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אֲרוֹן

ark

‘ark’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓

H727 Strong's Hebrew
ʼârôwn Transliteration
/aw-rone'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 202 appearances

Compare with another word →

About this entry

At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.

The Hebrew noun ארון centers on the idea of “ark.” Its English rendering has broadened — “ark” classically, “box of” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) in modern versions; see the renderings breakdown. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 174 verses — common. Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 50:26. The lexicon spreads it across several senses; see its full sense range. Dig into 174-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
ark
Modern gloss
ark
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H727 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.

These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →

174
distinct verses
The word appears in 174 distinct verses.
15 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 15 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 50:26
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 50:26.
Jeremiah 3:16
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Jeremiah 3:16.
#236
by frequency
Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 236 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 174 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 35 · 20%
  • Historical 137 · 79%
  • Wisdom 1 · 1%
  • Prophets 1 · 1%

By traditional corpus

Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 174 distinct verses.

  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 91 verses · 52%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 48 verses · 28%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 35 verses · 20%

How translations render this word

Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).

  • King James Version: Ark 168×, Chest 6×, Thence the ark 3×
  • American Standard Version: Ark 157×, Chest 5×, Came to pass 3×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Ark 181×, Chest 6×, It 2×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Box of 140×, Box 54×, Chest 4×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H727 across 202 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ark” 168×
  • “Chest” 6×
  • “Thence the ark” 3×
  • “Came to pass as the ark” 2×
  • “Was nothing in the ark” 2×

Plus 21 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H727 across 202 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ark” 157×
  • “Chest” 5×
  • “Came to pass” 3×
  • “Thence the ark” 3×
  • “Thou” 2×
  • “Was nothing in the ark” 2×

Plus 30 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H727 across 195 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ark” 181×
  • “Chest” 6×
  • “It” 2×

Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 7 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H727 across 208 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Box of” 140×
  • “Box” 54×
  • “Chest” 4×
  • “The” 3×
  • “Of” 2×

Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


12 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

What do BDB’s symbols mean?

BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:

Symbol Meaning
𝔊 the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX)
𝔙 the Vulgate (the Latin translation)
𝔖 the Syriac version (the Peshitta)
𝔗 the Targum (the Aramaic translation)
ψ the Psalms
√ root (the underlying root or stem)
‖ parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel)
† the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited

The 12 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.

  • 1. chest, for money-offerings 2 K 12:10, 11 2 Ch 24:8, 10, 11(×2). e.g. 2 Kings 12:10
  • 2. sarcophagus, mummy-case, of Joseph Gn 50:26 (E). e.g. Genesis 50:26
  • 3. chest, ark in tabernacle & temple, containing tables of law, with cherubim above, the especially seat of י׳ among his people, only Hex (71 times) S (61 times) K (12 times) & Ch (48 times) + Ju 20:27 Je 3:16 ψ 132:8; used alone & in various combinations (cf. SeyringZAW 1891, 114 f.). e.g. Judges 20:27
    • a. indef. אֲרוֹן עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים an ark of shittim-wood Ex 25:10; Dt 10:3 cf. v 1. e.g. Exodus 25:10
    • b. def. הָא׳ Ex 25:14 + 54 times (Hex P, except Jos JE; S K Ch). e.g. Exodus 25:14
    • c. א׳ יהוה Jos 4:11 + 32 times Jos (JED) S K Ch. e.g. Joshua 4:11
    • d. א׳ אֱלֹהִים †1 S 3:3; 4:11; א׳ הָאֱלֹהִים 1 S 4:13 + 32 times S Ch (but 1 S 14:18(×2) read הָאֵפוֹד 𝔊 We Dr), cf. א׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ †1 Ch 13:3. e.g. 1 Samuel 3:3
    • e. א׳ אלהי יִשְׂרָאֵל 1 S 5:7 + 6 times S, term used only by Philistines; א׳ יהוה אלהי יִשְׂרָאֵל †1 Ch 15:12, 14; א׳ יהוה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם †Jos 4:5 (JE); א׳ אֲדֹנָי יהוה †1 K 2:26; א׳ יהוה אֲדוֹן כָּל־הָאָרֶץ †Jos 3:13 (JED) cf. אדון כל־הארץ [הברית] א׳ v 11, where הברית (c. art. is prob. interpol., v. Di, only once & late the long phrase א׳ האלהים יהוה יוֹשֵׁב הַכְּרוּבִים אֲשֶׁר נִקְרָא־שֵׁם 1 Ch 13:6. e.g. 1 Samuel 5:7
    • f. in combination with בְּרִית, largely D & under D’s influence; ארון הַבְּרִית ark of the covenant †Jos 3:6(×2), 8; 4:9; 6:6 (all JED); א׳ בְּרִית יהוה Nu 10:33; 14:44 (both J) Dt 10:8; 31:9, 25; Jos 4:7, 18; 6:8; 8:33 Je 3:16 + 17 times S K Ch; once longer א׳ בְּרִית י׳ צְבָאוֹת ישֵׁב הַכְּרֻבִים †1 S 4:4; also א׳ בְּרִית הָאֱלֹהִים †Ju 20:27; 1 S 4:4; 2 S 15:24; 1 Ch 16:6; & א׳ בְּרִית י׳ אלהיכם Dt 31:26 Jos 3:3. e.g. Joshua 3:6
    • g. אֲרוֹן הָעֵדוּת ark of the testimony, only in P, corresponding to א׳ בְּרִית (cf. Di on Ex 25:16), Ex 25:22 + 8 times Ex, †Nu 4:5; 7:89 Jos 4:16. e.g. Exodus 25:16
    • h. †א׳ הַקֹּדֶשׁ 2 Ch 35:3. e.g. 2 Chronicles 35:3
    • i. א׳ עֻזֶּךָ֑ the ark of thy strength 2 Ch 6:41 ψ 132:8.—(Cf. also tables given by Seyringl.c. & his theory as to earliest designation of ark.) e.g. 2 Chronicles 6:41

Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.


Word origin

c. art. הָאָרוֹן, הָאָרֹן203 n.m. Ex 35, 12 (f. 1 S 4, 17; 2 Ch 8, 11) chest, ark (Ph. ארן, sarcophagus, Assyrian êrênu (& êrû) chest ZimBP 6, 22, Arabic إِرَانٌ chest, so Aramaic ܐܰܪܘܽܢܳܐ also Nab. ארנא, Vog p. 102, Ph. Mish. also pl. ארונות)—only sg.; abs. †אֲרוֹן 2 K 12:10 = 2 Ch 24:8; c. art. הָאָרוֹן Dt 10:2 + always except Ex Lv Nu where הָאָרֹן (Ex 25:14(×2) + 13 times Ex, Lv 16:2 Nu 3:31; 10:35); cstr. אֲרוֹן Ex 25:10 +, †אֲרֹן Ex 30:6 Nu 4:5; 7:89;—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from ארה (ʼârâh) (H717) — to pluck.

Part of speech: Noun Masculine TWOT: 166a


Jastrow Dictionary

A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.

אָרוֹן

  • c. (b. h.; [joined together,] chest, box, coffin, freq. (= אֲרוֹן הַקּוֹדֶשׁ) the Holy Ark, in the tabernacle and the Temple, or in Synagogues. Yoma V, 1 הגיע לא׳ reached the place where the Ark stood during the First Temple. Y. Ber. IV, 8ᶜ top; Gen. R. s. 55 (allegorical etymologies).—Keth. 104ᵃ א׳ הקודש (figuratively) a good and learned man’s soul; v. אֶרְאֵל.—Kel. XII, 5 א׳ של גרוסות the grits-dealer’s chest. Y. Kil. IX, 32ᵇ top; Gen. R. s. 100 אֲרוֹנִי נקובה (נקופה) וכ׳ ותהא let my coffin be perforated at the bottom. Snh. 98ᵇ אין לך כל א׳ וא׳ וכ׳ there is no coffin in Palestine in which the Median horses do not eat straw (being used as cribs); a. fr.—Pl. אֲרוֹנוֹת. Sot. 13ᵃ; a. fr. [Y. Keth. VI, 30ᵈ bot. וארון, v. אֲרִי I.]

A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.


Forms in the corpus

The 53 distinct written forms H727 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.

Form Parsing Example Uses
אֲר֣וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 10:8 51
אֲר֥וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 10:1 23
אֲר֤וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 13:7 11
אֲר֨וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 13:6 11
אֲר֧וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 15:2 8
אֲרוֹן֙ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 10:3 8
הָ/אָרֹ֖ן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Exodus 25:14 6
אֲר֖וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 31:9 5
אֲרוֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Samuel 6:1 5
הָ/אָרֹ֑ן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Exodus 25:14 4
הָ/אָרֽוֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 6:31 4
הָ֣/אָר֔וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 13:9 4
וַ/אֲר֥וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 17:1 4
אֲרֹ֣ן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Exodus 25:22 3
הָ/אָר֑וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 13:10 3
הָ/אָר֔וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 15:27 3
הָ/אָר֥וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 8:7 3
אֲרֹ֥ן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Exodus 39:35 2
בָּ/אָר֖וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 10:5 2
בָּֽ/אָר֔וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 8:9 2
הָ/אָר֛וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 13:13 2
הָ/אָרוֹן֙ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 5:5 2
הָ֣/אָרֹ֔ן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Exodus 25:21 2
הָֽ/אָר֑וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 8:5 2
הָֽ/אָרוֹן֙ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Samuel 7:2 2
לַ/אֲר֣וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 28:2 2
לָ/אָרֽוֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 15:23 2
אֲרֽוֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Joshua 3:8 1
בַּ/אֲר֣וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Samuel 6:19 1
בָּ/אָרֽוֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 10:2 1
בָּֽ/אָר֑וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 2 Kings 12:10 1
הָ/אָר֗וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Joshua 4:10 1
הָ/אָר֨וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Joshua 3:17 1
הָ/אָרֹ֔ן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Exodus 25:15 1
הָ/אָרֹ֤ן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Numbers 3:31 1
הָ/אָרֹ֥ן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Exodus 35:12 1
הָ/אָרֹֽן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Exodus 37:5 1
הָ/אָרֹן֙ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Leviticus 16:2 1
הָ/אָרֹן֮ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Exodus 40:21 1
הָ֠/אָרוֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 2 Samuel 11:11 1
הָֽ/אָר֔וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Joshua 3:15 1
הָֽ/אָרֹן֙ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Exodus 31:7 1
הָֽ/אָר֜וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 24:11 1
וַ/אֲר֣וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 2 Chronicles 6:41 1
וַ/אֲר֤וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Numbers 14:44 1
וַ/אֲר֨וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Numbers 10:33 1
וַֽ/אֲרוֹן֙ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 2 Samuel 7:2 1
וַֽ/אֲרוֹן֙ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct Joshua 6:8 1
לַֽ/אֲרוֹן֙ Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Samuel 5:8 1
לָ/אָר֖וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 24:10 1
לָ/אָר֡וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute Joshua 8:33 1
לָֽ/אָר֔וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 1 Kings 8:21 1
לַֽ/אֲר֣וֹן Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 15:1 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H727, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.

Derives from

Shares the same root

Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 170 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 174 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.

Read these verses in the Septuagint

This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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