# Old Testament Scholars? The Ark... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-testament-scholars-the-ark/660429 "2013-06-07T22:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-testament-scholars-the-ark/660429/1 "2013-06-07T22:58:22Z")
There’s [The Ark.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ark_of_the_Covenant) Then, there’s [The Ark.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah%27s_Ark) And, [there are Arks](http://c0486722.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/Rodeph-Shalom-Synagogue-architecture-philadelphia-1-600.jpg). ( this last one is on the Bima at [Congregation Rodeph Shalom on North Broad Street in Philadelphia](http://www.rodephshalom.org/our_history/)- the first Ashkenazic congregation in the Western Hemisphere ). Makes a fellah wonder. Does Ark mean the same thing now, and did it 5,000 years ago? Did it have a specific meaning in one part of Genesis opposed to another? Was it written the same way? I the layman see it as (roughly ) meaning Vessel of Life. The Torah is regarded as the word of G-D, no? Noah’s vessel, an Ark, was the protectorate of all life not scoured from the earth. The modern day Ark found in a temple houses the Torah. The original Ark housed the Ten Commandments. Are these intended to be regarded as the same idea if not physical item? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-testament-scholars-the-ark/660429/2 "2013-06-08T00:34:58Z")
Well, the “Ark” seen in modern synagogues is fairly obviously named after, and symbolically replicates, the “Ark of the Covenant”. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-testament-scholars-the-ark/660429/3 "2013-06-08T00:53:12Z")
The two uses of ark share a [derivation](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=ark&searchmode=none), if that’s what you’re asking. > [@](#): > > ark (n.) > Old English earc, mainly meaning Noah’s but also the Ark of the Covenant, from Latin arca “large box, chest” (see arcane). Also borrowed in Old High German (arahha, Modern German Arche). From the Noachian sense comes extended meaning “place of refuge” (17c.). As the name of a type of ship or boat, from late 15c. In 19c. U.S., especially a large, flat-bottomed river boat to move produce, livestock, etc. to market. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-testament-scholars-the-ark/660429/4 "2013-06-08T01:39:39Z")
It is. I was hoping for an older derivation / meaning. But this is very interesting ! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-testament-scholars-the-ark/660429/5 "2013-06-08T03:22:11Z")
[Ancient thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=212519), almost as old as the Ark(s). ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-testament-scholars-the-ark/660429/6 "2013-06-08T04:16:50Z")
Ooooooooooooh. Kewl. Not sure if I get demerits for not searching first on this one ! I don’t remember it, but it’s a decade dead Zombie !! Thanks ! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-testament-scholars-the-ark/660429/7 "2013-06-08T11:52:10Z")
Re the origins of the English word, let me point out the name used sequentially by several (English/British) Royal Navy vessels, most notably the WWII aircraft carrier: the Ark Royal.