Editing Ark of the Covenant (section)

==Biblical account==
{{Ten Commandments series}}

===Construction and description===
[[File:P1000484 Paris Ier Eglise Saint-Roch Chapelle Adoration Arche d'alliance reductwk.JPG|thumb|left|Ark of the ''chapelle de l'Adoration'' ([[Église Saint-Roch (Paris)|Église Saint-Roch]], Paris).]]
According to the [[Book of Exodus]], God instructed [[Moses]] to build the Ark during his 40-day stay upon [[Mount Sinai]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|19:20|HE}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|24:18|HE}}.</ref> He was shown the pattern for the tabernacle and furnishings of the Ark, and told that it would be made of [[shittim wood]] (also known as acacia wood)<ref name="bibleverse||Exodus|25:10|HE">{{bibleverse|Exodus|25:10|HE}}.</ref> to house the [[Tablets of Stone]].<ref name="bibleverse||Exodus|25:10|HE"/> Moses instructed [[Bezalel]] and [[Oholiab]] to construct the Ark.<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|31|HE}}.</ref><ref>Sigurd Grindheim, ''Introducing Biblical Theology'', Bloomsbury Publishing, United Kingdom, 2013, p. 59.</ref><ref>Joseph Ponessa, Laurie Watson Manhardt, ''Moses and The Torah: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy'', pp. 85–86 (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2007). {{ISBN|978-1-931018-45-6}}.</ref>

The Book of Exodus gives detailed instructions on how the Ark is to be constructed.<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|25|HE}}.</ref> It is to be {{frac|2|1|2}} [[cubit]]s in length, {{frac|1|1|2}} cubits breadth, and {{frac|1|1|2}} cubits height (approximately {{cvt|131|*|79|*|79|cm|in|disp=or}}) of [[acacia]] wood. Then it is to be gilded entirely with gold, and a crown or molding of gold is to be put around it. Four rings of gold are to be attached to its four corners, two on each side—and through these rings staves of shittim wood overlaid with gold for carrying the Ark are to be inserted; and these are not to be removed.<ref>{{cite web |title="Four feet"; see Exodus 25:12, majority of translations. "Four corners" in King James Version |url=http://www.biblestudytools.com/exodus/25-12-compare.html |access-date=2012-08-17 |publisher=Biblestudytools.com}}</ref>

===Mobile vanguard===
The biblical account continues that, after its creation by Moses, the Ark was carried by the [[Israelites]] during their 40 years of wandering in the desert. Whenever the Israelites camped, the Ark was placed in the tent of meeting, inside the [[Tabernacle]].

When the Israelites, led by [[Joshua]] toward the [[Promised Land]], arrived at the banks of the [[River Jordan]], the Ark was carried in the lead, preceding the people, and was the signal for their advance.<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|3:3}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|6}}.</ref> During the crossing, the river grew dry as soon as the feet of the priests carrying the Ark touched its waters, and remained so until the priests—with the Ark—left the river after the people had passed over.<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|3:15–17}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|4:10}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|11}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|18}}.</ref> As memorials, [[Twelve Stones|twelve stones]] were taken from the Jordan at the place where the priests had stood.<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|4:1–9}}.</ref>

During the [[Battle of Jericho]], the Ark was carried around the city once a day for six days, preceded by the armed men and seven priests sounding seven [[shofar|trumpets of rams' horns]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|6:4–15}}.</ref> On the seventh day, the seven priests sounding the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Ark compassed the city seven times, and, with a great shout, Jericho's wall fell down flat and the people took the city.<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|6:16–20}}.</ref>

After the defeat at [[Ai (Bible)|Ai]], Joshua lamented before the Ark.<ref>{{bibleverse|Josh|7:6–9}}.</ref> When Joshua read the Law to the people between [[Mount Gerizim]] and [[Mount Ebal]], they stood on each side of the Ark. The Ark was then kept at [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]] after the Israelites finished their conquest of Canaan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Joshua+7:6%E2%80%939&version=nrsv|title=oremus Bible Browser : Joshua 7:6–9|website=bible.oremus.org}}</ref> We next hear of the Ark in [[Bethel]],{{efn|'Bethel' is translated as 'the House of God' in the [[King James Version]].}} where it was being cared for by the priest [[Phinehas]], the grandson of [[Aaron]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Judges|20:26f}}.</ref> According to this verse, it was consulted by the people of Israel when they were planning to attack the Benjaminites at the [[Levite's concubine|Battle of Gibeah]]. Later the Ark was kept at Shiloh again,<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|3:3}}.</ref> where it was cared for by [[Hophni and Phinehas]], two sons of [[Eli (biblical figure)|Eli]].<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|4:3f}}.</ref>

===Capture by the Philistines===
{{Main|Philistine captivity of the Ark}}
[[File:Figures The erection of the Tabernacle and the Sacred vessels.jpg|thumb|1728 illustration of the Ark at the erection of the Tabernacle and the sacred vessels, as in Exodus 40:17–19]]
According to the biblical narrative, a few years later the elders of Israel decided to take the Ark onto the battlefield to assist them against the [[Philistines]], having recently been defeated at the battle of [[Eben-Ezer]].<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|4:3-11}}.</ref> They were again heavily defeated, with the loss of 30,000 men. The Ark was captured by the Philistines, and Hophni and Phinehas were killed. The news of its capture was at once taken to Shiloh by a messenger "with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head". The old priest, Eli, fell dead when he heard it, and his daughter-in-law, bearing a son at the time the news of the Ark's capture was received, named him [[Ichabod]]—explained as "The glory has departed Israel" in reference to the loss of the Ark.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|4:12-22}}.</ref> Ichabod's mother died at his birth.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|4:20}}.</ref>

The Philistines took the Ark to several places in their country, and at each place misfortune befell them.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|5:1-6}}.</ref> At [[Isdud|Ashdod]] it was placed in the temple of [[Dagon]]. The next morning Dagon was found prostrate, bowed down, before it; and on being restored to his place, he was on the following morning again found prostrate and broken. The people of Ashdod were smitten with tumors; a plague of rodents was sent over the land. This may have been the [[bubonic plague]].<ref name="Asense">{{cite journal |last1=Asensi |first1=Victor |last2=Fierer |first2=Joshua |title=Of Rats and Men: Poussin's Plague at Ashdod |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |date=January 2018 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=186–187 |doi=10.3201/eid2401.AC2401 |pmc=5749463 |issn=1080-6040}}</ref><ref name="Freemon">{{cite journal |last1=Freemon |first1=Frank R. |date=September 2005 |title=Bubonic plague in the Book of Samuel |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=98 |issue=9 |page=436 |doi=10.1177/014107680509800923 |issn=0141-0768 |pmc=1199652 |pmid=16140864}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|6:5}}.</ref> The affliction of tumours was also visited upon the people of [[Gath (city)|Gath]] and of [[Ekron]], whither the Ark was successively removed.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|5:8-12}}.</ref>

===Return of the Ark to the Israelites===
[[File:Benjamin West - Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|''Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant'' by [[Benjamin West]], 1800]]
After the Ark had been among them for 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 tumors and mice wherewith they had been afflicted. The Ark was set up in the field of Joshua of [[Beit Shemesh]], and the people of Beit Shemesh offered sacrifices and burnt offerings according to the first five verses of [[1 Samuel 6]]. Verse 19, 1 Samuel 6 states that out of curiosity, the people of Beit Shemesh gazed at the Ark, and as a punishment, God struck down seventy of them (fifty thousand and seventy in some translations). The men of Beit Shemesh sent to [[Kiriath-Jearim|Qiryath Ye'arim]] to have the Ark removed in verse 21, and it was taken to the house of [[Abinadab]], whose [[Eleazar, son of Abinadab|son Eleazar]] was sanctified to keep it. Qiryath Ye'arim remained the abode of the Ark for twenty years, according to [[1 Samuel 7]].

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 battle. In [[1 Chronicles 13]]:3, it is stated that the people were not accustomed to consulting the Ark in the days of [[Saul]].

===During the reign of King David===
[[File:Morgan-bible-fl-39.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Illustration from the 13th-century [[Morgan Bible]] of David bringing the Ark into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6)]]
In the biblical narrative, at the beginning of his reign over the [[United Monarchy of Israel|United Monarchy]], King [[David]] removed the Ark from [[Kirjath-jearim]] amid great rejoicing. On the way to [[Zion]], [[Uzzah]], one of the drivers of the cart that carried the Ark, put out his hand to steady the Ark, and was struck dead by God for touching it. The place was subsequently named "[[Perez-uzzah|Perez-Uzzah]]", literally {{gloss|outburst against Uzzah}},<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|6:8|NKJV}}.</ref> as a result. David, in fear, carried the Ark aside into the house of [[Obed-edom]] the [[Gath (city)|Gittite]], instead of carrying it on to Zion, and it stayed there for three months.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|6:1–11}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|13:1–13}}.</ref>

On hearing that God 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]]{{nbsp}}[...] danced before the Lord with all his might" and in the sight of all the public gathered in Jerusalem, a performance which caused him to be scornfully rebuked by his first wife, Saul's daughter [[Michal]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|6:12-16}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|6:20-22}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|15}}.</ref> In Zion, David put the Ark in the tent he had prepared for it, offered sacrifices, distributed food, and blessed the people and his own household.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|6:17-20}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|16:1-3}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|1:4}}.</ref> David used the tent as a personal place of prayer.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|17:16}}.</ref><ref>Barnes, W. E. (1899), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/1_chronicles/17.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools on 1 Chronicles 17], accessed 22 February 2020.</ref>

The Levites were appointed to minister before the Ark.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|16:4}}.</ref> David's plan of building a temple for the Ark was stopped on the advice of the [[biblical prophet|prophet]] [[Nathan (prophet)|Nathan]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|7:1–17}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|17:1–15}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|28:2}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|3}}.</ref> The Ark was with the army during the siege of [[Rabbah]];<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|11:11}}.</ref> and when David fled from Jerusalem at the time of [[Absalom]]'s conspiracy, the Ark was carried along with him until he ordered [[Zadok (High Priest)|Zadok]] the priest to return it to Jerusalem.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|15:24-29}}.</ref>

===The Temple of King Solomon===
[[File:Bible manual. Introductory course on the Bible, for teachers training classes and Bible classes (1922) (14749899816).jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.6|Model of the First Temple, included in a Bible manual for teachers (1922)]]
According to the Biblical narrative, when [[Abiathar]] was dismissed from the priesthood by King [[Solomon]] for having taken part in [[Adonijah]]'s [[conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]] against David, his life was spared because he had formerly borne the Ark.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|2:26}}.</ref> Solomon worshipped before the Ark after his dream in which God promised him wisdom.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|3:15}}.</ref>

During the construction of [[Solomon's Temple]], a special inner room, named {{transliteration|hbo|[[Kodesh Hakodashim]]}} ('[[Holy of Holies]]'), was prepared to receive and house the Ark;<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|6:19}}.</ref> and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark—containing the original [[Tablets of Stone|tablets]] of the [[Ten Commandments]]—was placed therein.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|8:6–9}}.</ref> When the priests emerged from the holy place after placing the Ark there, the Temple was filled with a cloud, "for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord".<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|8:10·11}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|5:13}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|14}}.</ref>

When Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, he caused her to dwell in a house outside [[Zion]], as Zion was consecrated because it contained the Ark.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|8:11}}.</ref> King Josiah also had the Ark returned to the Temple,<ref name="auto">{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|35:3}}.</ref> from which it appears to have been removed by one of his predecessors (cf. 2 Chronicles 33–34 and 2 Kings 21–23).

===During the reign of King Hezekiah===
[[File:Folio 29r - The Ark of God Carried into the Temple.jpg|thumb|The Ark carried into the Temple from the early 15th century {{lang|fr|[[Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry]]}}]]
Prior to king [[Josiah]] who is the last biblical figure mentioned as having seen the Ark, king [[Hezekiah]] had seen the Ark.<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|37:14–17}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Kings|19:14–19}}.</ref> Hezekiah is also known for protecting [[Jerusalem]] against the [[Assyrian Empire]] by improving the city walls and diverting the waters of the [[Gihon Spring]] through a tunnel known today as [[Hezekiah's Tunnel]], which channeled the water inside the city walls to the [[Pool of Siloam]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|32:3–5}}.</ref>

In a noncanonical text known as the Treatise of the Vessels, [[Hezekiah]] is identified as one of the kings who had the Ark and the other treasures of [[Solomon's Temple]] hidden during a time of crisis. This text lists the following hiding places, which it says were recorded on a bronze tablet: (1) a spring named Kohel or Kahal with pure water in a valley with a stopped-up gate; (2) a spring named Kotel (or "wall" in Hebrew); (3) a spring named Zedekiah; (4) an unidentified cistern; (5) Mount Carmel; and (6) locations in Babylon.<ref>Davila, J., ''The Treatise of the Vessels (Massekhet Kelim): A New Translation and Introduction'', p. 626 (2013).</ref>

To many scholars, [[Hezekiah]] is also credited as having written all or some of the Book of Kohelet ([[Ecclesiastes]] in the Christian tradition), in particular the famously enigmatic epilogue.<ref>Quackenbos, D., Recovering an Ancient Tradition: Toward an Understanding of Hezekiah as the Author of Ecclesiastes, pp. 238–253 (2019).</ref> Notably, the epilogue appears to refer to the Ark story with references to almond blossoms (i.e., Aaron's rod), locusts, silver, and gold. The epilogue then cryptically refers to a pitcher broken at a fountain and a wheel broken at a cistern.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Ecclesiastes|12:5–6|HE}}.</ref>

Although scholars disagree on whether the Pool of Siloam's pure spring waters were used by pilgrims for ritual purification, many scholars agree that a stepped pilgrimage road between the pool and the Temple had been built in the first century CE.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tercatin |first=R. |date=2021-05-05 |title=Second Temple period 'lucky lamp' found on Jerusalem's Pilgrimage Road |url=https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/second-temple-period-lucky-lump-found-on-jerusalems-pilgrimage-road-667255 |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> This roadway has been partially excavated, but the west side of the Pool of Siloam remains unexcavated.<ref>Szanton, N.; Uziel, J. (2016), "Jerusalem, City of David [stepped street dig, July 2013 – end 2014], Preliminary Report (21/08/2016)". Hadashot Arkheologiyot. Israel Antiquities Authority, http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=25046&mag_id=124.</ref>

===The invasion of the Kingdom of Babylon===
In 587 BC, when the [[Babylonia]]ns [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|destroyed Jerusalem]], an ancient Greek version of the biblical third Book of Ezra, [[1 Esdras]], suggests that Babylonians took away the vessels of the ark of God, but does not mention taking away the Ark:

{{blockquote|And they took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels of the ark of God, and the king's treasures, and carried them away into Babylon<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Esdras|1:54}}</ref>}}

In [[Rabbinic literature]], the final disposition of the Ark is disputed. Some rabbis hold that it must have been carried off to Babylon, while others hold that it must have been hidden lest it be carried off into Babylon and never brought back.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ark of the Covenant |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1777-ark-of-the-covenant#anchor10 |encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia |access-date=1 May 2012}}</ref> A late 2nd-century rabbinic work known as the {{transliteration|he|[[Tosefta]]}} states the opinions of these rabbis that [[Josiah]], the king of Judah, stored away the Ark, along with the jar of [[manna]], and a jar containing the holy anointing oil, the rod of Aaron which budded and a chest given to Israel by the Philistines.<ref>Tosefta (''Sotah'' 13:1); cf. [[Babylonian Talmud]] (''Kereithot'' 5b).</ref>

===Service of the Kohathites===

The [[Kohathites]] were one of the [[Levite]] houses from the [[Book of Numbers]]. Theirs was the responsibility to care for "the most holy things" in the [[tabernacle]]. When the camp, then wandering the Wilderness, set out the Kohathites would enter the tabernacle with Aaron and cover the ark with the screening curtain and "then they shall put on it a covering of fine leather, and spread over that a cloth all of blue, and shall put its poles in place." The ark was one of the items of the [[tent of meeting]] that the Kohathites were responsible for carrying.<ref>{{bibleverse|Numbers|4:5}}.</ref>