The Appearance of the Ark of the Covenant

[Spirithound]

Can you please give me some sources on this?

This isn’t the source I originally heard it from, but page 54 of The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas opines that the first 3 are on the first tablet and the last 7 are on the second.

It gets better. Jewish tradition has it that the Tablets were made of blue sapphire stone (as a reminder of the heavens and God’s Throne) and were either rectangle or square-shaped, with sharp corners and measuring six Tefachim (1 Tefach= 8.6 to 9 cm) long and wide, and three Tefachim thick. The letters were not merely engraved on the surface; they were fully bored through the tablets. In fact, while one would expect the reverse side to bear a mirror image since the letters were bored fully, both sides appeared normally; i.e. the back appeared identical to the front. Another is that the inner part of some Hebrew letters (either Samekh and the final Mem or Ayin, which in Paleo-Hebrew looked like an ‘O’) ‘hovered’ in place, despite the letters being graven fully.

God or the Tablets themselves were said to support their weight, enabling Moses to carry them. However, God or the Tablets withdrew their support when Moses saw the people worshipping the Golden Calf, causing him to drop them.

That is absolutely totally AWESOME!

So, in searching for my source above, I also came across the assertion that the Commandments were split 5/5, but in the way that the Jews divide them, so that “I am the Lord your God” is the first, and “You shall have no other before me.” is the second, and in that way the first 5 are about our relationship with God, with “Honour your father and mother” being a kind of “bridge” between the two tablets.

But anyways, your description is quite cool. If we even take another PP to be correct in that both tablets contained all 10, that would still be like 5 cm letters, clearly visible for like 30-50 feet

 

[Spirithound]

Just did some calculations, and 2 tablets of sapphire of that size would weigh around 1210 pounds (minus the amount removed for the letters

God is Magnificent!

 

[CentralFLJames]

Is this account of the Tablets being of sapphire and readable from both sides coming from Jewish oral tradition or is it written somewhere?

I’d love to read up on this if you can point me to a source.

James

 

[patrick457]

Is this account of the Tablets being of sapphire and readable from both sides coming from Jewish oral tradition or is it written somewhere?

I’d love to read up on this if you can point me to a source.

James

Check out the Jewish Encyclopedia’s article on this. It’s quite comprehensive and informative regarding rabbinic tradition on the matter.

 

[patrick457]

Another example of this: the Temple of Solomon was of a standard design - it was not unusual. It was different from a number of others, only in the ID of the deity worshipped in it.

Quite interesting that you bring this up. In 1 Kings 6:29, 32, 34 and 35, we read:

The walls on all sides of both the inner and the outer rooms had carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers…The two doors were of olive wood, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers…The two doors were of fir wood; each door was banded by a metal strap, front and back, and had carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, over which gold was evenly applied.

http://www.bibleorigins.net/cherubimplatter.jpg
A bronze platter of Phoenician worksmanship found as a religious votive deposit in Greece, depicting winged Sphinxes with the imaginary hybrid Lotus-Papyrus “Tree”.

http://www.bibleorigins.net/cherubimyemen.jpg
Winged Sphinxes, touching with their forepaws the “sacred tree” composed of lotus and papyrus blossoms, after a stone stela from the Yemen bearing a Sabaean inscription. Flanking the Sphinxes are date palms.

 

[patrick457]

Check out the Jewish Encyclopedia’s article on this. It’s quite comprehensive and informative regarding rabbinic tradition on the matter.

Also, if I may add, Exodus 32:15 does mention that “Moses went down the mountain with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. The tablets were made by God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.”

 

[patrick457]

Also, if I may add, Exodus 32:15 does mention that “Moses went down the mountain with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. The tablets were made by God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.”

 

[patrick457]

If you’ve noticed the two pictures of thrones at the beginning of this post you will see that the winged sphinx sidearms look straight forward. However, the Bible says clearly that the cherubim are “turned toward each other, looking at the kapporet.”

One possible way to reconcile this is by imaging the cherubim/winged lions in the Ark as having turned-aside faces, which are attested in ancient art, such as in the following examples. Here is a Phoenician-style ivory of a sphinx with a “turned aside face” found at Nimrud, ancient Calah, the capital of Assyria before Nineveh took the position. One could see rather obvious Egyptian influence in this ivory (one notable difference between Egyptian and Near Eastern sphinxes is that while Egyptian winged sphinxes have their wings down and flat against their bodies, the Near Eastern ones have theirs outstretched).

Here is another one, an ivory box from Megiddo with reliefs of lions and winged sphinxes at the sides.

 

[patrick457]

Let’s talk about the kapporet for a bit.

The kapporet is made of pure gold, with the same dimensions as the Ark, and has the image of the two cherubim in it. It laid “above” or “upon” the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place; and thus, it was commonly conceived of as the Ark’s lid or cover.

Two medieval Jewish sages who compiled commentaries on the Torah, Rashi and Nachmanides imagine the kapporet differently (then again, Rashi and Nachmanides disagree on many matters):

Nachmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270) sees the kapporet as the cover of the Ark - as a component of the Ark itself, rather than another of the Sanctuary’s vessels.

Meanwhile, Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040-1105) sees the ark and the kapporet as two different objects. The Sanctuary contained various “vessels,” each with a designated function (e.g., the menorah, the altars); according to Rashi the Ark and the kapporet are two different vessels - it is only that the designated place of the kapporet is atop the Ark.

Some have tried to determine the meaning of the word kapporet etymologically. It is related to kipper, variously translated as “purge,” “atone,” “expiate,” or “propitiate,” and one of the chief theological terms in the Old Testament. Hence the translation of kapporet as “propitiatory.”

Sometimes, the term was translated as “mercy seat” (William Tyndale got the phrase from Martin Luther, who used the word “gnadenstuhl” meaning ‘seat of grace’ to translate kapporet), however Psalm 99:1 and 1 Samuel 4:4 say literally that the Lord “sits the cherubim,” which must be understood as “sits on or above the cherubim.”

The kapporet, however, was beneath the wings of the cherubim, and therefore could not function as a seat of any kind. When this evidence is combined with evidence from Ancient Near Eastern parallels, we should conclude that the wings of the cherubim formed the Lord’s throne (as pointed above). If the wings of the cherubim form the seat of the Lord’s throne, then the kapporet would form His footstool.

It is often said that the Ark itself functioned as the footstool for the Lord’s throne, but the Bible never makes this identification. In two psalms, the footstool is spoken of as the place of worship. Psalm 99:5 does not identify what the footstool is, and in Psalm 132:7, “footstool” stands in poetic parallelism to “dwelling places.” In neither case is there any clue that the Ark specifically is in view.

In fact 1 Chronicles 28:2-8 shows that the Ark was not the footstool:

2: Then David the king stood up upon his feet and said: "Hear me, my brethren and my people. It was in my heart to build a house of repose myself for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God; and I have prepared to build,
3: But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house in my honor, for you are a man of war, and have shed blood.’
4: However, the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me out from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. For he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father; and finally, among all the sons of my father, He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.
5: And of all my sons–for the LORD has given me many sons–he has chosen my son Solomon to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.
6: For He said to me: 'Solomon your son, he shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be a father to him.
7: *And I will establish his kingdom forever, if he be constant to do my commandments and decrees as at this day.’ *

The fact that the preposition “for” is repeated makes it impossible to understand “footstool” as an appositive explanation of “Ark”; clearly, the two pieces of furniture are distinct. If the Ark is not the footstool, then the kapporet is the only thing that can logically be called a footstool.

Notice that he also uses the phrase “house of repose.” Footstools (footrests) were originally conceived and used for relaxation. God’s enthronement above the cherubim in the Tabernacle took place after He had defeated the Egyptians; i.e. rest comes after victory.

Indeed, footstools are often symbolic of defeated enemies, crushed underfoot by the victor (Ps 110:1). A footstool symbolizes what is subdued. 2 Chronicles 9:18 indicates this in a striking manner; Solomon’s footstool made of gold was called a kebesh, from kabash, meaning “to subdue” or “to bring into bondage.”

Because the Lord rules the whole Earth, the Earth is His footstool (Isaiah 66:1). Israel especially was submissive to the Lord’s rule, the nation in which the Lord found rest; therefore, Israel is also called the Lord’s footstool (Lamentations 2:1).

According to the Biblical directions, the Holy of Holies could only be entered at Yom Kippur, and even then could only be entered by the Jewish High Priest, who was covenanted to do so in order to sprinkle the blood of a sacrificial bull onto the kapporet, as an atonement for himself and his family, the other priests, the tabernacle, and the people of Israel; the directions specify that incense was first burnt in the Holy of Holies so that a cloud rose up and appeared above the mercy seat.

Why would the blood be sprinkled on the kapporet? Several possibilities present themselves:

First, since the Earth is the Lord’s footstool, the kapporet might be taken as a representation of the Earth; the sprinkling of the sacrificial blood on the footstool cleansed the Earth.

Second, the kapporet represented Israel as the footstool of God’s feet. Israel’s sins never defiled the heavenly throne of the Lord (symbolized by the cherubim) but did defile His footstool-nation. The cleansing of the kapporet with the blood thus represented the cleansing of God’s subdued people.

Third, the Lord will remain enthroned only in a clean place; He looks for a clean place to rest His feet (parallel with the clean birds of Lev 11:13-19?). The sins of Israel defiled His footstool; if it were not cleansed, the Lord would rise up from His resting place and abandon His house.

 

[patrick457]

Here let’s see about just how many Arks there were according to Jewish tradition.

The most popular opinion today is that there was only one Ark, the one made by Bezalel, which contains both the first and second sets of the Tablets of the Law (cf. [Babylonian] Talmud, Tractate Berakoth 8b; Tract Baba Bathra 14b).

Even so did R. Joshua b. Levi say to his children: “Complete your Parashoth together with the congregation, twice the Hebrew text and once Targum; be careful with the jugular veins to follow [the teaching of] R. Judah, as we have learnt: 'R. Judah says: He must cut through the jugular veins; and be careful [to respect] an old man who has forgotten his knowledge through no fault of his own, for it was said: "Both the whole tablets and the fragments of the tablets were placed in the Ark.’”

-Berakoth 8b

And whence does R. Meir learn that the fragments of the [first] tablets were deposited in the Ark? — From the same source as R. Huna, who said: What is the meaning of the verse, “Which is called by the Name, even the name of the Lord of Hosts that sits upon the Cherubim? (2 Samuel 6:2)” [The repetition of the word ‘name’] teaches that the tablets and the fragments of the tablets were deposited in the Ark.

And, what does R. Judah make of these words? — He requires them for the lesson enunciated by R. Johanan, who 'said in the name of R. Simeon b. Yohai: This teaches us that the Name [of four letters] and all the subsidiary names [of God] were deposited in the Ark.

And does not R. Meir also require the verse for this lesson? — Certainly he does.

Whence then does he learn that the fragments of the first tables were deposited in the Ark? He learns it from the exposition reported [also] by R. Joseph. For R. Joseph learned: “*Which thou brakest and thou shalt put them *(Deuteronomy 10:2):” [the juxtaposition of these words] teaches us that both the tablets and the fragments of the tablets were deposited in the Ark.

-Baba Bathra 14b

However there exists other opinions, such as:

1.) The ‘two Arks’ hypothesis: This opinion (held by Rashi and some Midrashim) posits that there were two Arks; one created by Moses (usually said to be a temporary one), and a later one created by Bezalel.

Alternatively, these two Arks coexisted with each other during the time of the Israelites in the wilderness; with the one containing the first set of the Tablets of the Law which Moses broke accompanying the Israelites into battle while the one containing the second set of the Tablets was enthroned in the Tabernacle (cf. Yerushalmi [Jerusalem Talmud] Shekalim vi. 49c).

This seems to seek to reconcile the statement that Moses made in Deuteronomy 10:3 where it is said that he created an Ark made of ‘shittim wood’ before coming up to Mt. Sinai to recreate the Tablets of the Law with Exodus 37:1-9, where Bezalel creates the Ark made of shittim wood plated with gold after Moses went up the mountain.

At the end of forty days, He granted me favor, and said,"'Carve for yourself," and, afterward, “Make for yourself an Ark.” (Deuteronomy 10:1) However, I made the Ark first, for, when I arrive with the tablets in hand, where shall I place them? **Now this is not the Ark which Betzalel made, for they were not engaged with the Tabernacle until after Yom Kippur, since, it was only when he descended from the mountain that he instructed them concerning the construction of the Tabernacle. And Betzalel made the Tabernacle first, and afterward the Ark and the vessels. Hence, this was a different Ark; this one went with them when they waged war, while the one Betzalel made did not go to war, except in Eli’s time, when they were punished over it, and it was captured. **

-Commentary by Rashi

“R. Judah, son of Lachish, said ‘there were two Arks, one which abode in the encampment, and one which went forth with them to war, and in it were the broken tablets,’ as is said, ‘And the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord went.’ But the one with them in the encampment contained the roll of the Law. That is what is written, 'Nevertheless the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord; and Moses departed not out of the camp (Numbers 14:44).’”

“The Talmud” (1878), abridged translation by Joseph Barclay, Treatise XVIII, chapter VI

2.) The three Arks hypothesis: Another opinion (also found in the [Babylonian] Talmud: Tractate Yoma 72b; Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Shekalim vi. 49d) held the opinion that Bezalel made three Arks, which he put inside of one another. The outside and inside ones were made of gold, and measured respectively ten cubits and a fraction and eight cubits, while the middle one was of wood and measured nine cubits.

How did Bezaleel make the ark? “He made three boxes, two of gold and one of wood. He put the wooden one inside the golden one, and the golden one inside the wooden one, and covered the upper edge with gold; as is said, “And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold: within and without shalt thou overlay it.”

And what is the meaning of saying, ‘thou shalt overlay it?’ “It means that he covered the upper edges (with) gold.”

“The Talmud” (1878), abridged translation by Joseph Barclay, Treatise XVIII, chapter VII

 

[patrick457]

Second, God, in the OT, goes to great lengths to keep anything even potentially pagan from the Israelites. The Plagues, for example, are 10 assertions of YHWH over 10 Egyptian deities. The Israelites were not to intermarry with other peoples, and whenever Israel won a battle, they killed everyone and destroyed everything. God didn’t even want them to have a king, as the other tribes did. So, an important question would be, were the Hebrews ready to have something like a cherub that resembled a pagan symbol?
Of course, the body of a lion is certainly a symbol that might befit God…

Hmm, you have a point.

Then again in later ages, only a select few have actually seen the Ark’s true appearance: the High Priest, when he performs the blood sprinkling once every year, and those who cover the Ark before it is taken out for transport would have set their gaze on it, and even then, they’re not really in a position to ask any questions on why the Ark looks like this or that.

The Ark was covered, first with the veil that divides the Holy Place and Holy of Holies, then with tachash (what type of animal this word refers to is uncertain) hide, then finally with a techelet, a cloth of blue wool. This was done very carefully that even the Levites who carry the Ark of the Covenant could not see how it actually looks like.