Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/601

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 ARK OF NOAH, the constructed by for preservation from the approaching. The account of it is contained in Genesis vi. 14-22. See.

 ARK OF THE COVENANT, (E.V. ark of the testimony, Exod. xxv. 16, 22, &c.), are the full names of the sacred chest of, overlaid with, which occupied the holiest place in the and , and through which the idea of the constant presence of the covenant  with the  of  received symbolical expression. The  conceived of  as ual, and so could not think to secure His presence by the use of images. But the notion of communication between the spiritual God and His people still took the form of a tryst or meeting (undefined E.V. wrongly, congregation, Exod. xxvii. 21, &c.), under conditions of time and place divinely appointed (Exod. xx. 23, 24), and the idea of purely spiritual approach to without any local and symbolical point of rapport between  and  was reserved for the  (John iv. 21, ff.) In accordance with this view, certain fixed sanctuaries, consecrated by former revelations, were fit places for man to draw near to. But the constant presence of with the nation in its wanderings could not be realised without a portable, the central point of which was very fitly the chest in which was contained the &ldquo;&rdquo; (Exod. xxv. 16, xl. 20), that is, the tables of stone with the  (Exod. xxxi. 18; Deut. x. 5), which formed the basis of the covenant. This meaning of the ark is symbolically expressed by the addition of an upper piece called the kappóreth (E.V. mercy-seat), which was wholly of gold, and surmounted by two or symbolical winged figures, which, in the, are always associated with the idea of local manifestations of the  who, though inaccessible to , yet reveals himself to him. The space above the kappóreth and between the was conceived as the point of meeting between  and  (Exod. xxv. 22; Lev. xvi. 2); and the name kappóreth, which has been very variously interpreted, is probably derived from the  ordinances through which alone the, as the people's , ventured to come face to face with this awful spot (Lev. xvi.) 1em As the permanent pledge of 's gracious presence, the ark preceded the people in their march, and led them on to victory (Num. x. 33–36). During the conquest of it stood in the headquarters of the invaders, first at, and then at, nor does it appear to have ceased to move from place to place during the insecure period of the (compare 2 Sam. vii. 6 with 1 Chron. xvii. 5), though the pre-eminence of the tribe of  seems to have kept it for the most part within their territory. At the close of this period we find it established in. But the old tradition, that the ark is essentially the of the  of, with the  for its body guard, was not yet extinct, and it was brought into the field and captured by the  in the fatal battle of , which broke the supremacy of  (1 Sam. iv.) Though soon restored by the  who, smitten by a , feared to retain it, the ark could not be replaced in the central , which had probably been destroyed in the war, and it remained in obscurity till  brought it to , and again gave to the nation a  as well as a  centre. Even in 's time the ark was carried into the field by the of  (2 Sam. xi. 11); but the king, who had himself so long maintained his religious life in banishment from the national sanctuaries, was the first clearly to express the conception, that 's help could reach forth to those who were far from  without any material pledge (2 Sam. xv. 25; compare Psalm iii. 4, and the idea of a ly, Psalm xviii.) So soon as this idea was reached, the importance of the ark (which ceased to be carried beyond the ) was lost in the gradually increasing weight laid on the fixed sanctuary of. Probably it was altogether lost in the counter-reformation of, for soon after, in the beginning of the reign of , (iii. 16) speaks of it as missing and anxiously sought for, though 2 Chron. xxxv. 3 seems to imply that it was subsequently restored. But teaches that the religious significance of  is quite independent of this symbol, and the wild s of its preservation at the taking of  (2 Mac. ii. and elsewhere) only show that the popular mind was unable to share the view that the ark was now an obsolete. More is the tradition that the ark was raised to, there to remain till the coming of the , which embodies the spiritual idea that a heavenly pledge of 's covenant faithfulness had superseded the earthly symbol. Compare with this Rev. xi. 19. Ample traditional material will be found in the younger Buxtorf's dissertation De Arca Fœderis,, 1659. For historical treatment of the subject compare especially Ewald's Geschichte, vol. ii., and essays by Graf in Merx's Archiv, i. 78, and by Kuenen in the Theologisch Tijdschrift for 1872, together with the usual works on Biblical Antiquities.)

 ARKANSAS, one of the south-western s of the, situated between undefined 33° and 36° 30′ N., and undefined 89° 45′, and 94° 40′ W., with an area of 52,198 square miles. It is bounded N. by, E. by and , from which it is separated by the , S. by , and W. by the. It belongs to the great basin of the, being watered by that river and by several of its main tributaries, which are all more or less navigable. Of these the principal are the, in the north-east; the with its affluents, the , , and s in the north; and notably the Arkansas, which, entering the state at , traverses it in a south-easterly direction until it joins the  at. The southern part of the state is watered by the in the east, and by a bend of the  