Q. The author of Hebrews, speaking of the ark of the covenant, says, “in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.” However, when they brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem and finally to the temple, in 1 Kings 8:9 we read, “There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there.” Everything regarding the tabernacle is so exacting (holy) that this difference seems curious.
If we read through the biblical narrative, we find that the statement that needs to be explained is the one in Hebrews rather than the one in 1 Kings. We read in Exodus, about the jar of manna, “As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept.” In other words, the jar was placed in front of the ark, not inside it. Similarly, we read in Numbers that God told Moses to put Aaron’s rod that budded “before the testimony, to be kept as a sign.” Once again, in front of the ark, not inside it.
So why does the author of Hebrews say that these things were “in” the ark? We have to be careful about how we understand prepositions in texts translated from other languages. It’s been observed that the last thing a person typically learns who is acquiring a new language is how that language uses prepositions. There are subtle differences in the use of the “same” prepositions between languages. The Greek preposition ἐν, which the author of Hebrews uses when speaking about the ark, can mean in, on, at, by, among, or with. For example, in Matthew 3:9, some versions translate it “do not say within yourselves,” while other versions translate it “do not say among yourselves.” 1 Corinthians 9:15, which also uses the preposition ἐν, translated very literally, says, “And I am not writing these things in order that it may be thus with me.” We need to see this range of meaning in that preposition, and understand its specific meaning from the context.
In the context of Hebrews 9:4, the rest of the biblical narrative enables us to understand that the writer is using it to mean that the things described were in and around the ark. That is consistent with the preposition’s range of meaning and with the details of the tabernacle as we learn them from the biblical narrative.
Good Question 