Ark
Ark
The Septuagint and the NT use = a wooden chest or box, as a terminus technicus both for Noahs ark (), and for the ark () of the covenant.
1. An interesting account of the successive phases of modern opinion regarding the former ark will be found in Encyclopaedia Britannica 11 (s.v.). The writer of Hebrews (Heb 11:7), taking the story as he finds it, refers to Noahs forethought as a supreme instance of that faith which is the conviction of things not seen-a faith by which he not only virtually condemned the world, bringing its careless infidelity into strong relief, but became heir of that righteousness which is faiths crown and reward ( ). St. Peter (1Pe 3:18 ff.), supplementing a tradition which is found in the Book of Enoch (6-16; cf. Jubilees, 5), imagines Christ, as a bodiless spirit, preaching, in the days between His Passion and His Resurrection, to the spirits in prison. These are the disobedient and, to St. Peter (himself like a spirit in prison during those three days), unhappy children of the unlawful union between angels and the daughters of men, condemned rebels who in vain sought the intervention of Enoch on their behalf in that time of Divine long-suffering when Noah was preparing the ark in which he saved himself and his family (see R. H. Charles, Bk. of Jub., Lond. 1902, p. 43ff.).
2. The writer of Hebrews mentions the ark of the covenant ( ) as the innermost and most sacred piece of furniture contained in the Tabernacle. His description of it as completely overlaid with gold ( ) corresponds with the directions given in Exo 25:11 ( ). The designation the ark of the covenant, which was probably coined by the writer of Deut., was historic ally later than the ark of Jahweh, and the ark of God (Jewish Encyclopedia ), and earlier than the ark of the testimony (P). It was a contraction for the ark containing the tables of the covenant, the Decalogue being a summary of the terms which Israel accepted on entering into covenant with God. In Kautzschs Heilige Schrift it is rendered die Lade mit dem Gesetz, the ark with the law. When the Decalogue came to be known as the testimony, the new name was introduced, but it did not displace the older phrases. The golden pot of manna (the adj. is an embellishment upon Exo 16:33) and Aarons rod that budded, which in the original narratives were laid up before the Lord ( , Exo 16:33; , Num 17:10) are supposed by the writer of Hebrews to have been within the ark.
The ultimate fate of the is involved in obscurity. The popular imagination could not entertain the idea that the inviolable ark was irrecoverably lost, and there arose a tradition that before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., the Tabernacle with all its sacred furniture was hidden by Jeremiah (or, according to the Talmud, by Josiah) in a cava of Mt. Nebo (2Es 10:22; 2Ma 2:5), whence it was to be miraculously restored to its place at the coming of the Messiah. In the second and third Temple the Holy of Holies contained no ark. In this was nothing at all, is Josephus emphatic testimony (Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) v. 5). Pompey, on entering, found vacuam sedem et inania arcana (Tac. Hist. v. 9). The thought of that emptiness oppressed the minds both of devout Jews and of Jewish Christians, and in Rev 11:19, when the seventh angel has sounded, and the temple of God in heaven is opened, the ark of the covenant is there. All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good shall exist; not the semblance but itself.
Literature.-Besides the articles in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) (J. Macpherson and A. R. S. Kennedy), Hastings Single-vol. Dictionary of the Bible (A. R. S. Kennedy), and especially Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (R. H. Kennett), see R. Kraetzschmar, Die Bundesvorstellung, Marburg, 1896; H. Couard, Die religise nationale Bedeutung der Lade, in ZATW [Note: ATW Zeitschrift fr die alttest. Wissen schaft.] xii. [1892]; Volck, article Bundeslade, in Realencyklopdie fr protestantische Theologie und Kirche 3.
James Strahan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
ARK
Or NOAH’S ARK, a floating vessel built by Noah for the preservation of his family, and the several species of animals, during the deluge. The form of the Ark was an oblong, with a flat bottom, and a sloped roof, raised to a cubit in the middle; it had neither sails nor rudder; nor was it sharp at the ends for cutting the water. This form was admirably calculated to make it lie steady on the water, without rolling, which might have endangered the lives of the animals within. The length of this ark was 300 cubits, which according to Dr. Arbuthnot’s calculation, amount to a little more than 547 feet; its breadth, 50 cubits, or 54-72 feet; and its solid contents 2, 730-782 solid feet, sufficient for a carriage for 81, 062 ton. It consisted of three stories, each of which, abating the thickness of the floors, might be about 18 feet high, and no doubt was partitioned into a great many rooms or apartments. This vessel was doubtless so contrived, as to admit the air and the light on all, though the particular construction of the windows be not mentioned.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
ark
(Latin: arca, chest)
The vessel of timber daubed with pitch, 300 cubits long, 50 broad, and 30 high, which Noe constructed at the command of God for the preservation of him and his family and two of all living creatures during the Deluge; also the chest in Which were kept the tables of the Law, called the Ark of the Covenant.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Ark
is used in the Bible to designate three vessels of special importance.
1. NOAH’S ARK (, tebah’; Sept. , a chest; Josephus , a coffer; Vulg. area, Gen 6:14), different from the term , aron’, applied to the “ark” of the covenant, and other receptacles which we know to have been chests or coffers, but the same that is applied to the “ark” in which Moses was hid (Exo 2:3), the only other part of Scripture in which it occurs. In the latter passage the Septuagint renders it , a ship; but the truth seems to be that aron denotes any kind of chest or coffer, while the exclusive application of tebah to the vessels of Noah and of Moses would suggest the probability that it was restricted to such chests or arks as were intended to float upon the water, of whatever description. The identity of the name with that of the wicker basket in which Moses was exposed on the Nile has led some to suppose that the ark of Noah was also of wicker-work, or rather was wattled and smeared over with bitumen (Auth. Vers. “pitch,” Gen 6:14). This is not impossible, seeing that vessels of considerable burden are thus constructed at the present day; but there is no sufficient authority for carrying the analogy to this extent.
The boat-like form of the ark, which repeated pictorial representations have rendered familiar, is fitted for progression and for cutting the waves; whereas the ark of Noah was really destined to float idly upon the waters, without any other motion than that which it received from them. If we examine the passage in Gen 6:14-16, we can only draw from it the conclusion that the ark was not a boat or ship; but, as Dr. Robinson (in Calmet’s Diet. s.v.) describes it, “a building in the form of a parallelogram, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high. The length of the cubit, in the great variety of measures that bore this name, it is impossible to ascertain and useless to conjecture. So far as the name affords any evidence, it also goes to show that the ark of Noah was not a regularly-built vessel, but merely intended to float at large upon the waters. We may, therefore, probably with justice, regard it as a large oblong, floating house, with a roof either flat or only slightly inclined. It was constructed with three stories, and had a door in the side. There is no mention of windows in the side, but above, i.e. probably in the flat roof, where Noah was commanded to make them of a cubit in size (Gen 6:16). That this is the meaning of the passage seems apparent from Gen 8:13, where Noah removes the covering of the ark in order to ascertain whether the ground was dry-a labor unnecessary, surely, had there been windows in the sides of the ark.” The purpose of this ark was to preserve certain persons and animals from the deluge with which God intended to overwhelm the land, in punishment for man’s iniquities.
The persons were eight-Noah and his wife, with his three sons and their wives (Gen 7:7; 2Pe 2:5). The animals were, one pair of every ” unclean” animal, and seven pairs of all that were “clean.” By “clean” we understand fit, and by “unclean” unfit, for food or sacrifice. Of birds there were seven pairs (Gen 7:2-3). Those who have written professedly and largely on the subject have been at great pains to provide for all the existing species of animals in the ark of Noah, showing how they might be distributed, fed, and otherwise provided for. But they are very far from having cleared the matter of all its difficulties, which are much greater than they, in their general ignorance of natural history, were aware of. These difficulties, however, chiefly arise from the assumption that the species of all the earth were collected in the ark. The number of such species has been vastly underrated by these writers, partly from ignorance, and partly from the desire to limit the number for which they imagined they were required to provide. They have usually satisfied themselves with a provision for three or four hundred species at most. “But of the existing mammalia considerably more than one thousand species are known; of birds, fully five thousand; of reptiles, very few kinds of which can live in water, two thousand; and the researches of travellers and naturalists are making frequent and most interesting additions to the number of these and all other classes. Of insects (using the word in the popular sense) the number of species is immense; to say one hundred thousand would be moderate: each has its appropriate habitation and food, and these are necessary to its life; and the larger number could not live in water. Also the innumerable millions upon millions of animalcules must be provided for, for they have all their appropriate and diversified places and circumstances of existence” (Dr. J. Pye Smith, 0n the Relation between the Holy Scriptures and some Parts of Geological Science, p. 135). Nor do these numbers form the only difficulty; for, as the same writer observes: “All land animals have their geographical regions, to which their constitutional natures are congenial, and many could not live in any other situation. We cannot represent to ourselves the idea of their being brought into one small spot, from the polar regions, the torrid zone, and all the other climates of Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Australia, and the thousands of islands, their preservation and provision, and the final disposal of them, without bringing up the idea of miracles more stupendous than any which are recorded in Scripture.” These are some of the difficulties which arise on the supposition that all the species of animals existing in the world were assembled together and contained in the ark..
And if the object, as usually assumed, was to preserve the species of creatures which the Deluge would otherwise have destroyed, the provision for beasts and birds only must have been altogether inadequate. What, then, would have become of the countless reptiles, insects, and animalcules to which we have already referred ? and it is not clear that some provision must not also have been necessary for fishes and shell-animals, many of which cannot live in fresh water, while others cannot live in salt. The difficulty of assembling in one spot, and of providing for in the ark, the various mammalia and birds alone, even without including the otherwise essential provision for reptiles, insects, and fishes, is quite sufficient to suggest some error in the current belief. We are to consider the different kinds of accommodation and food which would be required for animals of such different habits and climates, and the necessary provision for cleansing the stables or dens. And if so much ingenuity has been required in devising arrangements for the comparatively small number of species which the writers on the ark have been willing to admit into it, what provision can be made for the immensely larger number which, under the supposed conditions, would really have required its shelter ? There seems to be no way of meeting these difficulties but by adopting the suggestion of Bishop Stillingfleet, approved by Matthew Poole, Dr. J. Pye Smith, Le Clerc, Rosenmuller, and others, namely, that, as the object of the Deluge was to sweep man from the earth, it did not extend beyond that region of the earth which man then inhabited, and that only the animals of that region were preserved in the ark. SEE DELUGE.
Bishop Stillingfleet, who wrote in plain soberness long before geology was known as a science, and when, therefore, those discoveries were altogether unthought of, by which, in our day, such warm controversies have been excited, expresses his belief that the Flood was universal as to mankind, and that all men, except those preserved in the ark, were destroyed; but he sees no evidence from Scripture that the whole earth was then inhabited; he does not think that it can ever be proved to have been so; and he asks what reason there can be to extend the Flood beyond the occasion of it. He grants that, as far as the Flood extended, all the animals were destroyed; “but,” he adds, ” I see no reason to extend the destruction of these beyond the compass of the earth which men then inhabited; the punishment of the beasts was occasioned by, and could not but be concomitant with, the destruction of mankind. But (the occasion of the Deluge being the sin of man, who was punished in the beasts that were destroyed for his sake, as well as in himself) where the occasion was not, as where there were animals and no men, there seems no necessity for extending the Flood thither” (Origines Sacrce, bk. iii, ch. iv). The bishop farther argues that the reason for preserving living creatures in the ark was that there might be a stock of the tame and domesticated animals that should be immediately ” serviceable for man after the Flood; which was certainly the main thing looked at in the preservation of them in the ark, that men might have all of them ready for use after the Flood; which could not have been had not the several kinds been preserved in the ark, although we suppose them not destroyed in all parts of the world.”
As Noah was the progenitor of all the nations of the earth, and as the ark was the second cradle of the human race, we might expect to find in all nations traditions and reports more or less distinct respecting him, the ark in which he was saved, and the Deluge in general. Accordingly, no nation is known in which such. traditions have not been found. They have been very industriously brought together by Banier, Bryant, Faber, and other mythologists. SEE ARARAT; SEE NOAH. And as it appears that an ark- that is, a boat or chest-was carried about with great ceremony in most of the ancient mysteries, and occupied an eminent station in the holy places, it has with much reason been concluded that this was originally intended to represent the ark of Noah, which eventually came to be regarded with superstitious reverence. On this point the historical and mythological testimonies are very clear and conclusive. The tradition of a deluge, by which the race of man was swept from the face of the earth. has been traced among the Chaldseans, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Goths, Druids, Chinese, Hindoos, Burmese, Mexicans, Peruvians, Brazilians, Nicaraguans, the inhabitants of Western Caledonia, and the islanders of the Pacific; and among most of them also the belief has prevailed that certain individuals were preserved in an ark, ship, boat, or raft, to replenish the desolated earth with inhabitants. Nor are these traditions uncorroborated by coins and monuments of stone. Of the latter there are the sculptures of Egypt and of India; and it is fancied that those of the monuments called Druidical which bear the name of kistvaens, and in which the stones are disposed in the form of a chest or house, were intended as memorials of the ark. The curious subject of Arkite worship is especially illustrated by the two famous medals of Apamea. There were six cities of this name, of which the most celebrated was that of Syria; next to it in importance was the one in Phrygia, called also , Kibotos, which, as we have seen, means an ark or hollow vessel. The medals in question belong, the one to the elder Philip, and the other to Pertinax. In the former it is extremely interesting to observe that on the front of the ark is the name of Noah, , in Greek characters. In both we perceive the ark floating on the water, containing the patriarch and his wife, the dove on wing, the olive-branch, and the raven perched on the ark. These medals also represent Noah and his wife on terrafirma, in the attitude of rendering thanks for their safety. The genuineness of these medals has been established beyond all question by the researches of Bryant and the critical inspection of Abbe Barthelemy. There is another medal, struck in honor of the Emperor Hadrian, which bears the inscription , “the ark and the Marsyas of the Apameans.” SEE APAMEA. The coincidences which these medals offer are at least exceedingly curious; and they are scarcely less illustrative of the prevailing belief to which we are referring, if, as some suppose, the figures represented are those of Deucalion and Pyrrha (Meisner, De arca Noachi, Witt. 1622). SEE FLOOD.
2. The ARK OF BULRUSHES (, tebah’; Sept. ). In Exo 2:3, we read that Moses was exposed among the flags of the Nile in an ark (or boat of bulrushes) daubed with slime and with pitch. The bulrushes of which the ark was made were the papyrus reed (Cyperus papyrus), which grows in Egypt in marshy places. It was used for a variety of purposes, even for food. Pliny says, from the plant itself they weave boats, and other ancient writers inform us that the Nile wherries were made of papyrus. Boats made of this material were noted for their swiftness, and are alluded to in Isa 18:2. SEE REED.
3. The SACRED ARK of the Jews ( or , aron’; Sept. and New Test. ), different from the term applied to the ark of Noah. It is the common name for a chest or coffer, whether applied to the ark ip the tabernacle, to a coffin, to a mummy-chest (Gen 50:26), or to a chest for money (2Ki 12:9-10). Our word ark has the same meaning, being derived from the Latin area, a chest. The sacred chest is distinguished from others as the ” ark of God” (1Sa 3:3), ” ark of the covenant” (Jos 3:6; Heb 9:4), and ” ark of the law” (Exo 25:22). This ark was a kind of box, of an oblong shape, made of shittim (acacia) wood, a cubit and a half broad and high, two and a half cubits long, and covered on all sides with the purest gold. It was ornamented on its upper surface with a border or rim of gold; and on each of the two sides, at equal distances from the top, were two gold rings, in which were placed (to remain there perpetually) the gold-covered poles by which the ark was carried, and which continued with it after it was deposited in the tabernacle. The Levites of the house of Kohath, to whose office this especially appertained, bore it in its progress. Probably, however, when removed from within the vail in the most holy place, which was its proper position, or when taken out thence, priests were its bearers (Num 7:9; Num 10:21; Num 4:5; Num 4:19-20; 1Ki 8:3; 1Ki 8:6). The ends of the staves were visible without the vail in the holy place of the temple of Solomon, the staves being drawn to the ends, apparently, but not out of the rings. The ark, when transported, was enveloped in the ” vail” of the dismantled tabernacle, in the curtain of badgers’ skins, and in a blue cloth over all, and was therefore not seen. The lid or cover of the ark was of the same length and breadth as the ark itself, and made of the purest gold. Over it, at the two extremities, were two cherubim, with their faces turned toward each other, and inclined a little toward the lid (otherwise called the mercy-seat). SEE CHERUB. Their wings, which were spread out over the top of the ark, formed the throne of God, the King of Israel, while the ark itself was his footstool (Exo 25:10-22; Exo 37:1-9). (Comp. Josephus, Ant. iii, 6, 5; Philo, Opera, ii, 150; Koran, ii, 249, ed. Marrac.; for heathen parallels, see Apulej. Asin. 11:262, Bip.; Pausan. 7:19, 3; Ovid, Ars Am. ii, 609 sq.; Catull. lxiv, 260 sq. See generally Reland, Antiq. Sacr. i, 5, 19 sq., 43 sq.; Carpzov, Appar. p. 260 sq.; Schaacht, Animadvers. p. 334 sq.; Buxtorf, Hist. arcefoed. in Ugolini Thesaur. viii; Hoffmann, in the Hall. Encycl. 14:27 sq.; Otho, Lex. Rabb. p. 60 sq.; Rau, Nubes super arca ,fed. Herbon. 1757, Utrecht, 1760; Thalemann, Nubes super arcafaed. Lips. 1752, Vindic. 1771; Lamy, De tabemac. fed. p 412 sq.; Van Til, De tabernac. Mcs. p. 117 sq.)
This ark was the most sacred object among the Israelites; it was deposited in the innermost and holiest part of the tabernacle, called “the holy of holies” (and afterward in the corresponding apartment of the Temple), where it stood so that one end of each of the poles by which it was carried (which were drawn out so far as to allow the ark to be placed against the back wall) touched the vail which separated the two apartments of the tabernacle (1Ki 8:8). It was also probably a reliquary for the pot of manna and the rod of Aaron. We read in 1Ki 8:9, that “there was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb.” Yet Paul, or the author of Heb 9:4, asserts that, besides the two tables of stone, the “pot of manna” and “Aaron’s rod that budded” were inside the ark, which were directed to be “laid up” and “kept before the testimony,” i.e. before the tables of the law (Exo 40:20); and probably, since there is no mention of any other receptacle for them, and some would have been necessary, the statement of 1Ki 8:9, implies that by Solomon’s time these relics had disappeared. The expression , Deu 31:26, obscurely rendered “in the side of the ark” (Auth. Vers.), merely means “beside” it.
During the marches of the Israelites it was covered with a purple pall, and borne by the priests, with great reverence and care, in advance of the host (Num 4:5-6; Num 10:33). It was before the ark, thus in advance, that the waters of the Jordan separated; and it remained in the bed of the river, with the attendant priests, until the whole host had passed over; and no sooner was it also brought up than the waters resumed their course (Joshua 3; Jos 4:7; Jos 4:10-11; Jos 4:17-18). We may notice a fiction of the Rabbis that there were two arks, one which remained in the shrine, and another which preceded the camp on its march, and that this latter contained the broken tables of the law, as the former the whole ones. The ark was similarly conspicuous in the grand procession round Jericho (Jos 6:4; Jos 6:6; Jos 6:8; Jos 6:11-12). It is not wonderful, therefore, that the neighboring nations, who had no notion of spiritual worship, looked upon it as the God of the Israelites (1Sa 4:6-7), a delusion which may have been strengthened by the figures of the cherubim on it. After the conquest, the ark generally (see Jdg 20:27) remained in the tabernacle at Shiloh, until, in the time of Eli, it was carried along with the army in the war against the Philistines, under the superstitious notion that it would secure the victory to the Hebrews. They – were, nevertheless, not only beaten, but the ark itself was taken by the Philistines (1Sa 4:3-11), whose triumph was, however, very short lived, as they were so oppressed by the hand of God that, after seven months, they were glad to send it back again (1Sa 5:7). After that it remained apart from the tabernacle, at Kirjath-jearim (7:1, 2), where it continued until the time of David, who purposed to remove it to Jerusalem; but the old prescribed mode of removing it from place to place was so much neglected as to cause the death of Uzzah, in consequence of which it was left in the house of Obededom (2Sa 6:1-11) but after three months David took courage, and succeeded in effecting its safe removal, in grand procession, to Mount Zion (2Sa 6:12-19). When the Temple of Solomon was completed, the ark was deposited in the sanctuary (1Ki 8:6-9). Several of the Psalms contain allusions to these events (e.g. 24, 47, 132), and Psalms 105 appears to have been composed on the occasion of the first of them. SEE PSALMS.
The passage in 2Ch 35:3, in which Josiah directs the Levites to restore the ark to the holy place, is understood by some to imply that it had either been removed by Amon, who put an idol in its place, which is assumed to have been the ” trespass” of which he is said to have been guilty (2Ch 33:23), or that the priests themselves had withdrawn it during idolatrous times, and preserved it in some secret place, or had removed it from one place to another. But it seems more likely that it had been taken from the holy of holies during the purification and repairs of the Temple by this same Josiah, and that he, in this passage, merely directs it to be again set in its place. Or it may have been removed by Manasseh, to make room for the ” carved image” that he placed ” in the house of God” (2Ch 33:7). What became of the ark when the Temple was plundered and destroyed by the Babylonians is not known, and all conjecture is useless. It was probably taken away or destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (2Es 10:22). The Jews believe that it was concealed from the spoilers, and account it among the hidden things which the Messiah is to reveal (see Ambros. Off. iii, 17, 18; Joseph. Gorionid. i, 21; Wernsdorf, De fide Maccab. p. 183 sq.; Mishna, Shekal. 6:1). It is certain, however, from the consent of all the Jewish writers, that the old ark was not contained in the second temple, and there is no evidence that any new one was made. Indeed, the absence of the ark is one of the important particulars in which this temple was held to be inferior to that of Solomon. The most holy place is therefore generally considered to have been empty in the second temple (as Josephus states, War, v, 14); or- at most (as the rabbins allege, Mishna, Yoma, v, 2) to have contained only a stone to mark the place which the ark should have occupied (comp. Tacit, fist. v, 9). The silence of Ezra, Nehemiah, the Maccabees, and Josephus, who repeatedly mention all the other sacred utensils, but never name the ark, seems conclusive on the subject. But, notwithstanding this weight of testimony, there are writers, such as Prideaux (Connection, i, 207), who contend that the Jews could not properly carry on their worship without an ark, and that if the original ark was- not recovered after the Captivity, a new one must have been made (Calmet’s Dissertation sur l’Arche d’Alliance; Hase, De lapide cui area impositafuit, Erb. and Lpz. n. d. 4to). SEE TEMPLE.
Concerning the design and form of the ark, it appears that clear and unexpected light has been thrown by the discoveries which have of late years been made in Egypt, and which have unfolded to us the rites and mysteries of the old Egyptians. (See Descr. de l’Egypte, Att. i, pl. 11, fig. 4; pl. 12, fig. 3; iii, pl. 32, 34, 36; comp. Rosenmuller, Morgenl. ii, 96 sq.; Heeren, Ideen, II, ii, 831; Spencer, Leg. rit. iii, 5, p. 1084 sq.; Bahr, Symbol. i, 381, 402 sq.) “One of the most important ceremonies was the ‘ procession of shrines,’ which is mentioned in the Rosetta stone, and frequently occurs on the walls of the temples. The shrines were of two kinds: the one a sort of canopy; the other an ark or sacred boat, which may be termed the great shrine. This was carried with grand pomp by the priests, a certain number being selected for that duty, who supported it on their shoulders by means of long staves, passing through metal rings at the side of the sledge on which it stood, and brought it into the temple, where it was deposited upon a stand or table, in order that the prescribed ceremonies might be discharged before it. The stand was also carried in procession by another set of priests, following the shrine, by means of similar staves; a method usually adopted for carrying large statues and sacred emblems, too heavy or too important to be borne by one person. The same is stated to have been the custom of the Jews in some of their religious processions (comp. 1Ch 15:2; 1Ch 15:15; 2Sa 15:24; and Jos 3:12), as in carrying the ark to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, when the Temple was built by Solomon (1Ki 8:6).” … ” Some of the arks or boats contained the emblems of Life and Stability, which, when the veil was drawn aside, were partially seen; and others presented the beetle to the sun, overshadowed by the wings of two figures of the goddess Thenei, or Truth, which call to mind the cherubim of the Jews” (Wilkinson’s Anc. Egyptians, v, 271, 275). The ritual of the Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, and other ancient nations, included the use of what Clemens Alexandrinus calls (Protrept. p. 12). The same Clemens (Strom. v, 578) also contains an allusion of a proverbial character to the ark and its rites, which seems to show that they were popularly known, where he says that “only the master () may uncover the ark” (). In Latin, also, the word arcanum, connected with area and arceo, is the recognised term for a sacred mystery. (Illustrations of the-same subject occur also in Plut. De Is. et Osi. c. 39; Euseb. Prcep. Evang. ii, 3.)
These resemblances and differences appear to us to cast a strong light, not only on the form, but on the purpose of the Jewish ark. The discoveries of this sort which have lately been made in Egypt have added an overwhelming weight of proof to the evidence which previously existed, that the “tabernacle made with hands,” with its utensils and ministers, bore a designed external resemblance to the Egyptian models, but purged of the details and peculiarities which were the most open to abuse and misconstruction. That the Israelites, during the latter part of their sojourn in Egypt, followed the rites and religion of the country, and were (at least many of them) gross idolaters, is distinctly affirmed in Scripture (Jos 24:14; Eze 23:3; Eze 23:8; Eze 23:19), and is shown by their ready lapse into the worship of the “golden calf,” and by the striking fact that they actually carried about with them one of these Egyptian shrines or, tabernacles in the wilderness (Amo 5:26). From their conduct, and the whole tone of their sentiments and character, it appears that this stiff-necked and rebellious people were incapable (as a nation) of adhering to that simple form of worship and service which is most pleasing to God. (See an article on this subject in the Am. Bib. Repos. Oct. 1843, p. 290-312.)
The purpose or object of the ark was to contain inviolate the Divine autograph of the two tables, that ” covenant” from which it derived its title, the idea of which was inseparable from it, and which may be regarded as the depositum of the Jewish dispensation. The perpetual safe custody of the material tables no doubt suggested the moral observance of the precepts inscribed. The words of the Auth. Vers. in 1Ch 13:3, seem to imply a use of the ark for the purpose of an oracle; but this is probably erroneous, and “we sought it not” the meaning; so the Sept. renders it (see Gesenius, Lex. s.v. ). Occupying the most holy spot of the whole sanctuary, it tended to exclude any idol from the centre of worship. And Jeremiah (Jer 3:16) looks forward to the time when even the ark should be “no more remembered” as the climax of spiritualized religion apparently in Messianic times. It was also the support of the mercy-seat, materially symbolizing, perhaps, the “covenant” as that on which ‘” mercy” rested. It also furnished a legitimate vent to that longing after a material object for reverential feeling which is common to all religions. It was, however, never seen, save by the high-priest, and resembled in this respect the Deity whom it symbolized, whose face none might look upon and live. That this reverential feeling may have been impaired during its absence among the Philistines seems probable from the case of Uzzah. SEE MERCY-SEAT.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Ark
Noah’s ark, a building of gopher-wood, and covered with pitch, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high (Gen. 6:14-16); an oblong floating house of three stories, with a door in the side and a window in the roof. It was 100 years in building (Gen. 5:32; 7:6). It was intended to preserve certain persons and animals from the deluge which God was about to bring over the earth. It contained eight persons (Gen. 7:13; 2 Pet. 2:5), and of all “clean” animals seven pairs, and of “unclean” one pair, and of birds seven pairs of each sort (Gen. 7:2, 3). It was in the form of an oblong square, with flat bottom and sloping roof. Traditions of the Deluge, by which the race of man was swept from the earth, and of the ark of Noah have been found existing among all nations.
The ark of bulrushes in which the infant Moses was laid (Ex. 2:3) is called in the Hebrew _teebah_, a word derived from the Egyptian _teb_, meaning “a chest.” It was daubed with slime and with pitch. The bulrushes of which it was made were the papyrus reed.
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 (Gen. 50:26; 2 Kings 12:9, 10). It is distinguished from all others by such titles as the “ark of God” (1 Sam. 3:3), “ark of the covenant” (Josh. 3:6; Heb. 9:4), “ark of the testimony” (Ex. 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 (Num. 7:9; 10:21; 4:5, 19, 20; 1 Kings 8:3, 6). Over the ark, at the two extremities, were two cherubim, with their faces turned toward each other (Lev. 16:2; Num. 7:89). Their outspread wings over the top of the ark formed the throne of God, while the ark itself was his footstool (Ex. 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 (Deut. 31:26), the “pot of manna” (Ex. 16:33), and “Aaron’s rod that budded” (Num. 17:10), were laid up in the ark (Heb. 9:4). (See TABERNACLE) The ark and the sanctuary were “the beauty of Israel” (Lam. 2:1). During the journeys of the Israelites the ark was carried by the priests in advance of the host (Num. 4:5, 6; 10:33-36; Ps. 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 (Josh. 3:15, 16; 4:7, 10, 11, 17, 18). It was borne in the procession round Jericho (Josh. 6:4, 6, 8, 11, 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 (Jer. 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 Sam. 4:3-11), who sent it back after retaining it seven months (1 Sam. 5:7, 8). It remained then at Kirjath-jearim (7:1,2) 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 Sam. 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 (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.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Ark
(See NOAH.) The term (teebah) is applied to the infant Moses’ ark. (See BULRUSH.) Teebah is evidently the Egyptian teb, “a chest,” Hebraised. It has no Semitic equivalent. It is a type of the manger which disclosed to the shepherds Messiah, who, beginning with the manger, at last ascended to His Father’s throne; also of the paper ark to which God has committed His revelation.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
ARK
An ark was a box-like container. In older English versions of the Bible, the word is used of Noahs floating animal-house (Gen 7:8-9), of the floating basket made for the baby Moses by his parents (Exo 2:3-5), and of the sacred box in the inner shrine of Israels tabernacle (Exo 26:33).
Noahs ark
Gods purpose in commanding Noah to build an ark was to provide a way of preserving people and animals through the judgment of the great flood (Gen 6:5-13; see FLOOD). The ark was not designed to sail the seas like a huge boat, but to float on the floodwaters like a huge box. It was about 133 metres long, 22 metres wide and 13 metres high, with a door in the side and a 44 centimetre light and ventilation opening running around the top of the wall, just below the roof overhang. It was divided horizontally into three decks, and vertically into a number of rooms. This helped to separate the animals and to brace the whole structure (Gen 6:14-20).
More important than the preservation of the animals was the preservation of the family of Noah. Noahs building of the ark demonstrated his faith and made possible the survival of a nucleus of believers through whom God could build a new people (Heb 11:7; 1Pe 3:20; see NOAH).
Ark of the covenant
The gold covered wooden box known as the ark of the covenant, or covenant box, was Israels most sacred religious article. It was approximately 110 centimetres long, 66 centimetres wide and 66 centimetres deep. Its ornamented lid, over which were mounted two golden cherubim, was the symbolic throne of God known as the mercy seat (Exo 25:10-22; see CHERUBIM). (For fuller details of the ark and for its significance in the tabernacle rituals see TABERNACLE.)
When the Israelites moved from one camp to another, the ark was first covered with cloth, then carried by the Levites on shoulder poles. The ark usually went in front of the main procession (Num 4:5-6; Num 10:33). When the people crossed the Jordan River to enter Canaan, the Levitical priests carrying the ark again led the way. They stood in the middle of the dry river bed till all the people had crossed over (Jos 3:11-17). For the first battle in Canaan, God directed the priests to take the ark from the tabernacle and carry it around the city that had to be conquered (Jos 6:1-5).
Several generations later, Israelites again took the ark from the tabernacle and carried it into battle, this time against the Philistines. But they had not done so by Gods directions, and the Philistines captured the ark (1Sa 4:3-4; 1Sa 4:11).
After suffering terrible plagues during the time the ark was with them, the Philistines sent it back to Israel (1 Samuel 5; 1Sa 6:1-16). By striking dead some Israelites who looked into the ark, God impressed upon his people that the ark was sacred. They were not to treat it as an object of curiosity or superstition (1Sa 6:19-20).
For the next twenty years the ark remained in a country house in Kiriath-jearim (1Sa 6:21; 1Sa 7:1-2). When David conquered Jerusalem, he decided to take the ark there as part of his plan to make Jerusalem the religious centre of the nation. In putting the ark on a cart instead of using Levites to carry it, he was following the Philistines practice instead of Gods directions. The attempted move ended in tragedy (2Sa 6:2-10). Three months later, after he had realized his mistake, David again tried to transport the ark, this time doing things properly (2Sa 6:12-13; 1Ch 15:13-15). With much rejoicing he brought the ark to Jerusalem and placed it in a tent specially prepared for it (2Sa 6:14-19; 1Ch 15:23-29).
When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, he placed the ark in the Most Holy Place (1Ki 8:6-11). Apparently it was removed during the reign of the wicked Manasseh, but Josiah restored it to its rightful place (2Ch 35:1-3). The Babylonians probably took the ark with them to Babylon after their destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC (2Ki 24:13). There is no record of what happened to it after that.
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Ark
ARK.This word, from Lat. arca, a chest, is the rendering of two Hebrew words, of which one (tbhh, probably a loan-word) is applied both to the basket of bulrushes in which the infant Moses was exposed, and to the ark built by Noah (see Deluge). The other (rn, the native word for box or chest, 2Ki 12:10 f.), is used for a mummy-case or coffin (Gen 50:26), and in particular for the sacred ark of the Hebrews.
Ark of the Covenant
1. Names of the ark.Apart from the simple designation the ark found in all periods of Heb. literature, the names of the ark, more than twenty in number, fall into three groups, which are characteristic (a) of the oldest literary sources, viz. Samuel and the prophetical narratives of the Hexateuch; (b) of Deuteronomy and the writers influenced by Dt.; and (c) of the Priests Code and subsequent writings. In (a) we find chiefly the ark of J [Note: Jahweh.] , doubtless the oldest name of all, and the ark of God; in (b) the characteristic title is the ark of the covenantalone or with the additions of J [Note: Jahweh.] , of God, etc.a contraction for the ark or chest containing the tables of the covenant (Deu 9:9 ff.), and therefore practically the ark of the Decalogue; in (c) the same conception of the ark prevails (see below), but as the Decalogue is by P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] termed the testimony, the ark becomes the ark of the testimony. All other designations are expansions of one or other of the above.
2. History of the ark.The oldest Pentateuch sources (J [Note: Jahwist.] , E [Note: Elohist.] ) are now silent as to the origin of the ark, but since the author of Deu 10:1-6 had one or both of these before him, it may be assumed that its construction was there also assigned to Moses in obedience to a Divine command. It certainly played an important part in the wanderings (Num 10:33 ff; Num 14:44), and in the conquest of Canaan (Jos 3:3 ff; Jos 6:6 f.), and finally found a resting-place in the temple of Shiloh under the care of a priestly family claiming descent from Moses (1Sa 3:3). After its capture by the Philistines and subsequent restoration, it remained at Kiriathjearim (1Sa 4:1 to 1Sa 7:1), until removed by David, first to the house of Obed-edom, and thereafter to a specially erected tent in his new capital (2Sa 6:10 ff.). Its final home was the inner sanctuary of the Temple of Solomon (1Ki 8:1 ff.). Strangely enough, there is no further mention of the ark in the historical books. Whether it was among the treasures of the house of the Lord carried off by Shishak (c [Note: circa, about.] . b.c. 930), or whether it was still in its place in the days of Jeremiah (Jer 3:16 f.) and was ultimately destroyed by the soldiers of Nebuchadrezzar (587 b.c.), it is impossible to say. There was no ark in the Temples of Zerubbabel and Herod.
3. The significance of the ark.In attempting a solution of this difficult problem, we must, as in the foregoing section, leave out of account the late theoretical conception of the ark to be found in the Priests Code (see Tabernacle), and confine our attention to the oldest sources. In these the arka simple chest of acacia wood, according to Deu 10:3is associated chiefly with the operations of war, in which it is the representative of J [Note: Jahweh.] , the God of the armies of Israel. Its presence on the field of battle is the warrant of victory (1Sa 4:3 ff., cf. 2Sa 11:11), as its absence is the explanation of defeat (Num 14:44). Its issue to and return from battle are those of J [Note: Jahweh.] Himself (Num 10:35 f.). So closely, indeed, is the ark identified with the personal presence of J [Note: Jahweh.] in the oldest narratives (see, besides the above, 1Sa 6:20, 2Sa 6:7 f., 2Sa 6:14), that one is tempted to identify it with that mysterious presence of J [Note: Jahweh.] which, as a fuller manifestation of the Deity than even the angel of J [Note: Jahweh.] , was Israels supreme guide in the wilderness wanderings (Exo 32:34; Exo 33:2 compared with Exo 33:14 f., Deu 4:37, and Isa 63:9, where read neither a messenger nor an angel, but his presence delivered them). The ark was thus a substitute for that still more complete Presence (EV [Note: English Version.] face) which no man can see and live.
Under the prophetic teaching Israel gradually outgrew this naive and primitive, not to say fetish-like, conception, and in the 7th cent. we first find the ark spoken of as the receptacle for the tables of the Decalogue (Deu 10:2 ff.). Apart from other difficulties attending this tradition, it is quite inadequate to explain the extreme reverence and, to us, superstitious dread with which the ark is regarded in the narratives of Samuel. Hence many modern scholars are of opinion that the stone tables of the Deuteronomic tradition have taken the place of actual fetish stones, a view which it is impossible to reconcile with the lofty teaching of the founder of Israels religion.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Ark
We read in Scripture of the ark which the Lord directed Noah to make. (Gen 6:14) And Moses in the wilderness was commanded to make an ark. (Exo 25:10) And we read of an ark seen by John in the temple in heaven; but then, this latter was visional. For the same apostle elsewhere saith, that he “saw no temple in heaven? (Rev 11:19 with Rev 21:22) The ark of Noah, as well as that of Moses, were types of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, Noah it is said by the Holy Ghost,”by (Heb 11:7) faith being warned of God, “prepared an ark for the saving of his house.” Faith in what? Surely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the ark in the wilderness is called the ark of the covenant, intimating Christ given of JEHOVAH to the people. (See Num 10:33; Jos 3:11; Jos 7:6 with Isa 42:6; 2Ch 8:11) We no where read of arks. Never is it said in the word of God of more than one ark; no more than one Lord Jesus Christ. They who talk of arks, like them who talk of archangels, do err, “not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power of God.” And it were to be wished, that such men would call to mind the Lord’s jealousy in the case of the men of Bethshemesh, (1Sa 6:19) and also the circumstance of Uzzah, (1Ch 13:10) What was the sin of all those but overlooking Christ? And wherein do those differ, who talk of arks instead of one ark, and that expressly, and on no other account valuable, than as it represented the Lord Jesus? (1Sa 4:3; 2Sa 15:24)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Ark
1. Noah’s
– Directions for building of
Gen 6:14-16
– Noah and family preserved in
Gen 6:18; Gen 7:8; Mat 24:38; Heb 11:7; 1Pe 3:20
– Animals saved in
Gen 6:19-20; Gen 7:1-16
2. Of Bulrushes
Exo 2:3
3. In the Tabernacle
– Called:
b Ark of the Covenant
Num 10:33; Deu 31:26; Jos 4:7; 1Sa 4:3; 2Sa 15:24; 1Ch 15:25; 1Ch 17:1; Jer 3:16; Heb 9:4
b Ark of the Testimony
Exo 30:6
b Ark of the Lord
Jos 4:11; 1Sa 4:6; 1Sa 6:1; 2Sa 6:9; 2Sa 15:12; 2Sa 16:4
b Ark of God
1Sa 3:3; 1Sa 4:11; 1Sa 4:17; 1Sa 4:22; 1Sa 6:3; 1Sa 14:18; 2Sa 6:7; 2Sa 7:2; 2Sa 15:25; 1Ch 13:12; 1Ch 15:1-2; 1Ch 15:15; 1Ch 15:24; 1Ch 16:1
b Ark of God’s Strength
2Ch 6:41
– Sanctification of
Exo 30:26
– Ceremonies connected with, on the day of atonement
Lev 16:13-15
– Holy
2Ch 8:11; 2Ch 35:3
– An oracle of God
Num 10:33; Num 14:44; Jos 7:6-15; Jdg 20:27-28; 1Sa 4:3-4; 1Sa 4:7; 1Ch 13:3; 1Ch 16:4; 1Ch 16:37; 2Ch 6:41; Psa 132:8 Mercy-Seat
– Directions for making
Exo 25:10-15; Exo 35:12
– Construction of
Exo 37:1-5; Deu 10:3
– Contents of:
b The law
Exo 25:16; Exo 25:21; Exo 40:20; Deu 10:5; Deu 31:26; 1Ki 8:9; 2Ch 5:10
b Aaron’s rod
Num 17:10; Heb 9:4
b Pot of manna
Exo 16:33-34; Heb 9:4
– Place of
Exo 26:33; Exo 40:21; 1Sa 3:3; 2Sa 7:2; Heb 9:2-4
– How prepared for conveyance
Num 4:5-6
– Carried by Kohathites
Num 3:30-31; Num 4:4; Num 4:15; Deu 10:8; 1Ch 15:2; 1Ch 15:15
– On special occasions carried by priests:
b Crossing Jordan
Jos 3:6; Jos 3:14
b Siege of Jericho
Jos 6:6
– Taken to battle
Jos 6:6-20; 1Sa 4:3-22
– Captured by the Philistines
1Sa 4:10-11; Psa 78:61
Returned by the Philistines
1Sa 6
– Remains at the house of Abinadab
1Sa 7:1-2; 2Sa 6:4
– Remains in the house of Obed-Edom
2Sa 6:9-11
– Set up in Shiloh
Jos 18:1; Jdg 20:27-28; 1Sa 4:3-4
– Set up in Jerusalem
2Sa 6:12-17; 1Ch 6:31; 1Ch 15; 1Ch 16:1
– Removed from Jerusalem by Zadok at the time of Absalom’s revolt, but returned by command of David
2Sa 15:24-29
– Transferred to Solomon’s temple
1Ki 8:6-9; 2Ch 5:2-9; 2Ch 35:3
– Prophecy concerning
Jer 3:16
– In John’s vision
Rev 11:19
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Ark
Ark. The vessel constructed by Noah at God’s command, for the preservation of himself and family, and a stock of the various animals, when the waters of the flood overflowed the inhabited earth. If the cubit be reckoned at 21 inches, the dimensions of the ark were 525 feet in length, 87 feet 6 inches in breadth, 52 feet 6 Inches in height. The proportions are those of the human body; and they are admirably adapted for a vessel required, like the ark, to float steadily with abundant stowage. This is proved by modern experiments. The ark was made of “gopher-wood,” probably cypress; and it was to be divided into “rooms” or “nests,” that is, furnished with a vast number of separate compartments, placed one above another in three tiers. Light was to be admitted by a window, not improbably a sky-light, a cubit broad, extending the whole length of the ark. If so, however, there must have been some protection from the rain. A “covering” is spoken of. Gen 8:13; but several writers have believed that some transparent or translucent substance was employed, excluding the weather and admitting the light. It is observable that the “window” which Noah is said to have opened, Gen 8:6, is not in the original the same word with that occurring in 6:16. Perhaps one or more divisions of the long sky-light were made to open. There was a door also, through which the persons and the animals would enter and pass out. Many questions have been raised, and discussed at great length by skeptics and others, respecting the form and dimensions of the ark; the number of animals saved in itwhether including all species then existing in the world, except such as live in water or lie dormant, or only the species living in the parts of the world then peopled by man; and as to the possibility of their being all lodged in the ark, and their food during the year. Some of these questions the Bible clearly settles. Others it is vain to discuss, since we have no means of deciding them. It was by miracle that he was forewarned and directed to prepare for the flood; and the same miraculous power accomplished all that Noah was unable to do in designing, building, and filling the ark, and preserving and guiding it through the deluge. 2. Moses’s ark was made of the bulrush or papyrus, which grows in marshy places in Egypt. It was daubed with slime, which was probably the mud of which their bricks were made, and with pitch or bitumen. Exo 2:3. 3. Ark of the covenant. The most important piece of the tabernacle’s furniture. It appears to have been an oblong chest of shittim (acacia) wood, two and a half cubits long, by one and a half 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. Num 7:9; Num 10:21. The ends of the staves were visible without the veil in the holy place of the temple of Solomon. 1Ki 8:8. The ark, when transported, was covered with the “veil” of the dismantled tabernacle, in the curtain of badgers’ skins, and in a blue cloth over all, and was therefore not seen. Num 4:5; Num 4:20. The chief facts in the earlier history of the ark, see Jos 3:1-17; Jos 6:1-27, need not be recited. Before David’s time its abode was frequently changed. It sojourned among several, probably Levitical, famines, 1Sa 7:1; 2Sa 6:3; 2Sa 6:11; 1Ch 13:13; 1Ch 15:24-25, 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. When idolatry became more shameless in the kingdom of Judah, Manasseh placed a “carved image” in the “house of God,” and probably removed the ark to make way for it. This may account for the subsequent statement that it was reinstated by Josiah. 2Ch 33:7; 2Ch 35:3. It was probably taken captive or destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
ARK
(1) Noah’s
Gen 6:14; Gen 7:1; Gen 8:1; Gen 8:16; Mat 24:38; Heb 11:7; 1Pe 3:20
–SEE Deluge, DELUGE, THE
(2) Of Bulrushes
Exo 2:3
(3) Of the Covenant
Exo 25:10; Exo 25:16; Exo 26:33; Exo 30:26; Exo 37:1; Num 4:5; Num 10:35; Deu 10:8; Deu 31:26
Jos 3:15; Jos 4:11; Jos 6:11; Jos 7:6; Jdg 20:27; 1Sa 4:3; 1Sa 4:11; 1Sa 4:18; 1Sa 5:1; 1Sa 6:1
1Sa 7:1; 1Sa 14:18; 2Sa 6:2; 2Sa 6:6; 2Sa 6:11; 2Sa 6:17; 2Sa 15:24; 1Ki 8:6; 1Ki 8:9; 1Ch 6:31
1Ch 16:1; 1Ch 16:37; 2Ch 5:5; 2Ch 35:3; Jer 3:16; Heb 9:4; Rev 11:19
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Ark
“a wooden box, a chest,” is used of (a) Noah’s vessel, Mat 24:38; Luk 17:27; Heb 11:7; 1Pe 3:20; (b) the “ark” of the Covenant in the Tabernacle, Heb 9:4; (c) the “ark” seen in vision in the Heavenly Temple, Rev 11:19.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Ark
arca, denotes a kind of floating vessel built by Noah, for the preservation of himself and family, with several species of animals during the deluge. The Hebrew word by which the ark is expressed, is or , the constructive form of , which is evidently the Greek ; and so the LXX render the word in Exo 2:3, where only it again occurs. They also render it ; Josephus, ; and the Vulgate arcam; signifying an ark, coffer, or chest. Although the ark of Noah answered, in some respects, the purpose of a ship, it is not so certain that it was of the same form and shape. It has been inconclusively argued by Michaelis and some others, that if its form had not been like that of a ship, it could not have resisted the force of the waves; because it was not intended to be conducted, like a ship, from one place to another, but merely to float on the surface of the waters, Gen 7:17. It appears to have had neither helm, nor mast, nor oars; but was merely a bulky capacious vessel, light enough to be raised aloft with all its contents, by the gradual rise of the deluge. Its shape, therefore, was of little importance; more especially as it seems to have been the purpose of Providence, in this whole transaction, to signify to those who were saved, as well as to their latest posterity, that their preservation was not in any degree effected by human contrivance. The ark in which Moses was exposed bears the same name; and some have thought that both were of the same materials. With respect to the etymology of the Hebrew word, the most rational seems to be that of Clodius, who derives it from the Arabic word , he collected, from which is formed , or , denoting a place in which things are collected. Foster deduces it from two Egyptian words, thoi, a ship, and bai, a palm tree branch; and such ships are still to be seen not only in Egypt, but in India and other countries; particularly in some isles of the Pacific Ocean.
To the insufficiency of the ark to contain all the creatures said to have been brought into it, objections have, at different times, been made. Bishop Wilkins and others have learnedly discussed this subject, and afforded the most satisfactory answers. Dr. Hales proves the ark to have been of the burden of forty-two thousand four hundred and thirteen tons; and asks, Can we doubt of its being sufficient to contain eight persons, and about two hundred or two hundred and fifty pair of four-footed animals, (a number to which, according to M. Buffon, all the various distinct species may be reduced,) together with all the subsistence necessary for a twelvemonth, with the fowls of the air, and such reptiles and insects as cannot live under water? All these various animals were controlled by the power of God, whose special agency is supposed in the whole transaction, and the lion was made to lie down with the kid.
Whether Noah was commanded to bring with him, into the ark, a pair of all living creatures, zoologically and numerically considered, has been doubted. During the long period between the creation and the flood, animals must have spread themselves over a great part of the antediluvian earth, and certain animals would, as now, probably become indigenous to certain climates. The pairs saved must therefore, if all the kinds were included, have travelled from immense distances. But of such marches no intimation is given in the history; and this seems to render it probable that the animals which Noah was to bring with him into the ark, were the animals clean and unclean of the country in which he dwelt, and which, from the capacity of the ark, must have been in great variety and number. The terms used, it is true, are universal; and it is satisfactory to know, that if taken in the largest sense there was ample accommodation in the ark. Nevertheless, universal terms in Scripture are not always to be taken mathematically, and in the vision of Peter, the phrase ,all the four-footed beasts of the earth, must be understood of varii generis quadrupedes, as Schleusner paraphrases it. Thus we may easily account for the exuviae of animals, whose species no longer exist, which have been discovered in various places. The number of such extinct species probably has been greatly overrated by Cuvier; but of the fact, to a considerable extent, there can be no doubt. It is also to be observed that the presumptive evidence of the truth of the fact of the preparation of such a vessel, and of the supernatural circumstances which attended it, is exceedingly strong. It is, in truth, the only solution of a difficulty which has no other explanation; for as a universal deluge is confirmed by the general history of the world, and by a variety of existing facts and monuments, such a structure as the ark, for the preservation and sustenance of various animals, seems to have been absolutely necessary; for as we can trace up the first imperfect rudiments of the art of ship building among the Greeks, there could be no ships before the flood; and, consequently, no animals could have been saved. Nay, it is highly improbable that even men and domestic annuals could be saved, not to mention wild beasts, serpents, &c, though we should admit that the antediluvians had shipping, unless we should suppose, also, that they had a divine intimation respecting the flood, such as Moses relates; but this would be to give up the cause of infidelity. Mr. Bryant has collected a variety of ancient historical relations, which show that some records concerning the ark had been preserved among most nations of the world, and in the general system of Gentile mythology. Abydenus, with whom all the eastern writers concur, informs us that the place of descent from the ark was Armenia; and that its remains had been preserved for a long time. Plutarch mentions the Noachic dove, and its being sent out of the ark. Lucian speaks of Deucalion’s going forth from the ark, and raising an altar to God. The priests of Ammonia had a custom, at particular seasons, of carrying in procession a boat, in which was an oracular shrine, held in great veneration: and this custom of carrying the deity in an ark or boat was in use also among the Egyptians. Bishop Pococke has preserved three specimens of ancient sculpture, in which this ceremony is displayed. They were very ancient, and found by him in Upper Egypt. The ship of Isis referred to the ark, and its name, Baris, was that of the mountain corresponding to Ararat in Armenia. Bryant finds reference to the ark in the temples of the serpent worship, called Dracontia; and also in that of Sesostris, fashioned after the model of the ark, in commemoration of which it was built, and consecrated to Osiris at Theba; and he conjectures that the city, said to be one of the most ancient in Egypt, as well as the province, was denominated from it, Theba being the appellation of the ark. In other countries, as well as in Egypt, an ark, or ship, was introduced in their mysteries, and often carried about in the seasons of their festivals. He finds, also, in the story of the Argonauts several particulars, that are thought to refer to the ark of Noah. As many cities, not in Egypt only and Boeotia, but in Cilicia, Ionia, Attica, Phthiotis, Cataonia, Syria, and Italy, were called Theba; so likewise the city Apamea was denominated Cibotus, from , in memory of the ark, and of the history connected with it. The ark, according to the traditions of the Gentile world, was prophetic; and was regarded as a kind of temple or residence of the deity. It comprehended all mankind, within the circle of eight persons, who were thought to be so highly favoured of Heaven that they at last were reputed to be deities. Hence in the ancient mythology of Egypt, there were precisely eight gods; and the ark was esteemed an emblem of the system of the heavens. The principal terms by which the ancients distinguished the ark were Theba, Baris, Arguz, Aren, Arene, Arni, Laris, Boutas, Boeotus, and Cibotus; and out of these they formed different personages. See DELUGE.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Ark
Gen 6:14-18 (c) This boat may be taken as a type of the Lord JESUS in His Calvary experience. As the ark was under the deluge of the downpouring rain, so the Lord JESUS suffered under the rolling billows of GOD’s terrible wrath. This experience of CHRIST He calls a baptism in Luk 12:50. As those who were in the ark were saved from drowning, so those who are in CHRIST JESUS are saved from the wrath of GOD. It is the baptism of the Lord JESUS under GOD’s anger and wrath, as described in 1Pe 3:20-21, by which we are saved. We are saved by baptism, but it is JESUS’ baptism, and not ours.
Exo 25:10 (c) This ark is a type of the Lord JESUS as GOD’s perfect Son (represented by the gold), and yet a perfect man (represented by the acacia wood). The wood represented the humanity of CHRIST, and the golden covering both inside and outside the ark represented the deity of CHRIST. His perfect Godhead, and His perfect manhood are shown by the fact that the gold covered both the inside and the outside, and revealed also the purity of HIS outward actions and His innermost thoughts. In Him there dwelt the law of GOD perfectly, the priesthood of GOD fully, and the bread of GOD abundantly. He is GOD’s mercy seat; GOD meets the sinner in CHRIST.