Date of Award

6-1-1959

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div)

First Advisor

Walter Roehrs

Scripture References in this Resource (separated by semi-colons)

1 Corinthians 13:6; 2 Samuel 6:2; Exodus 25:10; Exodus 25:14-16, 21; 1 Samuel 4:4; Jeremiah 3:16; Genesis 50:26; Genesis 35:8, 19; Genesis 37:12; Joshua 24:29ff; 1 Samuel 10:2; Jeremiah 31:15; Exodus 13:19; 1 Samuel 14:18; 1 Samuel 30:7; 1 Samuel 23:9; 1 Samuel 14:18; Judges 8:27; 1 Samuel 5:2; 2 Samuel 6:17; 1 Corinthians 16:1; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Judges 17:5; 1 Samuel 3:3; 1 Samuel 4:3f; 2 Samuel 6:2; 1 Kings 2:26; 2 Samuel 11:11; 2 Samuel 15:24ff; Judges 20:27; 2 Samuel 11:1; 1 Samuel 15:23;

Abstract

The problem under investigation is not a single problem, but multiple. It deals with the terminology connected with the Ark of the Covenant. There are some important technical terms that are either directly or indirectly connected with the Ark. During the course of Old Testament research in the last century these terms and the Ark itself have, for various reasons, acquired a great many connotations. The Ark has been explained as a fetish-box that contained a meteorite or a piece of stone from Mount Sinai, as a divine throne, as a container for sacred divination-stones, as a shrine of the Babylonian cult of Tammuz, as an empty bark for the deity, similar to those of Egypt, as a support for one or two steer-images, and as a battle-standard. The purpose of this paper is to set forth some of these terms and to investigate the connotations that research has given them. The questions that are to be especially discussed involve the name, purpose, and appearance of the Ark, the significance of the tables of the Law that it contained, the possibility of considering the Ark as a throne of Jahweh, and the importance and significance of the Cherubim atop the Ark. The problem is somewhat complicated by the fact that the various titles of the Ark are placed together in many combinations without apparent reason (e.g., 1 Chronicles 13:6; 2 Samuel 6:2). In addition to the titles of the Ark, allusions to it are also involved in the problem, such as in the Psalms of Ascent.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS