Hebrews 9:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

You will ask how it is written in Kings that nothing was in the ark except the tablets, while the Apostle now asserts that the golden vessel and Aaron's rod were also placed in it.

Since he had been most excellently educated by Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) in Judaism, he probably drew this from tradition. Even now the Pharisaizing Hebrews agree that this was so.

Yet they say this was not from the beginning. Rather, in the time of Jeremiah, when it was necessary to hide the ark, these things too were probably placed in the ark.

The tablets of the covenant in the ark signify everything in Christ: the knowledge of the hidden Father and the power of judicial decrees.

For on the tablets was inscribed faith in the eternal Divinity of Him who made the world and governed it. Through their giving, service to God is raised into law, and judgmental division is made.

According to this division, He rightly condemns those who hate Him, and in mercy worthily rewards those who are zealous for Him.

Such is the testimony which the Lord gave Moses to place in the ark. For us it signified the confession of Christ, the truth of flesh, soul, and Word.

It also revealed the flesh itself, glorified by resurrection after the suffering of death, and exalted by the eternal dignity of King and High Priest.

For He taught that He alone is initiated into the mysteries of the Father, and that He truly is, with the Father of majesty, the Judge of all ages.

One may also see in the image of the ark a type of the holy Church. It is built of incorruptible trees, that is, of the souls of the saints.

In faith in the holy Gospel, which has spread to the four ends of the world, it awaits for itself from God the eternal crown of life, cf. Jas 1:12.

It contains the tablets of the covenant in continual meditation on the law of God. The golden vessel with manna contains faith in the Incarnation of the Lord.

Aaron's rod blossomed through its participation in the Lord's kingdom and priesthood. The Apostle Peter says of this: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood" (1 Pet 2:9).

That is, it has received and possesses heavenly mercy. The Apostle mentions this so that they may remember this good and the grace of God so generously poured out upon them.

It also has above itself the cherubim of glory and angelic guardianship, by which it is upheld through the mercy of God.

For its defense there is mercy, or the covenants. Through them both the rules of life and the proper ways of asking for help in living rightly are established by divine mercy.

As the cherubim of glory are raised above it by mercy, so the city of Christ, that is, the holy Church, is founded and upheld upon the rock, that is, upon Christ Himself, cf. Heb 12:22.

This is said because His city cannot be higher than He is. Nor can that city grow except by His help and support.

The cherub is raised above the ark by mercy, because both the services of the angels and the word of God more surely assist the Church. They themselves serve as its support in the foundation of the highest truth.

Holy Scripture says nothing about such a censer. Therefore some think that the Apostle erred in indicating the actual place of the altar of incense. They suppose he placed it, not before the second veil, but behind it, before the ark itself.

To explain such an inaccuracy, some suspect that the original text was corrupted by copyists. They think the word θυμιατήριον should be referred to verse 2, where the objects placed in the first part of the tabernacle are enumerated.

Others change the sense of the expression "having the golden censer" into another sense: "to it belonged the golden censer." They add that, by its great significance, the altar of incense took the place of the mercy seat itself.

Still others conjecture that, in the second temple at Jerusalem, because there was no ark of the covenant, a table stood in the Holy of Holies in the form of an altar of incense.

On it the incense was offered on the Day of Atonement, when the high priest was permitted to enter beyond the second veil.

All these explanations are unsatisfactory. Therefore interpreters settle on the opinion of D. Calmet, Commentary on the Bible, Hebrews IX, 4, that the ordinary censer is meant here.

The high priest entered the Holy of Holies with this censer on the Day of Atonement and offered incense with it before the ark of the covenant.

"And he shall take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of finely compounded incense, and bring it within the veil.

"And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of incense shall cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, lest the high priest die" (Lev 16:12-13).

In all likelihood, this golden censer was preserved in the Holy of Holies and used only on the Day of Atonement. It is this that the Apostle mentioned here, calling it θυμιατήριον, a censer, to distinguish it from the altar of incense.

According to the description of the Apostle Paul, in the ark of the covenant were kept "the golden jar having the manna, Aaron's rod that had budded, and the tablets of the covenant."

Meanwhile, according to 3 Kingdoms 8:9, there was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets.

This disagreement is explained either by saying that, when the ark was brought into Solomon's temple, only the tablets remained in the ark. The other objects had already been lost or set apart for preservation elsewhere.

Or it may be that these objects were not placed in the ark itself, but in a special chest beside the ark. For this reason the writer of Kings did not mention them.

That these objects were actually in the ark or beside the ark is confirmed by the testimony of Ex 16:33 and Num 17:10. See the parallel passages.

It also had a place for the performance of worship. This place was established by divine command, but had only a temporary purpose, for man's earthly life, τό τε άγιον κοσμικόν.

The Apostle wishes to speak only about Old Testament worship and to compare it with the high-priestly ministry of Jesus Christ in heaven.

But to make this comparison clearer, he first recalls to his readers the arrangement of the very place of Old Testament worship.

First Moses prepared for divine worship, κατεσκευασθη, the first, that is, the front part of the tabernacle, or the Holy Place, άγια. It was furnished with the lampstand and the table with the showbread.

Behind this part came the Holy of Holies, separated from the first by a veil. Among the furnishings of the Holy of Holies, besides the ark of the covenant and the objects contained in it, the Apostle includes the golden altar of incense.

Why does the Apostle do this, when everyone knew that the altar of incense stood in the sanctuary? This can be explained by considering what is said in the law about this altar.

Moses had to place the altar of incense before the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the sanctuary, before the ark of testimony (Ex 40:3, 4, 5).

This, of course, showed that the altar of incense had the closest relation to the ark of the covenant. For this reason, probably, in 3 Kingdoms 6:22 it is called the altar belonging to the Holy of Holies.

It belonged to the Holy of Holies, before whose entrance it stood, just as the altar of burnt offering properly belonged to the tabernacle itself, though it stood before it in the court.

Indeed, when the priests burned incense on the altar of incense, together with the fragrance of incense they raised their prayers for the people to God.

He dwelt among the Cherubim of Glory above the ark of the covenant, in the Holy of Holies.

Since the Apostle intended to describe, not the tabernacle, but the worship performed in it and the meaning of its liturgical actions, he assigned the altar of incense to the furnishings of the Holy of Holies.

This was because, by the essence of the action performed upon it, the altar belonged to the Holy of Holies.

Then, following the rabbinic and Talmudic interpretation, the Apostle says that in the ark of the covenant were the vessel with manna and Aaron's rod that had sprouted.

Finally, after mentioning the cherubim of glory, that is, the representatives of divine majesty, the Apostle sees no need to speak of all the tabernacle's furnishings one by one.

They overshadowed with their wings and hid from the high priest's eyes the mercy seat, or lid of the ark. Toward it the high priest had to sprinkle blood.

Thus the Apostle does not separately explain the typical meaning of the listed objects.