1 Kings 8:9

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, ^[a] where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

1 Kings 8:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:9

There was nothing in the ark, save the two tables of stone
which Moses put there at Horeb
That is, there were no other writings; or, as Ben Gersom says, no other part of the law, but the decalogue otherwise he observes there were in it Aaron's rod and the pot of manna, according to ( Hebrews 9:4 ) though the particle there may be rendered "at", or "with", or "by", (See Gill on Hebrews 9:4) and so they might be not within it, but in some place on the sides of it, see ( Deuteronomy 31:26 ) ,

when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they
came out of the land of Egypt;
about two months after.

1 Kings 8:9 In-Context

7 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles.

8 The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone 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 the land of Egypt.

10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD

11 so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, Mount Sinai, or possibly a mountain in the range containing Mount Sinai