What Rests Alongside the Ark and Inside it? God's Name of Four Letters and All the Subsidiary Names

 

            In the previous shiur, we dealt with the items that were deposited in the ark or rested alongside it. In several places in the Talmud, it is mentioned that God's name and all the subsidiary names were also placed in the ark. What does this mean? In this shiur, we will try to clarify this point in light of the various talmudic passages dealing with it.

 

The ark went out together with the people of Israel to Battle

 

            The mishna in tractate Sota records the words of the High Priest anointed for war who addressed the nation in Hebrew before Israel went out to war. Among other things, he said as follows:

 

Let not your heart faint; fear not nor tremble… For the Lord your God is He that goes with you to fight for you. They come relying upon the might of flesh and blood, but you come relying upon the might of the Omnipresent. The Pelishtim came relying upon the might of Golyat, but what was his fate? In the end, he fell by the sword and they fell with him. The Amonites came relying upon the might of Shovach, but what was his fate? In the end he fell by the sword and they fell with him. But with you it is different, "for the Lord your God goes with you to fight for you" – this alludes to the camp of the ark. (Sota 42a)

 

            These words of the High Priest anointed for war are intended to strengthen the people of Israel as they go out to battle and to inform them they have nothing to fear, as the Shekhina is with them and will fight with them against their enemies. The Ramban explains further:

 

He admonishes them that they should not let their hearts faint and that they should not fear the enemy. And he says that they should not rely on their own strength, thinking in their hearts that they are warriors and men of war. Rather, they should turn their hearts to God and rely on His salvation, and contemplate that He delights not in the strength of the horse, nor does He take pleasure in the legs of man. Rather, He takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love (Tehilim 147:10-11). (Ramban, Devarim 20:4)

 

            The priest tells the people that unlike the Pelishtim and the Amonites, God – the camp of the ark – goes out with the people of Israel to fight for them, and if they rely on the strength of God, they will certainly emerge victorious.

 

The “camp of the ark” is the ark and all that it contains and upon which the Shekhina rests. The gemara adduces proof from Israel's war against Midyan that the ark goes out with Israel to battle. What is the significance of the fact that God goes out with Israel to battle? The gemara in tractate Sota explains:

 

Why all this? Because God's name and all the subsidiary names were deposited in the ark. (Sota 42b)

 

God's name and all the subsidiary names

 

            It would seem that the "name" refers to God's name of four letters which is written but not pronounced (apart from specific occasions during the Temple service), and the "subsidiary names" are the seventy holy names of God.

 

            What are these subsidiary names? Rabbeinu Gershom (Bava Batra 14a) explains that seventy holy names are hinted at in three verses in Parashat Beshalach:

 

And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these, so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. (Shemot 14:19-21)

 

            The Ibn Ezra writes:

 

Since these three verses are joined one to the other, and each of them is comprised of seventy two letters, therefore we find written in the books that this is an allusion to the mystery of the explicit name. (Shemot 14:19)

 

            Similarly, Rashi writes in connection with the gemara in Sukka that deals with the hoshanot:

 

"Ani ve-ho," which is equal in numerical value to "Ana Ha-Shem," and other of the seventy two names spelled out in the three consecutive verses in Parashat Beshalach: "And the angel of God, etc., "And it came between the camp of Egypt, etc." "And Moshe stretched out his hand." The three verses are each comprised of seventy two letters. [Take] the first letter of the first verse, the last letter of the middle verse, and the first letter of the last verse, and so in this order. The first name is Ve-ho, the vav of va-yasa, the heh of kol ha-layla, and the vav of va-yat. And the thirty seventh name is Ani, the alef of mei-achareihim, the first nun of he-anan, and the yod of ru'ach kadim. (Rashi, Sukka 45a)

 

            Thus, these verses allude to a name of seventy two letters.

 

            The Chizkuni (Shemot 14:21) adds that Moshe split the sea with the name of seventy two letters alluded to in these verses. Since Moshe first pronounced it over the water, in the Hoshanot that are recited on Sukkot, during which judgment is passed concerning the coming year's water, we mention two words - the first word of each half - and it is considered as if we mentioned all of it. “Ani” is the first word, and “va-ho” is the thirty seventh word.

 

            These verses describe in clear fashion the Divine appearance that revealed itself through God’s angel and the pillar of cloud, which in the end turned the sea into dry land and allowed the people of Israel to cross the sea on dry land. According to these explanations, then, the High Priest tells the people that they have no reason to fear because the holy names that go out with them in the ark go with them to fight for them against their enemies.

 

            This is the way that Rabbeinu Bachye explains Moshe's words to Israel on the eve of their entry into the land:

 

"There shall no man be able to stand against you; for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as He has spoken to you" – This verse is comprised of seventy two letters corresponding to the Divine name of seventy two letters, from which emerges a known name sought by those who seek Him and know his great strength, because of the fear of the journey. (Devarim 11:28)

 

            The Maharsha in his commentary to the gemara in Sota raises the following objection:

 

"All the subsidiary names" is imprecise, for surely it contained only the tablets, as is stated below, which were inscribed with the Ten Commandments, and they contain only the name of four letters, and the names Elokekha and Kel, but the rest of the subsidiary names which are mentioned in chapter Shevu'ot Ha-Edut are not found there. (42b)

 

            The Keren Ora (ad loc.) relates to the Maharsha and adds:

 

This is not the implication of the gemara in Bava Batra 14a, which learns from the verse "Which is called by the name, even the name of the Lord of Hosts" (II Shmuel 6:2) that the name [of four letters] and all the subsidiary names [of God] were deposited in the ark. Now according to the Maharsha, that the reference is to the tablets, what does this verse come to teach?

 

            Another understanding of the seventy names of God is brought by the Turim:

 

"Gather for me seventy men." This corresponds to the seventy people who went down to Egypt (Bereishit Rabba 49:2), and it corresponds to the seventy nations, and it corresponds to the seventy names of the Holy One, blessed be He (Bamidbar Rabba 14:12). They are as follows: Kel, Elokim, Ha-Shem, One, Master, Awesome, I Shall Be, Bold, Truth, Longsuffering, Last, He Who Doesn't Hand Over His Kingdom to Another, Trust, A Cluster of Henna, Blessed, Creator, Great, Lofty, Redeemer, Mighty, Distinguished, All-Knowing, Eternal, He Who Remembers, Living, Pious, Gracious, Examiner, Strong, Wise, Good, Pure-Eyed, Just, He Who Dwells in Secret, Hidden Glory, Fearsome, Elevated, Forever, Keeper of Truth, Forgiving Iniquity, Forgiving Transgression, Forgiving Sin, Revenger, Avenger, Sela, He Who Dwells in the East, Pardoner, Most High, Fawn, Mighty, Redeemer, Rock, Ornament, Hosts, Holy, Jealous, Near, Merciful, High, First, He Who Did Not Receive His Kingdom From Another, Abundant in Love, Preserver, Judge, Ruler, Officer, He Who Dwells Forever, Perfect, Powerful. (Bamidbar 11:16)

 

The size of the Ark and what was found inside and alongside It

 

            The gemara in Bava Batra (14b) deals with the relationship between the book of the Torah, the tablets, and the ark, both according to R. Meir (who measures with a cubit of six handbreadths) and according to R. Yehuda (who measures with a cubit of five handbreadths).

 

            As a consequence of this disagreement, R. Meir and R. Yehuda also disagree about how to understand the verse: "There was nothing in the ark save the two tablets of stone" (I Melakhim 8:9). R. Meir learns from here that the Torah scroll written by Moshe rested in the ark, whereas R. Yehuda derives from this that the broken tablets were deposited there. In light of this, the gemara asks how R. Meir knows that the broken tablets rested in the ark. In other words, the gemara assumes that all agree that the broken tablets were deposited in the ark, and the only question is from where this is derived.

 

            The gemara answers that R. Meir derives this in the same manner as R. Huna, who says:

What is the meaning of the verse: "Which is called by the name, even the name of the Lord of Hosts that sits upon the keruvim"? [The repetition of the word "name"] teaches that the [whole] tablets and the broken tablets were deposited in the ark.

 

            The verse from the book of Shmuel that is cited as a proof-text describes how David brought up the ark to Jerusalem:

 

And David arose and went with all the people that were with him from Ba'ale Yehuda, to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the name, even the name of the Lord of Hosts that sits upon the keruvim. (II Shmuel 6:2)

 

            The word "name" appears twice, and the simple understanding is that the ark of God was called "Name." Chazal's exposition assumes that the two instances of "name" allude to the two sets of tablets – the whole ones and the broken ones – and therefore it may be derived from here that both the whole tablets and the broken ones were deposited in the ark.

 

            According to the gemara, R. Yehuda learns that the whole tablets and the broken tablets rested in the ark from a verse in Melakhim:

 

There was nothing in the ark save the two tablets of stone, which Moshe put there at Chorev, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. (I Melakhim 8:9)

 

            What, then, does R. Yehuda learn from the doubling of the word "name" in the verse, "which is called by the name, even the name of the Lord of Hosts"?

 

He requires them for that which was taught by R. Yochanan, who said in the name of R. Shimon bar Yochai: This teaches us that the name [of four letters] and all the subsidiary names [of God] were deposited in the ark.

 

            That is to say, the redundancy in the verse alludes to the fact that the name of four letters and all the subsidiary names - the seventy names of God - rested in the ark that went out with Israel to battle.[1]

 

IN which ark were the Name of God and all the subsidiary Names deposited?

 

            In one of last year's shiurim, we saw that Rashi and the Ramban disagree as to how many arks there were.

 

            According to Rashi, there were two arks – one that went out to war, which was a wooden ark made by Moshe and into which he deposited the tablets when he came down from Mount Sinai, and a second that was made of gold by Betzalel and rested in the Holy of Holies. The tablets were transferred from Moshe's ark to Betzalel's ark, and the broken tablets were then deposited into the ark made by Moshe.

 

            According to this opinion, the name of four letters and all the subsidiary names were apparently found in the ark that went out to war.

 

            According to the Ramban, who says that there was only one ark, the ark did not go out to war. According to this understanding, the whole tablets and the broken tablets rested in the ark in the Holy of Holies, together with the name of four letters and all the subsidiary names of God (Bava Batra 14b).

 

            Asher Meyers[2] asks whether the name of God and all His subsidiary names were found in the ark in the Holy of Holies only during the First Temple period or also during the time of the Mishkan. He proposes that during the time of the Mishkan, the name of God and all the subsidiary names did not rest in the ark in the Holy of Holies, but only in the ark that went out with them to war. It is possible that when there is a permanent Temple and the ark does not go out to war, the name of four letters and all the subsidiary names of God rested in the ark in the Holy of Holies.

 

Meyers proves that according to the Roke'ach, the name of God and all His subsidiary names were not found in the ark in the Holy of Holies during the period of the Mishkan, and in any event the broken tablets were usually found in the ark in the Holy of Holies; only during times of war were they removed from the ark in the Holy of Holies and placed into the ark that went out with them to war. When they returned from battle, they would return the broken tablets to the ark upon which were the keruvim.[3]

 

What is the meaning of Depositing the names of God in the Ark?

 

            What is the significance of the fact that God's name and all His subsidiary names are deposited in the ark?

 

            It may be argued that the name and subsidiary names of God (the seventy names and the seventy-two lettered name) express different ways in which God reveals Himself in this world. As it were, resting in the ark are the names that express all the manners of God's revelation.

 

            What we have here is a tangible expression of God's direct providence and constant accompaniment of the people of Israel in general, and in particular when they go out to war.

 

            The Maharal in his Chiddushei Aggadot to Bava Batra explains the matter as follows:

           

"The name of four letters and all the subsidiary names of God." For the ark is the ark of the covenant through which the Holy One, blessed be He, was connected to Israel. Therefore it is fitting that His name and all the subsidiary names be in the ark, so that the covenant be perfect with respect to all of His names. Just as the tablets and also the book of the Torah were there, because the Torah is the covenant and the connection between Israel and their Father in heaven, and similarly the tablets and all the holy names are the covenant and the connection, because the Torah is for Israel from God, and therefore He makes a covenant and a connection between Israel and their Father in heaven. And similarly His people Israel are called by His names, as it is written (Daniel 9:19): "For Your city and Your people are called by Your name." For this reason His names are the covenant and the connection between Israel and their Father in heaven, and they are also deposited in the ark of the covenant.

 

            Is there any hint to the appearance of the name of four letters and all the subsidiary names in the ark?

 

            R. Simcha Meir of Dvinsk notes the historical background of the appearance of the name of four letters and all the subsidiary names in the ark of the Lord. When the ark fell into the hands of the Pelishtim, they wrote how God was designated in all the languages of the other nations. This explains the fact that the allusion to the name of four letters and all the subsidiary names that rested in the ark is learned for the first time at the time that the ark was taken up to Jerusalem by David; at the order of the prophet Shmuel, the names by which the nations referred to God were placed in the ark. He writes as follows:

 

Second preface: The names which the nations in their various languages use in reference to God do not have the sanctity of the Holy Name. They may be erased and they are merely subsidiary names, like Merciful and Gracious. So writes the Rambam in chap. 26 of Hilkhot Sanhedrin (halakha 3): "Since a person is liable if he cursed a colleague with any of the subsidiary names, he is also liable if he cursed him in any other language. For the names with which the gentiles refer to the Holy One, blessed be He, are comparable to all of these subsidiary names." And therefore he rules in Hilkhot Melakhim, chap. 1 (halakha 3): "A gentile who curses God's name, whether he uses God's unique name or one of His other names in any language, is liable. This law does not apply with regard to Jews." That is to say, a name used by the gentiles is like the subsidiary names, Merciful or Gracious, which can be erased.

How fitting according to this is the gemara (Bava Batra 14b): "Name, name (II Shmuel 6:2) - teaches us that the Name [of four letters] and all the subsidiary names [of God] were deposited in the ark." According to Rashi, who says that this refers to all the subsidiary names of God, why where they not written before? But according to our master that "subsidiary names" refers to what God is called in the languages of the gentile nations, this is fine. Because of the evil circumstance that the ark fell captive in the hands of the Pelishtim, they wrote how God was designated in all the languages of the gentile nations, and therefore this was mentioned only when David brought the ark up [to Jerusalem], for it was at the order of the prophet Shmuel that the names by which the nations referred to God were placed in the ark.

 

(Translated by David Strauss)

 

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