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This article examines a famous element in the reports on the canonization of the Qurʾānic text under the auspices of Uthman, in which the committee of scribes that were to write the standard text came to a disagreement on how to write the Qurʾānic word for at-tābūt "Ark." After examining the different versions of the report that contain this episode, and concluding that the report of this episode goes back to the common link of Ibn Šihāb al-Zuhrī (d. 124/741–2), it is shown that early on the linguistic details of this disagreement were no longer understood. However, by examining how Aramaic and Classical Ethiopic loanwords that end in stem-final -ūt or -ōt are treated, this report can be understood as referring to two competing adaptations of this foreign word into Arabic. On the one hand at-tābūt, the form that ends up in the standard text, and on the other hand at-tābāh (or more precisely: at-tābōh), which shows a similar strategy of adaptation as several other central loanwords in the Qurʾān such as aṣ-ṣalāh "prayer" and az-zakāh "alms." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines one of the most fascinating dynamics within the foundation story of Ethiopia's Royal Solomonic Dynasty, the Kebra Nagast (Glory of Kings), the metaphor that connects Mother Mary with the biblical Ark of the Covenant. Throughout the Kebra Nagast, it is written that just as the Ark served as the vehicle by which the Ten Commandments of the Law were given unto humanity, so too would Mary serve as the perfected and purified vehicle for Christ. The prominence of women such as Mary and Queen Makeda (the Queen of Sheba) in the theology and polity of Ethiopia is indicative of African traditions that have been described as matriarchal, matrilineal, dual-sex and matrifocal. These traditions explain the prominence of Mary and Makeda within Ethiopian Orthodox traditions, as an African matrifocality reaching from the Old to the New Testaments, with Queen Makeda serving as a prefiguration of Mother Mary. This matrifocality is informed by pre-Axumite archeological finds of female statues in northern Ethiopia, and the historical reigns of Egyptian Queen Mother Tiye, and the Lady Pharaoh Hatshepsut. This represents a retention of women-centered African values within Ethiopian Orthodox traditions. Values once prominent and shared throughout the Nile Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The story of the return of the Ark of the Covenant in I Samuel 6 is one with many different events and changes in the storyline. A lot happens at the same time and that is maybe the reason why some information is often overlooked. When the Ark returns to Israel—after a long stay in hostile territory—the people from Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat, so verse 13 states. This remark is usually neglected or taken as a simple statement of time. There is however much more that can be said about the mentioning of the harvest. In this article we will therefore explore seven "lines of associations" that are connected with "harvest" and "wheat." We will give an overview of this set of meanings which will lead us "outside" the story. By subsequently bringing these associations back into the story, our interpretation of the meaning of the Ark of YHWH returning to its homeland becomes more deepened and profound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Goya is the property of Fundacion Lazaro Galdiano and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study takes issue with the accepted view (cf. Vikipedija) that the Chapel of St. Casimir in the Cathedral of Vilnius (1623–1636) resembles the Pauline and the Sistine Chapels in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. A closer look and comparison of the dimensions, geometry, materials, and internal décor, however, reveals significant differences. The defining architectural features of the Chapel of St. Casimir do not derive from these Baroque chapels but from multiple Biblical and Early Christian sources. (This study focused on the Chapel’s interior features that survived the 1655–1661 occupation of Vilnius.) Its cubic core recalls the twenty-cubit amplitude of the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. The black marble walls (noir de Namur) allude to the blackening acacia wood of the Ark of the Covenant holding the Ten Commandment stone tablets that Moses received from the Lord on Mt. Sinai. The ox-blood colored pilasters (vieux rouge de Rance) recall the porphyry columns of the Aedicule that sheltered the Tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem. The Chapel’s reduced Greek cross plan derives from Vitruvius and recalls Early Christian mausoleums. The Ionic column capitals in the Chapel duplicate the ones in the entrance portals of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and in the Confessio above the tomb of St. Peter the Apostle in the Roman necropolis underneath the Basilica. The Council of Trent upheld Early Christian customs, precedents, and traditions. Materializing the Council’s values, the Chapel became a landmark of the Counter-Reformation. The study at hand relied heavily on the indispensable archival documents gleaned by Povilas Reklaitis, Paulius Rabikauskas, SJ, Zenonas Ivinskis, Mintautas Čiurinskas, Birutė Rūta Vitkauskienė, and Piotr Jacek Jamski.

Copyright of Tasavvur: Tekirdag Theology Journal / Tekirdag Ilahiyat Dergisi is the property of Namik Kemal University, Faculty of Theology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The inspiration, name, content, and fate of the Ark of the Covenant, which God had Moses build with the Sinai Revelation, has been the subject of many studies. Since this issue has been mentioned in the Qur’an, it has also become the agenda of Muslims. Due to its extraordinary powers, there have been different narrations about the Ark in various religious traditions. One of them is the Abyssinian tradition. This tradition, separated from mainstream Judaism and Christianity, draws the mystery of the sacred object to these lands by using its original name. Thus, the present study discussed how the Ark of the Covenant was called the Tabot, and analyzes the process of it being brought to the Abyssinian lands and its adventure to reach the present day were tried to be analyzed. In addition, it has been reported that in the Abyssinian culture, the Tabot was renewed and even differentiated according to Christian motifs. In fact, the altar tablet used in the surrounding churches gained a new form by taking the features of the Ark in the Abyssinian tradition. Beyond that, the identification of the Tabot with Mary in Abyssinian culture has gained a new dimension in terms of the Ark being the so-called residence of God. Therefore, the Abyssinian tradition stands out, based on its attributes to the Tabot and its replicas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The town of Kiriath-jearim, identified at Deir el-'Azar above the village of Abu-Ghosh, has come to scholarly attention recently, due to the renewed excavations led by Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Römer. Based on their preliminary finds and on their reading of the biblical texts, they have interpreted the Iron Age II B-C fortified compound that they have begun to expose on the summit of the site as a northern Israelite fortified compound, "aimed at dominating the vassal kingdom of Judah". This paper reexamines the position of Kiriath-jearim on the border between Judah and Benjamin according to both the biblical texts and the site's geographical location, within the context of the ongoing discussions on the biblical tribal territories, that of Benjamin in particular, the "ark narrative" and other texts that mention Kiriath-jearim, and challenges the excavators' interpretation of the character and purpose of the site during the Iron Age II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The similarities between Noah’s ark and the saving boat in Mesopotamian flood accounts are widely known. Likewise known are the links between Noah’s ark and the chest of Moses (Exod 2:3). However, the connections between the “chest” of Noah and the “chest” of the testimony have not hitherto drawn adequate scholarly attention. The article explores these connections on both the linguistic and the conceptual level. Moreover, it investigates their function in hypertextual links of the Genesis flood account to earlier Israelite literary works, especially the book of Deuteronomy and the book of Joshua.

The similarities between Noah’s ark and the saving boat in Mesopotamian flood accounts are widely known. Likewise known are the links between Noah’s ark and the chest of Moses (Exod 2:3). However, the connections between the “chest” of Noah and the “chest” of the testimony have not hitherto drawn adequate scholarly attention. The article explores these connections on both the linguistic and the conceptual level. Moreover, it investigates their function in hypertextual links of the Genesis flood account to earlier Israelite literary works, especially the book of Deuteronomy and the book of Joshua. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses an episode of open antagonism and violence that erupted between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Gondar Ethiopia in 2009. In Gondar, a perceived symbolic attack on the Ark, a holy object with the qualities of the Ark of the Covenant, created an intersubjectively legible and affectively resonant impetus for escalating action. Conventions of Muslim–Christian coexistence appeared to be overturned, resulting in an alternative social (dis)order of open antagonism. I argue that a focus on values, in many cases, can sharpen our understanding of how quantitative change transforms into qualitative change, because such a focus trains our attention on continuous, and changing, fields of affective and conceptual import that frame collective action. Not that values determine action, or that escalations are predictable, but that novel articulations between different values that create new imaginative horizons of action that change the grounds of change. In such periods of escalation, novel courses of action can be framed within, and justified by, conservative value structures. The value relevance of some escalations enables these events to have a lasting, transformative impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mary as anti-type of the ark of the Covenant in Luke 1:39–56: A challenge to Protestant reconsideration of Mariology. In this article, an attempt is made to indicate, that a typological reading of Luke 1:39–56 suggests that Mary should be understood as an anti-type of the Ark of the Covenant by the reader. It accordingly forces Protestants to reconsider the Mariology. After considering the historical and theological significance of the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament canon, the phenomenon of typology and the role of the reader, as well as text interpretation in Judaism and early Christianity, came under scrutiny. A look at the Protoevangelium of James followed and confirmed the possibility of a different reading of Mary in Luke. Luke 1:39–56 was then examined. By way of this examination, it is indicated that when Luke 1:39–56 is read in conjunction with 2 Samuel 6:1–13, 1 Chronicles 15:28, 16:4 and 2 Chronicles 5:13, Mary clearly emerges from the paint as an anti-type of the Ark of the Covenant. This conclusion, which is also visible in some fathers of the church, is then tested against the eschatology found in the New Testament. Finally, the implications of this insight and the challenge it poses to the relationship between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism are highlighted.

The article presents the latest arrangements regarding the identification of the monumental platform on the Kiriath-jearim hill near Jerusalem, based primarily on the analysis of archaeological data collected during the excavations in the 2017 season and the guidelines contained in the Bible. The results of the research suggest that this monumental structure was erected by Jeroboam II, the ruler of the Northern Kingdom, and most likely constituted a kind of fortress, which allowed Israel to control Jerusalem belonged to Judah. Presumably within this fortress the sanctuary of the Ark of the Covenant was there. The Ark was moved from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem not by David, but much later, at the initiative of king Josiah, as part of his policy of worship centralization. Archaeological research also seems to confirm that this place can be identified with the biblical Emmaus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mary as anti-type of the ark of the Covenant in Luke 1:39–56: A challenge to Protestant reconsideration of Mariology. In this article, an attempt is made to indicate, that a typological reading of Luke 1:39–56 suggests that Mary should be understood as an anti-type of the Ark of the Covenant by the reader. It accordingly forces Protestants to reconsider the Mariology. After considering the historical and theological significance of the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament canon, the phenomenon of typology and the role of the reader, as well as text interpretation in Judaism and early Christianity, came under scrutiny. A look at the Protoevangelium of James followed and confirmed the possibility of a different reading of Mary in Luke. Luke 1:39–56 was then examined. By way of this examination, it is indicated that when Luke 1:39–56 is read in conjunction with 2 Samuel 6:1–13, 1 Chronicles 15:28, 16:4 and 2 Chronicles 5:13, Mary clearly emerges from the paint as an anti-type of the Ark of the Covenant. This conclusion, which is also visible in some fathers of the church, is then tested against the eschatology found in the New Testament. Finally, the implications of this insight and the challenge it poses to the relationship between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of the Academic Studies of Turkish-Islamic Civilization / Türk Islam Medeniyeti Akademik Arastirmalar Dergisi (Timad) is the property of Necmettin Erbakan University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article seeks to determine the significance of Yhwh Tsevaot in Samuel. Existing studies mostly focus on the semantics and syntax; fewer have taken a contextually sensitive approach. Why does the title appear for the first time in this book? The article first examines two views that do seek contextual meaning. One is actually diachronic--historical origin based on the text's mention of Shiloh. Delineating the limits of 1 Samuel 1 assists in assessing this view. The other view is by Firth--the title as the marker of transition. The article develops Firth's method, plotting all uses of the term within the book's metanarrative. The proposal is that Yhwh Tsevaot marks the transformation of the religious and political landscape of Israel, so that all is unified around the Davidic king. The article also considers the use of divine titles across Genesis-Judges, to determine that the introduction of a new title in Samuel, with the use of the "name" terminology, is indicative of redemptive historical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ark of the covenant was central to the plan of the Jerusalem Temple and the wilderness tabernacle before it, as the vessel was located in the structures' holiest, innermost domain. Despite its importance, the ark of the covenant was invisible to virtually all Israelites. 1 Even while the ark was being assembled, disassembled, and transported in the wilderness, the Levitical Kohathites were instructed to shield it from view, including their own (Num 4:5–20). One of the chief obligations of Aaron and his descendants was to deny access to anyone else, including the Levites, to the Holy of Holies, which housed the ark alone, or risk death (Num 18:1–7, 22–23). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hymn found in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36 contains portions of Psalms 105:1-15; 96:1--13; and 106:47-48. Since the hymn occurs in a context which focuses upon placing the Ark of the Covenant on Mt. Zion, it is noteworthy that the verses from Pss. 105 and 106 say nothing about the Exodus, since the other verses of these two Pss. are heavy in the Exodus tradition, the primary location of the Ark narrative in the Pentateuch. Is it possible that these Pss. were known only in part or that portions were known to other writers? This article focuses on the similarities that exist between Ps. 105:16-45 and the Wisdom of Solomon. While the similarities do not prove that Ps. 105 directly influenced Pseudo-Solomon's work, they are provoking enough to lead to that possible conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article interprets the story of the outbreak of God against Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6 as an act of "divine violence," a concept described by Slavoj Žižek in his book Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. In previous interpretations of 2 Samuel 6, the violence against Uzzah has been understood either as a punishment for a transgression, or as a capricious act of God's power. Slavoj Žižek describes "divine violence" as violence, which is not a means to an end, and which irrupts from a position of vulnerability and impotence. By looking at the details of the Masoretic Text of 2 Samuel 6, it will be argued that the violence of God in this story should also be interpreted as divine violence: it lacks meaning as a punishment for transgression, and it stems from the vulnerability of God's presence in the ark rather than from God's transcendent power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Goya is the property of Fundacion Lazaro Galdiano and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Review

The ark, the primary cult object in the Hebrew Bible, is described in detail in the Priestly tabernacle pericopes of the Pentateuch. In these texts, a difficult contradiction arises with regard to its בדים, which are universally understood as carrying poles. The commands for the construction of the ark (Exod 25:10-16) specify that the ark's carrying poles are to stay in its rings and never to part from it בטבעת הארן ויהיו הבדים לא יסרו ממנו) , v. 15). In the instructions regarding the packing up of the tabernacle (Num 4), however, we read that, in the course of preparing the ark for transport, its carrying poles are to be put in by Aaron and his sons ( ושמו בדיו, v. 6). If the ark's poles are always "in," how can they be "put in"? This problem has received a great deal of attention from medieval exegetes and modern scholars. In this article, I review previous proposed solutions and offer a new solution based on material evidence from the ancient Near East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karl Barth, the most important theologian of the 20th century gives the following metaphor on the relationship between grace and law: for the People of the Covenant the place of the Tables of the Law was the Ark of the Covenant; the covenant embraces the law, precedes, and follows it. The hutch of the covenant of grace, nevertheless, is not empty; it holds the law of this covenant codified by God. The curse of the law is thus the misunderstood law and the misunderstood - and self-overestimated - men, while the strength, joy and freedom required for the fulfilment of the law cannot come from anywhere else, but from the Holy Spirit as the gracious gift of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Owen and Patrick Gillespie made profound contributions to the Reformed understanding of the "Covenant of Redemption", or pactum(salutis. Owen discusses it in at least sixteen of his works from 1645 onwards. Gillespie's work, The Ark of the Covenant Opened, 1677, has been described as "the most elaborate work in the English language" on the subject. The importance of the doctrine, in Owen's view, is apparent in the Preface that he wrote to Gillespie's work. He says "the truth herein is the very centre wherein all the lines concerning the grace of God and our own duty do meet, wherein the whole of religion doth consist." Both authors regard the doctrine as the intra6Trinitarian foundation of the Covenant of Grace apart from which no man is saved. Both explain that God's salvation plan was the result of the eternal counsels of the persons of the Trinity, such counsels having the features of a covenant and including Christ's distinct personal concurrence. Other theologians have rejected the notion of an intra-Trinitarian covenant, on the basis that it contradicts the undisputed truth that God has one indivisible will, and have sought instead to explain the plan of salvation simply in terms of divine decree. Yet Owen and Gillespie regard the "pure decree" explanation as an inadequate account of the Scriptural data – and hence an inadequate account of the whole foundation of God's covenantal dealings with his people which underpin the whole of theology. In their view, the Covenant of Redemption provides a more compelling and faithful account, and does so without dividing the indivisible Trinity. This essay explores the alignment of their thinking on this vital issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]