I am Kyle's self-indulgence

I remember a conversation I had when I was a kid about attempts to find the Ark of the Old Testament. It was something I didn’t really know anything about, but I wanted to impress the friend I was talking to, so I did my best to pretend at knowledge of the subject. Before long, though, it occurred to me that we were talking about two very different things: I was imagining Noah’s Ark, the enormous seagoing vessel that carried two of every animal during the flood; while he was talking about the Ark of the Covenant, that sacred box that carries the ten commandments and melts Nazis’ faces off. This was actually the first time I had heard of the latter, and I remember experiencing some initial confusion over two such different artifacts both being called arks. Over time, though, I just accepted this as the way it is and thought nothing more of it.

Sometime in the last couple of years I began reading Everett Fox’s translation of The Five Books of Moses, with his explanatory notes. I learned that “ark” is actually a Latinate word meaning box, and is used as the English term for several boxy objects in the Old Testament.

The first, of course, is Noah’s Ark. I was a little surprised to learn that the Hebrew word used for it is derived from teb, meaning chest. A far cry from the sturdy seagoing vessel depicted in most artists’ renderings, Noah’s Ark in the Genesis account is a big floating box.

What’s even more interesting is that the same Hebrew word used for Noah’s Ark is repeated in Exodus when describing the vessel the infant Moses is placed in when he is sent adrift down the Nile river. This is a deliberate echo of the flood account, and the parallels are obvious: in both instances an ark spares its inhabitant(s) from certain destruction. Given the clear connection between the stories, it’s a shame that most modern English translations have Moses’ mother placing him in a basket, thus losing the linguistic connection, although the King James version does translate it as an “ark of bulrushes.”

Then there is the third ark, the Ark of the Covenant. This time it is a sacred object that houses a number of holy artifacts and, more significantly, represents the very presence of God. It is the object that is at the center of tabernacle worship. It is carried with the Israelites into battle as a sign that God is with them.

The Ark of the Covenant is obviously quite different both functionally and lexically (the Hebrew word used is aron, rather than teb), but I think it’s interesting that it’s translated “Ark” all the same, especially since I know of a fourth ark that resonates with all of the three mentioned.

I am talking about the manger of Jesus.

Now, I must admit that etymologically I have no grounds for linking this with the arks previously mentioned. The New Testament is written in Greek, whereas the others are from the Hebrew scriptures. But semantically I would argue that the manger, a feeding trough, is a kind of box, and can reasonably be called an ark.

I also think that the story of Jesus very clearly echoes that of Moses: both babies were prophesied to be saviors of their people; in both stories a powerful king calls for the death of all children under a certain age, in reaction to that prophecy; and both infant saviors are narrowly spared by their parents secreting them away to a safe location.

Speaking more broadly, the manger of Jesus is like Noah’s Ark in that it is a box or vessel through which God has chosen to save the world.

And finally, like the Ark of the Covenant, the manger holds a sacred treasure. It holds the very presence of God.