Meaning of “ark”

1. 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 »T0003559) 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.

2. Arkite — (Gen. 10:17; 1 Chr. 1:15), a designation of certain descendants from the Phoenicians or Sidonians, the inhabitants of Arka, 12 miles north of Tripoli, opposite the northern extremity of Lebanon.

3. Barkos — painter, (Ezra 2:53; Neh. 7:55). The father of some of the Nethinim.

4. Bulwarks — mural towers, bastions, were introduced by king Uzziah (2 Chr. 26:15; Zeph. 1:16; Ps. 48:13; Isa. 26:1). There are five Hebrew words so rendered in the Authorized Version, but the same word is also variously rendered.

5. Darkness — The plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Ex. 10:21) is described as darkness "which may be felt." It covered "all the land of Egypt," so that "they saw not one another." It did not extend to the land of Goshen (ver. 23). When Jesus hung upon the cross (Matt. 27:45; Luke 23:44), from the "sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour." On Mount Sinai, Moses (Ex. 20:21) "drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." This was the "thick cloud upon the mount" in which Jehovah was when he spake unto Moses there. The Lord dwelt in the cloud upon the mercy-seat (1 Kings 8:12), the cloud of glory. When the psalmist (Ps. 97:2) describes the inscrutable nature of God's workings among the sons of men, he says, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." God dwells in thick darkness. Darkness (Isa. 13:9, 10; Matt. 24:29) also is a symbol of the judgments that attend on the coming of the Lord. It is a symbol of misery and adversity (Job 18:6; Ps. 107:10; Isa. 8:22; Ezek. 30:18). The "day of darkness" in Joel 2:2, caused by clouds of locusts, is a symbol of the obscurity which overhangs all divine proceedings. "Works of darkness" are impure actions (Eph. 5:11). "Outer darkness" refers to the darkness of the streets in the East, which are never lighted up by any public or private lamps after nightfall, in contrast with the blaze of cheerful light in the house. It is also a symbol of ignorance (Isa. 9:2; 60:2; Matt. 6:23) and of death (Job 10:21; 17:13).

6. Karkaa — a floor; bottom, a place between Adar and Azmon, about midway between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea (Josh. 15:3).

7. Karkor — foundation, a place in the open desert wastes on the east of Jordan (Judg. 8:10), not far beyond Succoth and Penuel, to the south. Here Gideon overtook and routed a fugitive band of Midianites under Zeba and Zalmunna, whom he took captive.

8. Landmark — a boundary line indicated by a stone, stake, etc. (Deut. 19:14; 27:17; Prov. 22:28; 23:10; Job 24:2). Landmarks could not be removed without incurring the severe displeasure of God.

9. Mark — the evangelist; "John whose surname was Mark" (Acts 12:12, 25). Mark (Marcus, Col. 4:10, etc.) was his Roman name, which gradually came to supersede his Jewish name John. He is called John in Acts 13:5, 13, and Mark in 15:39, 2 Tim. 4:11, etc. He was the son of Mary, a woman apparently of some means and influence, and was probably born in Jerusalem, where his mother resided (Acts 12:12). Of his father we know nothing. He was cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10). It was in his mother's house that Peter found "many gathered together praying" when he was released from prison; and it is probable that it was here that he was converted by Peter, who calls him his "son" (1 Pet. 5:13). It is probable that the "young man" spoken of in Mark 14:51, 52 was Mark himself. He is first mentioned in Acts 12:25. He went with Paul and Barnabas on their first journey (about A.D. 47) as their "minister," but from some cause turned back when they reached Perga in Pamphylia (Acts 12:25; 13:13). Three years afterwards a "sharp contention" arose between Paul and Barnabas (15:36-40), because Paul would not take Mark with him. He, however, was evidently at length reconciled to the apostle, for he was with him in his first imprisonment at Rome (Col. 4:10; Philemon 1:24). At a later period he was with Peter in Babylon (1 Pet. 5:13), then, and for some centuries afterwards, one of the chief seats of Jewish learning; and he was with Timothy in Ephesus when Paul wrote him during his second imprisonment (2 Tim. 4:11). He then disappears from view.

10. Mark, Gospel according to — It is the current and apparently well-founded tradition that Mark derived his information mainly from the discourses of Peter. In his mother's house he would have abundant opportunities of obtaining information from the other apostles and their coadjutors, yet he was "the disciple and interpreter of Peter" specially. As to the time when it was written, the Gospel furnishes us with no definite information. Mark makes no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem, hence it must have been written before that event, and probably about A.D. 63. The place where it was written was probably Rome. Some have supposed Antioch (comp. Mark 15:21 with Acts 11:20). It was intended primarily for Romans. This appears probable when it is considered that it makes no reference to the Jewish law, and that the writer takes care to interpret words which a Gentile would be likely to misunderstand, such as, "Boanerges" (3:17); "Talitha cumi" (5:41); "Corban" (7:11); "Bartimaeus" (10:46); "Abba" (14:36); "Eloi," etc. (15:34). Jewish usages are also explained (7:3; 14:3; 14:12; 15:42). Mark also uses certain Latin words not found in any of the other Gospels, as "speculator" (6:27, rendered, A.V., "executioner;" R.V., "soldier of his guard"), "xestes" (a corruption of sextarius, rendered "pots," 7:4, 8), "quadrans" (12:42, rendered "a farthing"), "centurion" (15:39, 44, 45). He only twice quotes from the Old Testament (1:2; 15:28). The characteristics of this Gospel are, (1) the absence of the genealogy of our Lord, (2) whom he represents as clothed with power, the "lion of the tribe of Judah." (3.) Mark also records with wonderful minuteness the very words (3:17; 5:41; 7:11, 34; 14:36) as well as the position (9:35) and gestures (3:5, 34; 5:32; 9:36; 10:16) of our Lord. (4.) He is also careful to record particulars of person (1:29, 36; 3:6, 22, etc.), number (5:13; 6:7, etc.), place (2:13; 4:1; 7:31, etc.), and time (1:35; 2:1; 4:35, etc.), which the other evangelists omit. (5.) The phrase "and straightway" occurs nearly forty times in this Gospel; while in Luke's Gospel, which is much longer, it is used only seven times, and in John only four times. "The Gospel of Mark," says Westcott, "is essentially a transcript from life. The course and issue of facts are imaged in it with the clearest outline." "In Mark we have no attempt to draw up a continuous narrative. His Gospel is a rapid succession of vivid pictures loosely strung together without much attempt to bind them into a whole or give the events in their natural sequence. This pictorial power is that which specially characterizes this evangelist, so that 'if any one desires to know an evangelical fact, not only in its main features and grand results, but also in its most minute and so to speak more graphic delineation, he must betake himself to Mark.'" The leading principle running through this Gospel may be expressed in the motto: "Jesus came...preaching the gospel of the kingdom" (Mark 1:14). "Out of a total of 662 verses, Mark has 406 in common with Matthew and Luke, 145 with Matthew, 60 with Luke, and at most 51 peculiar to itself." (See MATTHEW »T0002442.)

11. Market-place — any place of public resort, and hence a public place or broad street (Matt. 11:16; 20:3), as well as a forum or market-place proper, where goods were exposed for sale, and where public assemblies and trials were held (Acts 16:19; 17:17). This word occurs in the Old Testament only in Ezek. 27:13. In early times markets were held at the gates of cities, where commodities were exposed for sale (2 Kings 7:18). In large towns the sale of particular articles seems to have been confined to certain streets, as we may infer from such expressions as "the bakers' street" (Jer. 37:21), and from the circumstance that in the time of Josephus the valley between Mounts Zion and Moriah was called the Tyropoeon or the "valley of the cheesemakers."

12. Me-jarkon — waters of yellowness, or clear waters, a river in the tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:46). It has been identified with the river 'Aujeh, which rises at Antipatris.

13. Sheep-market — occurs only in John 5:2 (marg., also R.V., "sheep-gate"). The word so rendered is an adjective, and it is uncertain whether the noun to be supplied should be "gate" or, following the Vulgate Version, "pool."

13 results from Easton's Bible Dictionary

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Bible Search for “ark”

1. Mark Chapter 4 Verse 3 — Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

2. Mark Chapter 7 Verse 14 — And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

3. Mark Chapter 7 Verse 4 — And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.

4. Mark Chapter 12 Verse 38 — And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

5. Mark Chapter 13 Verse 24 — But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

6. Mark Chapter 15 Verse 33 — And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

7. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 2 — And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

8. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 4 — And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

9. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 5 — And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

10. Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 18 — And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

11. Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 17 — And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

12. Genesis Chapter 4 Verse 15 — And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

13. Genesis Chapter 4 Verse 23 — And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

14. Genesis Chapter 6 Verse 14 — Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15. Genesis Chapter 6 Verse 15 — And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16. Genesis Chapter 6 Verse 16 — A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17. Genesis Chapter 6 Verse 18 — But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

18. Genesis Chapter 6 Verse 19 — And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

19. Genesis Chapter 7 Verse 1 — And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

20. Genesis Chapter 7 Verse 7 — And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

21. Genesis Chapter 7 Verse 9 — There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

22. Genesis Chapter 7 Verse 13 — In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

23. Genesis Chapter 7 Verse 15 — And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

24. Genesis Chapter 7 Verse 17 — And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

25. Genesis Chapter 7 Verse 18 — And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

26. Genesis Chapter 7 Verse 23 — And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

27. Genesis Chapter 8 Verse 1 — And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

28. Genesis Chapter 8 Verse 4 — And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

29. Genesis Chapter 8 Verse 6 — And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

30. Genesis Chapter 8 Verse 9 — But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

31. Genesis Chapter 8 Verse 10 — And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

32. Genesis Chapter 8 Verse 13 — And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

33. Genesis Chapter 8 Verse 16 — Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

34. Genesis Chapter 8 Verse 19 — Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

35. Genesis Chapter 9 Verse 10 — And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

36. Genesis Chapter 9 Verse 18 — And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.

37. Genesis Chapter 10 Verse 17 — And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

38. Genesis Chapter 15 Verse 12 — And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

39. Genesis Chapter 15 Verse 17 — And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

40. Genesis Chapter 16 Verse 2 — And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

41. Genesis Chapter 21 Verse 12 — And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

42. Genesis Chapter 23 Verse 15 — My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

43. Genesis Chapter 23 Verse 16 — And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

44. Genesis Chapter 30 Verse 17 — And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.

45. Genesis Chapter 30 Verse 22 — And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

46. Genesis Chapter 34 Verse 17 — But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.

47. Genesis Chapter 34 Verse 24 — And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

48. Genesis Chapter 39 Verse 10 — And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

49. Genesis Chapter 49 Verse 2 — Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

50. Exodus Chapter 2 Verse 3 — And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

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