Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/143

105 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

105 IV.

a "The ark

of the Lord [Yhwh] " compare III. b (jnx Josh. iv. 11 et al.; I Sam. iv. 6 et a!.; II Sam. vi. 9 et al.; I Ohron. xv. 3 et al.; II Chron. viii. 11. b " The ark of the Lord [Yhwii], the Lord of all the earth " compare 111. e (yisn Sd jhn c " The ark of the Lord God [or Yiiwh] " compare III. g (mm 'JIN jra) I Kings 11. 26. d "The ark of the Lord [or Yi-iwi-i] God of Israel" (jtin Sn->i tiHji ni.m) I Chron. xv. 12 et al. ' "The ark of the Lord [or Yhwh] your God " compare
 * n«) Josh. 111. 13.

mm)





mm









III.

y (aj'n^N

/ "The ark

of



mm

God"

jn(0 Josh. iv. 5. compare III. h (1. otiSn jnN) (2. O'nSxn ji-in) I Sam. iv. 13 et





I.

Sam. ill. 3 ct al.; al.; II Sam. vi. 3 et al.; I Chron. xiii. 5 et al.; II Chron. 1. 4. 8 "The ark of our God " compare III. h (utiSn jnx) I.





Chron. xlli. 3. h " The ark of the God of Israel " (Snie" V1V?N p-|N):ISam. v. 8 et al.

"The ark

i

God which

called by the Name, the name of hosts who dwelleth hetween

is

Lord [or Yhwh] cherubim" compare III. / (N"ipntI>N DTi^Nn jnN rSj D'a-un iv mtos mm dc dip) II Sam. vi. 2, R. V.

the



Lord [or Yhwh], who dwelleth between the cherubim, which is called the Name " [litnin^Nn jnx eral translation] ; compare III. / dip Nnp}""MS'N D'^idh tov) : I Chron. xiil. 6.

"The ark

of God, the

(mm

V. " The holy ark " (i»ipn"jnN) II Chron. xxxv. VI. "The ark of thy [God's] strength" <-)iy |nn) 8 ; II Chron. vi. 41.

3.





Ps. cxxxii.

Different names for the Ark predominate in different books, as follows: In Exodus, Nos. I. and II. 2; in Numbers, Nos. II. 2 and III. b,l; in Deuteronomy, No. III. b, 1 in Joshua, Nos. IV. a and III. a, 1; in I Samuel, Nos. IV. a and/, 2; in II Samuel, Nos. IV. a and/, 2; in I Kings, Nos. I. and III. b, 1 in I Chronicles, Nos. I. and III. 6, 1 and in





II Chronicles, Nos. j. jb.

I.

and

III. b, 1.

C. J.

M.

In Rabbinical Literature: The Ark, by reason of its prominence in the Bible, forms an important subject of discussion by the Rabbis, a great many sayings relating to it being found throughout the Talmud and the Midrashim. They discuss the dimensions, position, material, contents, miraculous powers, final disposition, and various incidents diSuch rectly or indirectly connected with the Ark. discussions at times embody popular legends, and are also of interest as reflecting the poetical spirit

which animated many of the

Thus



word "name" (Q{j>) in II Sam. vi. 2, maintains that the Ark contained the Ineffable Name and all other epithetsof Cod (B. B. I.e. Num. R. iv. 20). Marching in the vanguard of the Israelites, the Ark leveled the hills before them (Ber. 546 see Ahnon). It carried the priests, who in turn were to carry it in the passage of the Jordan (Sotah 35a). When King David had the Ark brought from the house of Abinadab and carried upon a new cart, the two sons of the latter, driving the cart, were tossed by an invisible agency into the air and flung to the ground again and again, until Ahitophel explained to David that this was owing to the transgression of the Law, which enjoined upon the sons of Kohath to carry the Ark upon their shoulders (Num. vii. 9; Yer. Sanh. x. 29a). When the Philistines despatched the Ark upon a cart drawn by two milch-kine without a driver, the kine not only

took the Ark straightway to Beth-shemesh (I Sam. vi. 8-12), but they also sang a song (taking " wayishsliarnali, " v. 12, " and they took the straight way, " as derived from shirah, "a song"). According to R. Mel'r, their song was the verse, " I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously " (Ex. xv. 1) according toR. Johanan, " Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name" (Ps. cv. 1); others suggest Ps. xciii., xcvii., xcviii., xcix., or cvi. but R. Isaac Nappaha has a tradition, preserved in Tanna debe Eliyahu, xi. (compare 'Ab. Zarah 246), that they sang the following processional hymn:

" Rise,

Move

—

1

I

!

liv.

With regard

to the position of the

Ark

in

"When Solomon

brought the Ark into the Temple, all the golden trees that were in the Temple were filled with moisture and produced abundant fruit, to the great profit and enjoyment of the priestly gild ; until King Manasseh put an image of an idol in the Temple, which resulted in the departure of the Divine Presence and the drying up of the fruit " (Tan., Terumah, xi.; also with slight variations, Yoma 39b).

Holy of Holies, there is the following picturesque saying in Tanhuma, Kedoshim, x. it

" Palestine is the center of the world, Jerusalem the center of Palestine, the Temple the center of Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies the center of the Temple, the Ark the center of the Holy of Holies; and in front of the Ark was a stone called mnie> p«, the foundation stone of the world."

726,

that Bezalcel one another.

and Yer. Shek.

vi. 49<Z, it is

recorded

made three arks which he put inside of The outside and inside ones were made

and measured respectively ten cubits and a and eight cubits, while the middle one was Again, accordof wood and measured nine cubits. ing to one opinion (Yer. Shek. vi. 49c), there were two arks traveling with the Israelites in the wilderness. One contained the Law, in addition to the tablets of the Ten Commandments, and the other the tables of fraction

acacia chest in thy great beauty

move along

wrought with thy golden adornments

Highly revered in the sanctuary's recesses O'ershadowed between the twin Cherubim Midr. Sam. xii.; 'Ab. Zarah I.e.; Gen. R.

the

of gold,

along,

—

through the working of a miracle the Ark and the cherubim transcended the limitations of

In Yoma

O rise, thou

Skilfully

is

say, that

space.

another view (I.e.), there was only one Ark, and contained both the Law and the broken tables (Ber. 8b B. B. 144). R. Jolianan in the name of Simon ben Yohai, basing his opinion on the repetition of the still

it

rabbis.

related (B. B. 99«) that the available space in the Holy of Holies was not in the least diminished by the Ark and the cherubim that is to it

stone which Moses had broken. The one that contained the Law was placed in the " tent of meeting " the other, containing the broken tables, accompanied the Israelites in their various excursions, and sometimes appeared on the battle-field. According to



of

of the

j

Ark of the Covenant

The Ark was not merely a receptacle for the Law was a protection against the enemies of the Israelites,

A

Van-

and cleared the roads in the wilder-

ness for them.

Two

sparks, tradition

came out from between the two the Desert, cherubim, which killed all serpents and scorpions, and burned the thorns, the smoke of which as it curled upward sent a sweet fragrance throughout the world, and the nations of the earth exclaimed in wonder and admiration (Cant, cometh up from the wiliii. 6), "What is this that derness like pillars of smoke ?" (Tan. Wayakhel, vii. Opinions are divided as to what finally became of the Ark when the Temple was destroyed. Some,

guard in

relates,

,

basing their views on II Chron. xxxvi. 10, and Isa. xxxix. 6, declare (Yoma 536) that it was taken to