Bible Strands
Hebrews 9:4
containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author addresses readers familiar with Jewish sanctuary practices while describing the interior of the Most Holy Place behind the second curtain. He catalogs the sacred objects arranged within this restricted chamber.
The words — κιβωτὸν (kibōton) translates literally as "ark," and διαθήκης (diathēkēs) means "covenant," naming the gold-covered container that held the covenant's physical records.
The thread — The ark's placement behind a veil and its role in the tabernacle's layout are established in Exodus 26:33 and Exodus 40:3. The preserved staff mentioned in the inventory is cross-referenced in Numbers 17:10.
Why it lands — The text provides a precise inventory of the ark's contents and the adjacent altar without commentary. It requires the reader to acknowledge the specific physical items designated for the innermost sanctuary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
Cross-references
- Numbers 17:10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”
- Exodus 26:33 And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
- Exodus 40:3 Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.
- Leviticus 16:12 Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.
- 2 Chronicles 5:10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt.
- Exodus 16:32 Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
- Exodus 34:29 And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.
- Exodus 40:20 Moses took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark; and he set the mercy seat atop the ark.
- Numbers 17:5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”
- Numbers 17:8 The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.