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104 Ark of the Covenant

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

found prostrate and broken. The people of Ashdod were smitten with boils (Hebr. D^Qj;, A. V. " emrods "—that is, hemorrhoids) and a plague of mice was sent over the land (ib. vi. 5; the Septuagint, v.

6).

The

affliction of boils

was

also visited

upon

the

people of Gath and of Ekron, whither the Ark was successively removed (ib. v. 8-12). After the Ark had been among them seven months, the Philistines, on the advice of their diviners, returned it to the Israelites, accompanying its return with an offering consisting of golden images of the boils and mice with which they had been afflicted. The Ark was put down in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and the Beth-shemites offered sacrifices and burnt offerings

(ib. vi.

1-15).

Out of

curiosity the

men

of

Beth-shemesh gazed at [A. V. "looked into"] the Ark; and as a punishment over fifty thousand of them were smitten by the Lord (ib. 19). The Bethshemites sent to Kirjath-jearim, or Baal-Judah, to have the Ark removed (ib. 21) and it was taken thither to the house of Abinadab, whose son Eleazar was sanctified to keep it (ib. vii. 1). Kirjath-jearim was the abode of' the Ark for twenty years (ib. 2). Under Saul the Ark was with the army before he first met the Philistines, but the king was too impatient to consult it before engaging in the battle (ib. xiv. 18, 19). In I Chron. xiii. 3 it is stated that the people were not accustomed to consult the Ark in the days of Saul. At the very beginning of his reign David removed the Ark from Kirjath-jearim amid great rejoicing. On the way to Zion, Uzzah, one of the drivers of the cart on which the Ark was carried, put out his hand to steady the Ark, and was smitten by the Lord for touching it. David in fear carried the Ark aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, instead of carrying it on to Zion, and here it In the Days stayed three months (II Sam. vi. 1-11; of David. I Chron. xiii. 1-13). On hearing that the Lord had blessed Obed-edom because of the presence of the Ark in his house, David had the Ark brought to Zion by the Levites, while he himself, "girded with a linen ephod," "danced before the Lord with all his might " a performance for which he was despised and rebuked by Saul's daughter Michal (II Sam. vi. 12-16, 20-22; I Chron. xv.). In Zion he put the Ark in the tabernacle he had prepared for it, offered sacrifices, distributed food, and blessed the people and his own household (II Sam. vi. 17-20; I Chron. xvi. 1-3; II Chron. i. Levites were appointed to minister before the 4). Ark (I Chron. xvi. 4). David's plan of building a temple for the Ark was stopped at the advice of God (II Sam. vii. 1-17; I Chron. xvii. 1-15; xxviii. 2, 3). The Ark was with the army during the siege of

—

Kabbah

(II

and when David fled from the time of Absalom's conspiracy, the

Sam.

Jerusalem at

xi. 11);

Ark was carried along with him until he ordered Zadok the priest to return it to Jerusalem (II Sam.

In Solomon 's Temple a Holy of Holies (Hebr. V., "oracle") was prepared to receive the Ark (ib. vi. 19); and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark, containing nothing but the two Mosaic tables of stone, was placed therein (ib. viii. iii.

15).

Tai, A.

II Chron.

1-9;

When

1-10).

v.

the

came out of the holy place after placing the Ark there, the Tempie was filled by a cloud, "for the glory of the Lord had filled the house

In Solomon's Temple.

priests

viii. 10-11; II Chron. v. 13, married Pharaoh's daughter, he caused her to dwell in a house outside Zion, as Zion was consecrated because of its containing the Ark (II Chron. viii. 11). King Josiah had the Ark put into the Temple (II Chron. xxxv. 3), from which it appears that it had again been removed by some

of the 14).

Lord"

Kings

(I

When Solomon

predecessor.

The only mention of

Ark

the

Prophets

in the

is

the reference to it by Jeremiah, who, speaking in the days of Josiah (Jer. iii. 16), prophesies a time when the Ark will no longer be needed because of the righteousness of the people. In the Psalms the Ark is twice referred to. In Ps. lxxviii. 61 its capture by the Philistines is of, and the Ark is called " the strength and glory of God " and in Ps. exxxii. 8, it is spoken of as "the ark of the strength of the Lord." The Ark is mentioned in only one passage in the Apocrypha (II Mace. ii. 4-10), which contains a legend to the effect that the prophet Jeremiah, "being warned of God," took the Ark, and the tabernacle, and the altar of incense, and buried them in a cave on Mount Sinai, informing those of his followers who wished to find the place that it should remain unknown " until the time that God should gather His people again together, and receive them unto mercy."

spoken



The Ark

called

is

by

several

names

in the Bible,

as follows:

I.

II.

" The ark " (p-iNn) Ex. xxv. 14 et al; Lev. xvt. 2 Num. Iii. 31 et al; Deut. x. ^ et al.; Josh. iii. 15 et at.; I Sam. vi. 13 et al; II Sam. vi. 4 et al; I Kings viii. 3 et al.; I Chron. vi. 16 et al; II Chron. v. 4 et al. " The ark ol the testimony " (1. rnyS p«n) Ex. xxxi. 7 ; (2. myn p-itO Ex. xxv. 22etat.; Num. iv. 5ctai.; Josh,







iv. 16. III.

a "The ark etal.;

of the

(2.

covenant"

nnan pi«n)



mian piN)

(1.

Josh.

iii.



Josh.

mm

iii.

6

14.

6 "The ark of the covenant of the Lord"

[Yhwh] comNum. x. '33 et al;

pare IV. a (1. nnj jn«) Deut. x. 8 et al; Josh. iv. 7 et al.; I Sam. iv. 3 et al; I Kings iii. 15 et al.; I Chron. xv. 25 et al; II Chron. v. 2 et al.: Jer. iii. 16 (2. nn: p-iNn) Josh. iii. 17. " The ark wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt " (m: ii^n nnj db> iick p-iNn onjD dpn lN'Xina Ionian Dp) 1 Kings viii. 21. d " The ark wherein is the covenant of the Lord, that he made with the children of Israel" (nna oie> "iipn jvwn Sn-u!" *ja Dj) iit'N mm) II Chron. vi. 11. e " The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth " ;

mm





<*•

mm

pm



ma



man

compare

/

xv. 24-29).

IV. h (purr Sa pi« p-iN) : Josh. "The ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts [or of hosts], who dwelleth between the cherubim " pare IV. i,j (a'anan att" niNax jn»)

mm nna

When

Abiathar was dismissed from the priesthood by Solomon for having taken part in Adonijah's conspiracy against David, his life was spared because he had formerly borne the Ark (I Kings ii. Solomon worshiped before the Ark after the 26). dream in which the Lord promised him wisdom (ib.

104



iii.

11.

Yhwh

I

comSam.

iv. 4.

g

"The ark of the covenant of the Lord [or Yhwh] your God"; compareIV.c,e (DanSt* mm nna pi«) Deut.

xxxi. 26; Josh. iii. 3). of the covenant of

h " The ark (DTi^n

nna

Sam. xv. 24



I

pnN)



God "

compare IV. /, a Judges xx. 27 I Sam. Iv. 4 II

Chron. xvi.





6.