ii. Hi.sTORY OF THE Ark. — In this article we propose to confine ourselves to the history and significance of the ark as given in the pre-exilic literature. Its place in the scheme of the Priests' Code will be discussed in the article TaBER.VACI.E. In the prophetic narrative of the Pent. (JE) the ark first appears as an object of peculiar sanctity in the important pas,sage Nu 10*"'-.t Here it is expressly recognised a.s the leader of the host in the march through the desert, in virtue of its being, in some sense, the dwelling-place of J". In another passage fnmi the snme source, Nu 14", the ark is intimately associated with Moses.
• n-iD In Nu l(m (J) 14" (E) (cf. Bacon, TripU Trad, nf tht Baod. pp. 171, 180) t« ftlmoat certainly an edttorUl inaertion. t Proliahly J, see n.*
Had these sources come down to us intact, we should have had much earlier information than anything which we now have regarding the origin and construction of the ark. No one can read the present text of Ex 33 without being struck with the abrupt transition from vv.'"' to v.'*-, and with the sudden introduction of 'the tent' (v.') as of something already exiilaiued. We may therefore consider it a matter .of certainty that the compiler of the Pent, has omitted from the prophetic source the accounts of the erection of ' the tent of meeting ' as iuconsLstent with the much fuller account in P. Another question now emerges. Did the excised portion of JE also contain an account or accounts of the construction of the ark ? To this an affirmative answer must be given ; for if we read carefully the retrospect given in iJt 10'"°, and bear in mind that the whole of I)'s historical references are taken from the prophetic narratives, we can scarcely have any doubt that in JE, as it lay before the author of D, there must have been a record of the construction by Moses of 'an ark of wood' (Dt 10') before his ascent to the mount. In the absence of the original text of these older sources, it is no longer possible to speak with certainty as to their mode of conceiving J"'s relation to the ark. The most probable view seems to be that already referred to as found in the antique poetical fragment, Nu lO"-**, where J" is conceived of as personally present in the ark, and guiding the march of His chosen people. The same representation is met with somewhat later in the composite narrative (chiefly JE)* of the passage of the Jordan, in which the ark, borne by the priests, shows the way, while the people follow at a considerable distance (Jos S"-). During the subsequent conquest of W. Pal., as related in the Books of Jos and Jg 1-2 from materials of various dates, the ark and the tent of meeting must have had tJieir headtjuarters in the standing camp at Gilgal (Jos 9' 10^), the former we may suppose frequently accompanying the tribes to battle. Thus we know the prominence given to the ark in the siege of Jericho (Jos 6) ; and the sacrifice in the presence of the ark on Mt Ebal (Jos 8" from D'-') may be taken as a typical episode in the history of the conquest. From Gilgal the head- quarters were moved by divine command to Bethel (Jg2"'-).t
The next resting-place of the ark was at Shiloh, in the territory of Ephraim. Here, according to P (Jos 18'), it was deposited by Joshua himself, and here it is found at the close of the period of the Judges (1 S 3'). The original tentt is now replaced by a temple (1 S 1' 3'), the guardians of which are members of an ancient priestly family (1 IS 2"), with Samuel the Ephraimite as attendant.
The following section (clis. 4'-7') is a document of the first importance as a record of the popular concejitions of the ancient Hebrews with regard to the ark. The various incidents in the narrative are too familiar to need repetition. The leading thought throughout is the conviction that the presence of the ark secures the presence of J" Himself in the camp of the Hebrews.§
The capture of ttie sacred object by the Pbilis-
•8ee Bennett's 'Joshua' In nnupt's BibU ; KIttel, HM. I., Enif. tr., pp. 282, 28.1 ; Driver's art. ' .losliua ' In Smith's Bfla.
t See Moore's Comm. ad loc. ; Kiltel. Enp. tr., pp. 270, 276. So most moderns, MT liuchim. The tnulition that the ark once htul iu home in Bethel may be recoi;nised In Jg 2Q('^S^, a late mnrt,Mni\l k'oss.
I The Konls of 1 B 2»'>, wantlnff In LXX, ore admltte<llr • very late addition to the original text (Wellb., Driver, Kloet., Budde).
I This Is dear from the whole tenor of the narmtlve without our reqiilrlnK to rvtul, with Ktost., ' our Oo<1 ' (ij'.iVh) for ' unto us* (4^). tt Is also more than prohable, In view of the femlti. construction in v.'", that we should render, ' that Aj tuMy < and save us.' Of. 6*0.
150 ARK OF THE COVENANT
ARK OF THE COVENANT
tines, the ellect of the news on the aged Eli, the incidents of its sojourn in Phil, territory, and its restoration, are graphically told by the narrator.* Aft«r a short stay at Bethshemesh, the ark is removed to Kiriath-jearLm and deposited in the house of Abinadab ' in the hill,' while Eleazar, his son, is set apart as its guardian. Here it remained, according to a later addition to the text, for twenty years, a period admittedly too short by at least a generation.t Why an object of such sanctity was not restored to its proper home in the temple of Shiloh we can only conjecture. Most probably the temple had been destroyed, and Shiloh J itself occupied by the Philistines. As a result a period of spiritual declension followed, lasting well into the reign of Saul § (cf. 1 Ch 13'). The centre of the purest teaching must have been the home of Samuel at Ramah (1 S 7"), the fruit of which we may perhaps trace in the higher religious con- ceptions that mark the reign of David.