences)
... (1.) A Levite of Kirjath-jearim, in whose house the ark of the ... However this may be,
they "sanctified" Abinadab's son Eleazar to have charge of the ark. ...
/a/abinadab.htm - 14k

Blowing (31 Occurrences)
... Joshua 6:4 And let seven priests go before the ark with seven loud-sounding horns
in their hands: on the seventh day you are to go round the town seven times ...
/b/blowing.htm - 16k

Bible Concordance

Ark (212 Occurrences)

Matthew 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
(KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
(KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Hebrews 9:4 having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Hebrews 9:5 And above the ark were the Cherubim denoting God's glorious presence and overshadowing the Mercy-seat. But I cannot now speak about all these in detail.
(WEY NIV)

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
(KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
(KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Revelation 11:19 God's temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord's covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 6:15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 7:7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 7:9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 7:13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 7:15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 7:16 Male and female of all flesh went in, as God had said, and the ark was shut by the Lord.
(BBE)

Genesis 7:17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 7:18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 8:1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 8:4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 8:6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 8:9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 8:10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 8:13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 8:15 And God speaketh unto Noah, saying, 'Go out from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee;
(YLT)

Genesis 8:16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 8:19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 9:10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 9:18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
(KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 2:3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Exodus 2:5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Exodus 25:10 "They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 25:14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 25:15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 25:16 You shall put the testimony which I shall give you into the ark.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 25:21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 25:22 There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 26:33 You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil: and the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 26:34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 30:6 You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 30:26 You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 30:36 And put some of it, crushed very small, in front of the ark in the Tent of meeting, where I will come face to face with you; it is to be most holy.
(BBE)

Exodus 31:7 the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 35:12 the ark, and its poles, the mercy seat, the veil of the screen;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 37:5 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 39:35 the ark of the testimony with its poles, the mercy seat,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 40:3 You shall put the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 40:5 You shall set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 40:20 He took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the mercy seat above on the ark.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 40:21 He brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 16:2 and Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother, not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 16:13 And let him put the perfume on the fire before the Lord so that the ark may be covered with a cloud of the smoke of the perfume, in order that death may not overtake him.
(BBE JPS NAS)

Leviticus 16:15 Then let him put to death the goat of the sin-offering for the people, and take its blood inside the veil and do with it as he did with the blood of the ox, shaking drops of it on and before the cover of the ark.
(BBE JPS)

Leviticus 24:3 Outside the veil of the ark in the Tent of meeting; let Aaron see that it is burning from evening till morning at all times before the Lord: it is a rule for ever through all your generations.
(BBE)

Numbers 3:31 Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 4:5 When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 7:89 When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Yahweh, he heard his voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spoke to him. Deuteronomy
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 10:33 They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days' journey. The ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 10:35 It happened, when the ark went forward, that Moses said, "Rise up, Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 14:44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, didn't depart out of the camp.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 17:4 And let them be stored up in the Tent of meeting, in front of the ark of witness where I come to you.
(BBE)

Numbers 17:10 And the Lord said to Moses, Put Aaron's rod back in front of the ark of witness, to be kept for a sign against this false-hearted people, so that you may put a stop to their outcries against me, and death may not overtake them.
(BBE)

Numbers 18:2 Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness.
(BBE)

Deuteronomy 10:1 At that time Yahweh said to me, "Cut two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 10:2 I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 10:3 So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tables of stone like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tables in my hand.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 10:5 I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Yahweh commanded me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 10:8 At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:9 Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:26 "Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:3 and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall move from your place, and follow it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Don't come near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before."
(See NIV)

Joshua 3:6 Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people." They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying,'When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:13 It shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:14 It happened, when the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:15 and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 3:17 The priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 4:5 Joshua said to them, "Pass over before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 4:7 then you shall tell them,'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.'"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 4:9 Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 4:10 For the priests who bore the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Yahweh commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and passed over.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 4:11 It happened, when all the people had completely passed over, that the ark of Yahweh passed over, with the priests, in the presence of the people.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 4:16 "Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 4:18 It happened, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 6:4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 6:6 Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 6:7 They said to the people, "Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before Yahweh's ark."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 6:8 It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before Yahweh advanced, and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh followed them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 6:9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 6:11 So he caused the ark of Yahweh to go around the city, going about it once. Then they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 6:12 Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 6:13 The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them. The rear guard came after the ark of Yahweh. The trumpets sounded as they went.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 7:6 Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Noah's ark, a building of gopher-wood, and covered with pitch, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high (Genesis 6:14-16); an oblong floating house of three stories, with a door in the side and a window in the roof. It was 100 years in building (Genesis 5:32; 7:6). It was intended to preserve certain persons and animals from the deluge which God was about to bring over the earth. It contained eight persons (Genesis 7:13; 2 Peter 2:5), and of all "clean" animals seven pairs, and of "unclean" one pair, and of birds seven pairs of each sort (Genesis 7:2, 3). It was in the form of an oblong square, with flat bottom and sloping roof. Traditions of the Deluge, by which the race of man was swept from the earth, and of the ark of Noah have been found existing among all nations.

The ark of bulrushes in which the infant Moses was laid (Exodus 2:3) is called in the Hebrew teebah, a word derived from the Egyptian teb, meaning "a chest." It was daubed with slime and with pitch. The bulrushes of which it was made were the papyrus reed.

The sacred ark is designated by a different Hebrew word, 'aron', which is the common name for a chest or coffer used for any purpose (Genesis 50:26; 2 Kings 12:9, 10). It is distinguished from all others by such titles as the "ark of God" (1 Samuel 3:3), "ark of the covenant" (Joshua 3:6; Hebrews 9:4), "ark of the testimony" (Exodus 25:22). It was made of acacia or shittim wood, a cubit and a half broad and high and two cubits long, and covered all over with the purest gold. Its upper surface or lid, the mercy-seat, was surrounded with a rim of gold; and on each of the two sides were two gold rings, in which were placed two gold-covered poles by which the ark could be carried (Numbers 7:9; 10:21; 4:5, 19, 20; 1 Kings 8:3, 6). Over the ark, at the two extremities, were two cherubim, with their faces turned toward each other (Leviticus 16:2; Numbers 7:89). Their outspread wings over the top of the ark formed the throne of God, while the ark itself was his footstool (Exodus 25:10-22; 37:1-9). The ark was deposited in the "holy of holies," and was so placed that one end of the poles by which it was carried touched the veil which separated the two apartments of the tabernacle (1 Kings 8:8). The two tables of stone which constituted the "testimony" or evidence of God's covenant with the people (Deuteronomy 31:26), the "pot of manna" (Exodus 16:33), and "Aaron's rod that budded" (Numbers 17:10), were laid up in the ark (Hebrews 9:4). (see TABERNACLE) The ark and the sanctuary were "the beauty of Israel" (Lamentations 2:1). During the journeys of the Israelites the ark was carried by the priests in advance of the host (Numbers 4:5, 6; 10:33-36; Psalm 68:1; 132:8). It was borne by the priests into the bed of the Jordan, which separated, opening a pathway for the whole of the host to pass over (Joshua 3:15, 16; 4:7, 10, 11, 17, 18). It was borne in the procession round Jericho (Joshua 6:4, 6, 8, 11, 12). When carried it was always wrapped in the veil, the badgers' skins, and blue cloth, and carefully concealed even from the eyes of the Levites who carried it. After the settlement of Israel in Palestine the ark remained in the tabernacle at Gilgal for a season, and was then removed to Shiloh till the time of Eli, between 300 and 400 years (Jeremiah 7:12), when it was carried into the field of battle so as to secure, as they supposed, victory to the Hebrews, and was taken by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:3-11), who sent it back after retaining it seven months (1 Samuel 5:7, 8). It remained then at Kirjath-jearim (7:1, 2) till the time of David (twenty years), who wished to remove it to Jerusalem; but the proper mode of removing it having been neglected, Uzzah was smitten with death for putting "forth his hand to the ark of God," and in consequence of this it was left in the house of Obed-edom in Gath-rimmon for three months (2 Samuel 6:1-11), at the end of which time David removed it in a grand procession to Jerusalem, where it was kept till a place was prepared for it (12-19). It was afterwards deposited by Solomon in the temple (1 Kings 8:6-9). When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and plundered the temple, the ark was probably taken away by Nebuchadnezzar and destroyed, as no trace of it is afterwards to be found. The absence of the ark from the second temple was one of the points in which it was inferior to the first temple.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) A chest, or coffer.

2. (n.) The oblong chest of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which supported the mercy seat with its golden cherubs, and occupied the most sacred place in the sanctuary. In it Moses placed the two tables of stone containing the ten commandments. Called also the Ark of the Covenant.

3. (n.) The large, chestlike vessel in which Noah and his family were preserved during the Deluge. Gen. vi. Hence: Any place of refuge.

4. (n.) A large flatboat used on Western American rivers to transport produce to market.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ARK OF BULRUSHES

ark, bool'-rush-iz (tebhah; Egyptian tebt; Septuagint thibis, "a chest," "a vessel to float").

1. Definitions:

The Hebrew word here translated "ark" is used in the Old Testament only of the ark of Noah (Genesis 6:14) and of the ark of bulrushes (Exodus 2:3), and always in the secondary meaning, a vessel to float. The Septuagint translates it of Noah's ark by kibotos, "a casket," and of the ark of bulrushes by thibis, a little basket made of osiers or flags. For the Ark of the Covenant, the Hebrew employed a different word ('aron, "a chest"). Bulrushes (gome', "papyrus"): This species of reed was used by the Egyptians for many different vessels, some of which were intended to float or even to be used as a skiff. Slime (chemar, "bitumen"), pitch (zepheth, "pitch") was probably the sticky mud of the Nile with which to this day so many things in Egypt are plastered. In this case it was mixed with bitumen. Flags (cuph, "sedge") were reeds of every kind and tall grass growing in the shallow water at the edge of the river.

2. History:

Thus the ark of bulrushes was a vessel made of papyrus stalks and rendered fit to float by being covered with a mixture of bitumen and mud. Into this floating vessel the mother of Moses placed the boy when he was three months old, and put the vessel in the water among the sedge along the banks of the Nile at the place where the ladies from the palace were likely to come to bathe. The act was a pathetic imitation of obedience to the king's command to throw boy babies into the river, a command which she had for three months braved and which now she so obeyed as probably to bring the cruelty of the king to the notice of the royal ladies in such way as to arouse a womanly sympathy, A similar story is related of Sargon I of Babylonia (Records of the Past, 1st series, V, 1-4; Rogers, Hist. Babylonian and Assyrian, I, 362).

The one story in no wise discredits the other. That method of abandoning children, either willingly or by necessity, is as natural along the Nile and the Euphrates, where the river is the great artery of the land and where the floating basket had been used from time immemorial, as is the custom in our modern cities of placing abandoned infants in the streets or on door-steps where they are likely to be found, and such events probably occurred then as often as now.

M. G. Kyle

ARK OF NOAH

ark, no'-a: A structure built by Noah at the command of God to preserve from the Flood a remnant of the human race and of the animals associated with man. It was constructed of "gopher wood" (Genesis 6:14)-very likely the cypress used extensively by the Phoenicians for ship-building. It was divided into rooms or nests, and was three stories high, pitched within and without with bitumen or "asphalt," of which there are extensive deposits at Hit, in the Euphrates valley, a little above Babylon. It was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, 30 cubits high, which according to Petrie's estimate of a cubit as 22.5 inches would make it to be 562 1/2 ft. long, 93 2/3 ft. wide, 56 1/4 ft. deep, which are natural proportions of a ship of that size. The dimensions of the "Great Eastern," built in 1858, were 692 ft. long, 83 ft. broad, 58 ft. deep; those of the "Celtic" built in 1901 are 700 ft. long, 75 ft. wide, 49 1/3 ft. deep. It is extremely improbable that such reasonable dimensions should have been assigned to the Ark except they were based on fact. Unrestrained tradition would have been sure to distort the proportions, as is shown by what actually occurred in other accounts of the Ark. The cuneiform tablets represent it as six stories high, with the length, width, and depth, each as 140 cubits (262 ft.), and having a mast on top of all, and a pilot to guide the impossible craft (see Deluge Tablet, ll.22, 23, 38-41). Berosus, the Greek historian, represents it to have been five stadia (3,000 ft.) long and two stadia (1,200 ft.) broad, while Origen, in order to confound Celsus (Against Celsus 4.41) gave the figures an interpretation which made the Ark 25 miles long and 3/4 of a mile wide.

It is needless to speculate upon the capacity of the Ark for holding absolutely all the species of animals found in the world, together with the food necessary for them, since we are only required to provide for such animals as were native to the area to which the remnants of the human race living at that time were limited, and which (see DELUGE OF NOAH) may not have been large. But calculations show that the structure described contained a space of about 3,500,000 cubic feet, and that after storing food enough to support several thousand pairs of animals, of the average size, on an ocean voyage of a year, there would remain more than 50 cubic feet of space for each pair.

No mention is made in the Bible of a pilot for the Ark, but it seems to have been left to float as a derelict upon the waters. For that purpose its form and dimensions were perfect, as was long ago demonstrated by the celebrated navigator, Sir Walter Raleigh, who notes it had "a flat bottom, and was not raised in form of a ship, with a sharpness forward, to cut the waves for the better speed"-a construction which secured the maximum of storage capacity and made a vessel which would ride steadily upon the water. Numerous vessels after the pattern of the Ark, but of smaller dimensions, have been made in Holland and Denmark and proved admirably adapted for freightage where speed was not of the first importance. They would hold one-third more lading than other vessels, and would require no more hands to work them. The gradual rise and subsidence of the water, each continuing for six months, and their movement inland, render the survival of such a structure by no means unreasonable. According to Genesis 6:3 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5, warning of the Flood was given 120 years beforehand, and during that time Noah, while preparing the Ark, became a preacher of righteousness. For evidence that there was a gradual destruction of the race previous to the Flood, see DELUGE OF NOAH.

George Frederick Wright

ARK OF THE COVENANT

kuv'-e-nant ('aron ha-berith):

I. The Statements of the Old Testament Concerning the Ark of the Covenant.

1. Pentateuch:

In Exodus 25:10, Moses receives the command to build an ark of acacia wood. Within this ark were to be placed the tables of the law which God was about to give to Moses. Upon the top of the ark, probably not as a lid but above the lid, the kapporeth, in the New Testament to hilasterion (Hebrews 9:5), is to be placed, which was a golden plate upon which two cherubim, with raised wings and facing each other, covered the ark. From the place between the two cherubim God promises to speak to Moses, as often as He shall give him commands in reference to the Israelites.

The portion of the Pentateuch in which this is recorded is taken from the so-called Priest Codex (P). The reports of the Elohist (E) and the Jahwist (Jahwist) on this subject are wanting; but both of these sources report concerning the important role which the ark played in the entrance of Israel into Canaan, and these documents too must have contained the information that the people had received this ark. It can further with certainty be stated concerning the Elohist, and with some probability concerning the Jahwist, in what part of these documents these accounts were to be found. For Elohist reports in Exodus 33:6 that the Israelites, in order to demonstrate their repentance on account of the golden calf, had at God's command laid aside their ornaments. In 33:7-10 there follows a statement concerning the erection of the sacred tent; but this is explained only by the fact that between 33:6 and 7 a report concerning the erection of the ark of the covenant must have been found, which the R of the Pentateuch (since before this he had already made use of the much more exhaustive account of the Priest Codex) was compelled to omit.

But that at this place the Elohist must have reported not only concerning the erection of the sacred tent but also of the construction of the ark of the covenant, is in itself probable, and can too be concluded from this, that according to the Deuteronomist, the composition of which is also conditioned upon that of the Elohist and the Jahwist, the ark was built on this occasion. We further conclude that it was not so much the tabernacle which could serve as a consolation to the people, something that at that time they needed, but rather the ark, which was to symbolize to them that God was on the march with them. In the Jahwist we do not indeed find at this place any statement concerning this sacred structure, but we do find the statement that the Israelites, out of sorrow because of the bad news brought by Moses, discarded their ornaments.

For Exodus 33:4 is taken from the Jahwist, since the Elohist contains the command to discard the ornaments later on, and hence could not have written 33:4. Now it is a justifiable surmise that the Jahwist has also reported what use was made of the ornaments that had been discarded; and as this author, just as is the case with the Elohist, must have at some place contained a report concerning the construction of the ark, he certainly must have given this just at this place. The corresponding account in the Deuteronomist is found in Deuteronomy 10:1-5. Accordingly, then, all the four Pentateuch documents reported that Moses had built the ark at Sinai. The Deuteronomist, like the Priestly Code (P), says, that it was built of acacia wood. In the Elohistic narrative the subject is mentioned again in Numbers 10:33, where we read that the ark had preceded the people as they broke camp and marched from Sinai. At this place too the words are found which Moses was accustomed to speak when the ark began to move out and when it arrived at a halting-place.

2. Joshua:

According to the narrative in Joshua 3 the ark cooperated at the crossing of the Jordan in such a way that the waters of the river ceased to continue flowing as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the ark entered the water, and that it stood still above until these priests, after the people had crossed over, again left the bed of the river with the ark. In the account of the solemn march around Jericho, which according to Joshua 6 caused the walls of the city to fall, the carrying of the ark around the city is regarded as an essential feature in 6:4, 7, 11. In chapter 7 it is narrated that Joshua, after the defeat of the army before Ai, lamented and prayed before the ark. In chapter 8 this is mentioned in connection with Mount Ebal.

3. Other Historical Books:

At the time of Eli the ark stood in the sanctuary at Shiloh (1 Samuel 3:3). From this place it was taken after Israel had been defeated by the Philistines at Ebenezer, in order to assure the help of Yahweh to the people; but, instead of this, the ark fell into the hands of the Philistines (1 Samuel 4). But the various misfortunes that now afflicted the Philistines induced these to regard the possession of the ark as a calamity (1 Samuel 5) and they sent it back to Israel (1 Samuel 6). It was brought first to Bethshemesh in the tribe of Judah, near the borders of the Philistines, and soon after to Kiriath-jearim, about 7.5 miles Northwest of Jerusalem. There the ark remained for years in the house of a man by the name of Abinadab, whose son was its guardian (1 Samuel 7:1), until David brought it to Mount Zion, after he had established his camp and court there. He there placed it in a tent prepared for it (2 Samuel 6 1 Chronicles 13; 1 Chronicles 15). In David's time again the ark was taken along into battle (2 Samuel 11:11). When David fled from the presence of Absalom, the priests wanted to accompany him with the ark, but he sent it back (2 Samuel 15:24 f). David had also intended to build a temple, in which the ark was to find its place, since before this it had always found its resting-place in a tent. But God forbade this through Nathan, because He was willing to build a house for David, but was not willing that David should build one for Him (2 Samuel 7). Solomon then built the temple and placed the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies of this temple, where it was placed under the wings of two mighty cherubim images (1 Kings 8 2 Chronicles 5).

4. Prophetical and Poetical Books:

Jeremiah in the passage 3:16, which certainly was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, states that in the future new Jerusalem nobody will any more concern himself about the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and no one will again build such a one. In the post-exilic Psalm 132 (verse 8), Yahweh is petitioned to occupy together with the ark, the symbol of His omnipotent presence, also the sanctuary that has been erected for Him, the poet describing himself and those who sing this psalm as participants in the home-bringing of the ark by David. No further mention is made of the ark of the covenant in the Psalter or the prophetical books.

5. The New Testament:

In the New Testament the ark of the covenant is mentioned only in Hebrews 9:4 in the description of the Solomonic temple.

II. The Form of the Ark of the Covenant.

According to the statements in the Priestly Code (P), the ark of the covenant was a chest made out of acacia wood, 2 1/2 cubits (about equal to 4 ft.) long, 1 1/2 cubits wide and 1 1/2 high. That it was made out of acacia wood is also stated by the Deuteronomist in Deuteronomy 10:3. According to P it was covered with gold within and without, and was ornamented with a moulding of gold running all around it. At its four feet rings were added, through which the gold-covered carrying-staves were put. These staves are also mentioned in 1 Kings 8:7, 8 2 Chronicles 5:8, 9, and mention is often made of those who carried the ark (2 Samuel 6:13; 2 Samuel 15:24). The correctness of these statements cannot be proved, but yet there is no reason to doubt them. Rather we might have reason to hesitate in clinging to the view that on the old ark there was really a golden kapporeth, but only because in olden times the possession of such valuables and their use for such a purpose would be doubtful. But on the basis of such reasons we could at most doubt whether the lid with its cherubim consisted of solid gold. That the cherubim were attached to or above the ark is not at all improbable.

That Solomon placed the ark in the Holy of Holies between two massive cherubim figures (1 Kings 6:19, 23; 1 Kings 8:6) does not prove that there were no cherubim figures on the ark itself, or even that those cherubim figures, which according to Exodus 25:19 were found on the ark, were nothing else than those of Solomon's days in imagination transferred back to an earlier period (Vatke, Biblische Theologie, 1835, 333; Popper, Der biblische Bericht uber die Stiftshutte, 1862). In recent times the view has been maintained that the ark in reality was no ark at all but an empty throne. It was Reichel, in his work Vorhellenische Gotterkulte, who first expressed this view, and then Meinhold, Die Lade Jahwes, Tubingen, 1910, and Theologische Studien und Kritiken, 1901, 593-617, who developed this view in the following manner. It is claimed that in the days of Moses a throne-like rock at Mount Sinai was regarded as the seat of Yahweh, and when the Israelites departed from Sinai they made for themselves a portable throne, and Yahweh was regarded as sitting visibly enthroned upon this and accompanying His people. In the main the same view was maintained by Martin Dibellius (Die Lade Jahwes, Gottingen, 1906; Hermann Gunkel, Die Lade Jahwes ein Thronsitz, reprinted from the Zeitschrift fur Missionskunde und Religionswissenschaft, Heidelberg, 1906).

The occasion for this view was given by the fact that among the Persians and other people there were empty thrones of the gods, which were carried or hauled around in processions. The reasons for finding in the ark of the covenant such an empty throne are found chiefly in this, that the passages in the Old Testament, in which it seems that the presence of God is made conditional on the presence of the ark (compare Numbers 14:42-44), can be explained if the ark is regarded as a throne of Yahweh. However, empty thrones of the gods are found only among the Aryan people, and all of the passages of the Old Testament which refer to the ark can be easily explained without such a supposition. This view is to be rejected particularly for this reason, that in the Old Testament the ark is always described as an ark, and never as a throne or a seat; and because it is absolutely impossible to see what reason would have existed at a later period to state that it was an ark if it had originally been a throne. Dibelius and Gunkel appeal also particularly to this, that in several passages, of which 1 Samuel 4:4 2 Samuel 6:2 are the oldest, Yahweh is declared to be enthroned on the cherubim. But this proves nothing, because He is not called "He who is enthroned on the ark," and the cherubim and the ark are two different things, even if there were cherubim on the lid of the ark. Compare the refutation of Meinhold and Dibelius by Budde (ZATW, 1901, 193-200, and Theol. Studien und Kritiken, 1906, 489-507).

III. The Contents of the Ark of the Covenant.

According to the Priestly Code the two tables of the law constituted the contents of the ark. In Exodus 25:16; Exodus 40:20, as also Deuteronomy 10:5, and, too, in 1 Kings 8:9, we have the same testimony. The majority of the modern critics regard this as an unhistorical statement first concocted by.the so-called "Deuteronomistic school." Their reasons for this are the following:

(1) The critics deny that the existence of the Mosaic tables of the law is a historical fact;

(2) The critics declare that if these tables had really been in possession of the Israelites, they would not have been so foolish as to put them into a box which it was forbidden to open;

(3) The critics declare that the views entertained in olden times on the importance of the ark cannot be reconciled with the presence of the tables in the ark.

But we reply: (1) that the actual existence of the two tables of the law is denied without sufficient reasons; that the ten principal formulas of the Decalogue, as these are given in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, come from Moses, must be insisted upon, and that according to Exodus 34 other ten commandments had been written on these tables is incorrect. The laws in Exodus 34:17-26 are not at all declared there to be the ten words which God intended to write upon the tables. But if Moses had prepared the tables for the commandments, then it is

(2) only probable that he caused to be made a suitable chest for their preservation and their transportation through the desert. Now it might be thought that the view that the ark was so holy that it dared not be opened had originated only after the time of Moses. However, it is just as easily possible, that that importance had already been assigned by Moses to the tables in the ark which the sealed and carefully preserved copy of a business agreement would have and which is to be opened only in case of necessity (Jeremiah 32:11-14). Such a case of necessity never afterward materialized, because the Israelites were never in doubt as to what was written on these tables. On a verbatim reading no stress was laid in olden times.

(3) With regard to the importance of the ark according to the estimate placed upon it in the earlier period of Israel, we shall see later that the traditions in reference to the tables harmonize fully with this importance.

Of the modern critics who have rejected this tradition, some have thought that the ark was empty, and that the Israelites thought that Yahweh dwelt in it (Guthe, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, 39), or that the empty chest was a kind of fetish (Schwally, Semitische Kriegsaltertumer, 1901, I, 10). As a rule they believe that a stone image of Yahweh or two stones had been placed in the ark, these being possibly meteor stones, in which it was thought that some divine power was dwelling (Stade, Geschichte Israels, I, 458); or possibly stones that in some battle or other had been hurled and through which a victory had been won (Couard, ZATW, XII, 76); or possibly they were the stones which at the alliance of the tribes that dwelt about Mount Sinai were first set up as testimonials of this covenant (Kraetzschmar, Die Bundesvorstellung im Alten Testament, 216). Of these views only the one which declares that the ark contained meteor stones deserves any notice, because it could indeed be thought possible that Israel would have taken with them on their journey through the desert such stones which they could have regarded as pledges of the Divine Presence fallen from heaven and could have preserved these in a sacred ark. But it is impossible to show that this view is probable, not to speak of proving it to be correct. The only extant tradition says that the ark contained the tables of the law, and this is the only view that is in harmony with what we must think of the whole work of Moses. Finally we must again remember that it is probable that Elohist and Jahwist, who speak both of the ark and also of the tables of the law, in the portions of these documents which have not been preserved, reported also that the tables were placed in the ark.

IV. The Names of the Ark of the Covenant.

The name "ark of the covenant of Yahweh" was not originally found everywhere where it now stands, but in many places the words "of the covenant" were added later. However, the expression "ark of the covenant" is found in the oldest source of the Book of Sam (2 Samuel 15:24), and in 1 Kings 3:15 in the old source for the history of Solomon, of which the Deuteronomistic author of the Book of Kings made use; in 1 Kings 8:1, a very old account of the building of the temple; and the genuineness of the expression "ark of the covenant" in these passages is not with any good reasons to be called into question. Further the expression is found in the books of Numbers and Joshua, in a number of passages (Numbers 10:33; Numbers 14:44 Joshua 3:3, 6, 8; Joshua 4:9, 18; 6:6, 8), which in all probability belong to the document of Elohist. It appears that the Elohist designates the ark as the "ark of the covenant of God," or more briefly; as the "ark of the covenant," unless in a connected narrative he writes only "the ark," while in the Jahwist the principal appellation was "ark of Yahweh, the Lord of the whole earth" (compare Lotz, Die Bundeslade, 1901, 30-36).

From this we must conclude that the appellation "ark of the covenant of Yahweh" must go back to very ancient times, and we must reject the view that this term took the place of the term "ark of Yahweh" in consequence of a change of views with reference to the ark, brought about through Deuteronomy. Indeed, since the name "ark of the covenant," as is proved by the Elohist, was nowhere more in use than in Ephraim, where they did not possess the ark and accordingly would have had the least occasion to introduce a new name for it, it can be accepted that the name originated in the oldest times, namely those of Moses. The other expression "ark of Yahweh" may be just as old and need not be an abbreviation of the other. It was possible to designate the ark as "ark of Yahweh" because it was a sanctuary belonging to Yahweh; and it was possible to call it also "the ark of the covenant of Yahweh," because it was a monument and evidence of the covenant which Yahweh had made with Israel. It is for this reason not correct to translate the expression 'aron berith Yahweh by "the ark of the law of Yahweh," as equivalent to "the ark which served as a place for preserving the law of the covenant." For berith does not signify "law," even if it was possible under certain circumstances to call a covenant "law" figuratively and synecdochically the "covenant"; and when 1 Kings 8:21 speaks of "the ark wherein is the covenant of Yahweh," the next words, "which he made with our fathers," show that covenant does not here mean "law," but rather the covenant relationship which in a certain sense is embodied in the tables.

In P the ark is also called "the ark of the testimony," and this too does not signify "ark of the law." For not already in P but only in later documents did the word `edhuth receive the meaning of "law" (Lotz, Die Bundeslade, 40). P means by "testimony" the Ten Words, through the proclamation of which the true God has given evidence of His real essence. But where this testimony is found engraved in the handwriting of God on the tables of stone, just there also is the place where He too is to be regarded as locally present.

V. The History of the Ark of the Covenant.

According to the tradition contained in the Pentateuch the sacred ark was built at Mount Sinai and was taken by the Israelites along with them to Canaan. This must be accepted as absolutely correct. The supposition is groundless, that it was a shrine that the Israelites had taken over from the Canaanites. This view is refuted by the high estimate in which in Eli's time the ark was held by all Israel (1 Samuel 1; 1 Samuel 2:22); and especially by the fact that the ark was at that time regarded as the property of that God who had brought Israel out of Egypt, and accordingly had through this ark caused the Canaanites to be conquered (1 Samuel 4:8; 1 Samuel 6:6 2 Samuel 7:6 1 Kings 12:28). The opinion also that the ark was an ancient palladium of the tribe of Ephraim or of the descendants of Joseph and was only at a later period recognized by all Israel (Stade, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, I, 458) is not tenable, for we hear nothing to the effect that the descendants of Joseph concerned themselves more for the ark than the other tribes did. In the time of Eli the ark stood in the sanctuary at Shiloh.

When Israel had been conquered by the Philistines, the ark was taken from Shiloh in order that Yahweh should aid His people. But notwithstanding this the Philistines yet conquered and captured the ark (1 Samuel 5). But the many misfortunes that overtook them made them think that the possession of the ark was destructive to them and they sent it back (1 Samuel 6). The ark first came to Bethshemesh, in the tribe of Judah, and then to Kiriath-jearim (or Baale-judah, 2 Samuel 6:2), about 7.5 miles Northwest of Jerusalem. There the ark remained for many years until David, after he had taken possession of Mount Zion, took it there (2 Samuel 6) and deposited it in a tent. Solomon brought it into the Holy of Holies in the temple (1 Kings 8:3-8), where in all probability it remained until the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; for Jeremiah 3:16 proves that the Israelites felt that they were in possession of the ark up to this time.

VI. The Significance of the Ark.

According to many investigators the ark was originally a war sanctuary. In favor of this it can be urged that Israel took it into their camp, in order that they might receive the help of Yahweh in the battle with the Philistines (1 Samuel 4); and further that also in the time of David the ark was again taken along into battle (2 Samuel 11:11; compare Psalm 24); note also the word of Moses, which he spoke when the ark was taken up to be carried: "Rise up, O Yahweh, and let thine enemies be scattered" (Numbers 10:35). However, nothing of what we know or presuppose concerning the form and the contents of the ark points to an original military purpose of the same; and in the other statements that are found elsewhere concerning the ark, a much more general significance is assigned to it. The significance which the ark had for the Israelites in connection with their wars is only the outcome of its signification as the symbol of the presence of Yahweh, who was not at all a God of war, but when His people were compelled to fight was their helper in the struggle.

A Symbol of the Divine Presence:

That the ark was designed to be a symbol of the presence of God in the midst of His people is the common teaching of the Old Testament. According to the Elohist the ark was made to serve as a comfort to the people for this, that they were to leave the mountain where God had caused them to realize His presence (Exodus 30:6). According to the Priestly Code (P), God purposed to speak with Moses from the place between the cherubim upon the ark. According to Judges 2:1, the angel of Yahweh spoke in Bethel (Bochim) in reproof and exhortation to the people, after the ark of the covenant had been brought to that place; for the comparison of Numbers 10:33 and Exodus 23:20 shows that Judges 2:1 is to be understood as speaking of the transfer of the ark to Bethel. When Israel in the time of Eli was overpowered by the Philistines, the Israelites sent for the ark, in order that Yahweh should come into the camp of Israel, and this was also believed to be the case by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:3). After the ark had come to Bethshemesh and a pestilence had broken out there, the people did not want to keep the ark, because no one could live in the presence of Yahweh, this holy God (1 Samuel 6:20); and Jeremiah says (3:16, 17) that an ark of the covenant would not be again made after the restoration of Israel, but then Jerusalem would be called the "throne of Yahweh," i.e. it would so manifestly be the city of God that it would guarantee the presence of God at least just as much as the ark formerly did.

In olden times these things appeared more realistic to the people than they do to us; and when the ark was considered the visible representation of the presence of Yahweh, and as guaranteeing His presence, a close material connection was thought to exist between the ark and Yahweh, by virtue of which Divine powers were also thought to be present in the ark. The people at Bethshemesh were not willing to keep the ark any longer in their midst, because they could not live in its near presence. David's dancing before the ark is regarded by him and by the narrator of the event as a dancing before the Lord (2 Samuel 6:5, 14, 21), and in 2 Samuel 7:5 God says, through Nathan, that He had wandered around in a tent since He had led the Israelites out of Egypt. But the view advocated by some of the modern critics, that the Israelites had thought that the ark was the dwelling-place or the throne-seat of Yahweh, is nevertheless not correct. This opinion cannot be harmonized with this fact, that in the sources, dating from the same olden times, mention is made of His dwelling in many places in Canaan and outside of Canaan, so that the idea that His presence or even He Himself is confined to the ark is impossible.

The statement of Moses, "Rise up, O Yahweh, and let thine enemies be scattered" (Numbers 10:35), is not the command addressed to those who carry the ark to lift it up and thereby to lift Yahweh up for the journey, but is a demand made upon Yahweh, in accordance with His promise, to go ahead of Israel as the ark does. According to 1 Samuel 4:3 the Israelites did not say "We want to go and get Yahweh," but "We want to go and get the ark of Yahweh, so that He may come into our midst." They accordingly only wanted to induce Him to come by getting the ark. This, too, the priests and the soothsayers of the Philistines say: "Do not permit the ark of the God of the Israelites to depart without sending a gift along," but they do not speak thus of Yahweh. That Samuel, who slept near the ark, when he was addressed by Yahweh, did not at all at first think that Yahweh was addressing him, proves that at that time the view did not prevail that He was in the ark or had His seat upon it. Ancient Israel was accordingly evidently of the conviction that the ark was closely connected with Yahweh, that something of His power was inherent in the ark; consequently the feeling prevailed that when near the ark they were in a special way in the presence of and near to the Lord.

But this is something altogether different from the opinion that the ark was the seat or the dwelling-place of Yahweh. Even if the old Israelites, on account of the crudeness of antique methods of thought, were not conscious of the greatness of this difference, the fact that this difference was felt is not a matter of doubt. That the ark was built to embody the presence of God among His people is just as clear from the statements of the Elohist, and probably also of the Jahwist, as it is from those of the Priestly Code (P); and if these have accordingly regarded the tables of the law as constituting the contents of the ark, then this is in perfect harmony with their views of this purpose, and we too must cling to these same views. For what would have been better adapted to make the instrument which represents the presence of God more suitable for this than the stone tables with the Ten Words, through which Yahweh had made known to His people His ethical character? For this very purpose it had to be an ark. The words on these tables were a kind of a spiritual portrait of the God of Israel, who could not be pictured in a bodily form. In this shape nobody in ancient Israel has formulated this thought, but that this thought was present is certain.

Wilhelm Lotz

TESTIMONY, ARK OF THE

tes'-ti-mo-ni (Exodus 25:21 f).

See ARK OF THE COVENANT.

ARK

see ARK OF BULRUSHES; ARK OF THE COVENANT; ARK OF NOAH

ARK OF TESTIMONY

test'-i-mo-ni. See ARK OF THE COVENANT.

BULRUSHES, ARK OF

See ARK OF BULRUSHES.

COVENANT, ARK OF THE

kuv'-e-nant, kuv'-e-nant.

See ARK OF THE COVENANT.

Greek

2787. kibotos -- a wooden box
... a wooden box. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: kibotos Phonetic Spelling:
(kib-o-tos') Short Definition: an ark Definition: (properly: a wooden ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2787.htm - 6k

2435. hilasterion -- propitiatory
... covering Definition: (a) a sin offering, by which the wrath of the deity shall be
appeased; a means of propitiation, (b) the covering of the ark, which was ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2435.htm - 7k

715. arkos -- a bear
... arkos. 716 . a bear. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: arkos Phonetic
Spelling: (ark'-tos) Short Definition: a bear Definition: a bear. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/715.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

727. aron -- a chest, ark
... 726, 727. aron. 728 . a chest, ark. Transliteration: aron Phonetic Spelling:
(aw-rone') Short Definition: ark. Word Origin of uncertain ...
/hebrew/727.htm - 6k

8392. tebah -- a box, chest
... tebah. 8393 . a box, chest. Transliteration: tebah Phonetic Spelling: (tay-baw')
Short Definition: ark. ... box tree. Perhaps of foreign derivation; a box -- ark. ...
/hebrew/8392.htm - 5k

3727. kapporeth -- propitiatory
... mercy seat. From kaphar; a lid (used only of the cover of the sacred Ark) -- mercy
seat. see HEBREW kaphar. 3726, 3727. kapporeth. 3728 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/3727.htm - 6k

8393. tebuah -- product, revenue
... ark. From bow'; income, ie Produce (literally or figuratively) -- fruit, gain, increase,
revenue. see HEBREW bow'. 8392, 8393. tebuah. 8394 . Strong's Numbers
/hebrew/8393.htm - 6k

Library

The Story of Noah and the Ark
... THE STORY OF NOAH AND THE ARK. After Abel was slain, and his brother Cain had
gone into another land, again God gave a child to Adam and Eve. ...
/.../marshall/the wonder book of bible stories/the story of noah and.htm

The Ark of God
... The Ark of God. Gerhard Ter Steegen Psalm 43:3. Peace! O restless heart of mine;
Thou, the Still, the Blest,. Lead me to Thy courts divine,. Thine untroubled rest ...
/.../bevan/hymns of ter steegen suso and others/the ark of god.htm

Death and Life from the Ark
... THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL DEATH AND LIFE FROM THE ARK. 'Again, David gathered
together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/death and life from the.htm

Fragment viii. For as the Ark of the Covenant. Was Gilded Within ...
... Fragment VIII. For as the ark of the covenant. was gilded within and without
with pure gold� For [4812] as the ark [of the covenant ...
/.../fragments from the lost writings of irenaeus/fragment viii for as the.htm

The Ark among the Flags
... THE BOOK OF EXODUS THE ARK AMONG THE FLAGS. ... Around that frail ark, half lost among
the reeds, is cast the impregnable shield of His purpose. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the ark among the flags.htm

November 17. "The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord Went Before Them ...
... NOVEMBER 17. "The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them" (Num. x. 33).
"The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them" (Numbers 10:33). ...
/.../simpson/days of heaven upon earth /november 17 the ark of.htm

Ark of Safety.
... DEVOUT EXERCISES. 474. " Ark of Safety. 474. SM Episcopal Coll. Ark of
Safety. 1 O, cease, my wandering soul, On restless wing ...
/.../adams/hymns for christian devotion/474 ark of safety.htm

Of the Ark and the Deluge, and that we Cannot Agree with those who ...
... Chapter 27."Of the Ark and the Deluge, and that We Cannot Agree with Those Who Receive
the Bare History, But Reject the Allegorical Interpretation, Nor with ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 27 of the ark and.htm

The Ark of the House of Obed-Edom
... THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL THE ARK OF THE HOUSE OF OBED-EDOM. 'The ark of
the Lord continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/the ark of the house.htm

That the Ark which Noah was Ordered to Make Figures in Every ...
... Book XV. Chapter 26."That the Ark Which Noah Was Ordered to Make Figures
In Every Respect Christ and the Church. Moreover, inasmuch ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 26 that the ark which.htm

Subtopics

Ark of the Covenant was Called The: Ark of God

Ark of the Covenant was Called The: Ark of God's Strength

Ark of the Covenant was Called The: Ark of the Covenant of the Lord

Ark of the Covenant was Called The: Ark of the Testimony

Ark of the Covenant was Carried by Priests of Levites Alone