<\/p>
The NASB translates 1 Kings 8:9 as follows: \u201cThere was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.\u201d The Hebrew, however, does not use the word BERIT (covenant). A literal translation of the middle section of the verse would be: \u201cthe two tablets of stone which Moses caused to rest there in Horeb, which Yahweh cut with the sons of Israel.\u201d Let me call attention to three details: <\/p>\n
1) The word translated as \u201cplace\u201d is the hifil of \u201cNoach,\u201d the word behind the name of Noah, and a word used several times in the Solomon narratives. Yahweh gives rest to Israel (5:4), and Solomon caused the bronze items to rest in the temple (7:47; see the earlier post on Solomon as creator). The ark-throne is the place of Yahweh\u2019s rest, and also the place where the tablets of the Torah rest. <\/p>\n
2) The word \u201ctablet\u201d is used in 7:36 to describe some feature of the bronze water chariots that were made for the temple. It is the same word used throughout the Hebrew Bible for the tablets of the 10 words. The water chariots are not only taking life-giving water to the world, but life-giving word. Not surprisingly, they are decorated with cherubim, just as the ark is. Solomon\u2019s water chariots symbolize the law that will someday flow from Zion to the nations (Is 2). <\/p>\n
3) As noted above, the word \u201ccovenant\u201d does not appear in the Hebrew text. Instead, the verb \u201ccut\u201d (KARAT), often associated with the making of covenants, is used in connection with the stone tablets. (This is not the word used in Exodus to describe God \u201cinscribing\u201d the Ten Words on the tablets.) The tablets, not the covenant, is \u201ccut\u201d in this passage, but the cutting of stones is the cutting of a covenant. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The NASB translates 1 Kings 8:9 as follows: \u201cThere was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.\u201d The Hebrew, however, does not use the word BERIT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-ot-kings"],"yoast_head":"\n