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Ark of the Covenant
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ark uhv thuh kuv'-e-nant
RELATED: Aaron's Rod, David, Holy of Holies, Holy Place, Moses, Nebuchadnezzar, Solomon, Tabernacle, Ten Commandments, Temple, Uzzah |
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Easton's Bible Dictionary
(FROM ARK)
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 , 12:10 ). 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 , 4:19 , 4:20 ; 1 Kings 8:3 ,
8:6 ). 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 , 4:6 ; 10:33 - 36 ; Psalms 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 , 3:16 ; 4:7 , 4:10 , 4:11
, 4:17 , 4:18 ). It was borne in the procession round Jericho ( Joshua 6:4 , 6:6
, 6:8 , 6:11 , 6:12 ). 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 , 5:8 ). It remained then at Kirjath-jearim
( 1 Samuel 7:1 , 7:2 ) 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 (2
Samuel 6:12 - 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.
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
(no entry)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
The first piece of the tabernacles furniture, for which
precise directions were delivered. Exod 25.
I. Description. --
It appears to have been an oblong chest of shittim (acacia) wood, 2 1/2 cubits
long by 1 1/2 broad and deep. Within and without gold was overlaid on the wood,
and on the upper side or lid, which was edged round about with gold, the mercy-seat
was placed. The ark was fitted with rings, one at each of the four corners, and
through these were passed staves of the same wood similarly overlaid, by which
it was carried by the Kohathites. ( Numbers 7:9 ; 10:21 ) The ends of the staves
were visible without the veil in the holy place of the temple of Solomon. ( 1
Kings 8:8 ) The ark, when transported, was enveloped in the "veil" of the dismantled
tabernacle, in the curtain of badgers skins and in a blue cloth over all, and
was therefore not seen. ( Numbers 4:5 , 4:20 )
II. Its purpose
was to contain inviolate the divine autograph of the two tables, that "covenant"
from which it derived its title. It was also probably a reliquary for the pot
of manna and the rod of Aaron.
III. History .--
Before Davids time its abode was frequently shifted. It sojourned among several,
probably Levitical, families, ( 1 Samuel 7:1 ; 2 Samuel 6:3 , 6:11 ; 1 Chronicles
13:13 ; 15:24 , 15:25 ) in the border villages of eastern Judah; and did not take
its place in the tabernacle, but dwelt in curtains, i.e. in a separate tent pitched
for it in Jerusalem by David. Subsequently the temple, when completed, received,
in the installation of the ark in its shrine, the signal of its inauguration by
the effulgence of divine glory instantly manifested. It was probably taken captive
or destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Esdr. 10:22, so that there was no ark in the
second temple.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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
Joshua 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; 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).
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 Jeremiah 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 Psalms 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- covere d 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 ; 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 ; 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 ; 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 ; 14:44 ; Joshua 3:3 , 6 , 8 ; 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 mor e 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 ; 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 ; 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 Psalms 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 (Jeremiah 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
Tags:
aaron's rod, ark of God, ark of the covenant, ark of the testimony, 'aron, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, destroyed by nebuchadnezzar, manna, sacred ark, tables (tablets) of law, the beauty of israel
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