מלכים א, פרק ח׳, פסוק ט׳

King Solomon's placement of the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies brings up a fascinating question about the contents of this most sacred vessel. At its core, the Ark held the Tablets of the Covenant that Moses placed there at Mount Sinai, inscribed with the words of the agreement made during the Exodus from Egypt [ביאור שטיינזלץ, צאינה וראינה]. These words of the covenant refer directly to the Ten Commandments etched into the stone [רד״ק], or represent the specific moment God presented them to Israel [מצודת דוד].

A deep debate exists over whether the Ark held anything else. One approach argues for strict limitation, maintaining that the Ark contained absolutely nothing but the intact, whole Tablets. According to this view, the shattered remains of the first set of Tablets and the original Torah scroll written by Moses were kept separately in the Temple treasuries. This separation explains how Hilkiah the priest could discover a Torah scroll in the Temple many generations later [רד״ק]. Some expand on this idea, suggesting that while no other written texts were inside, the Ark might have housed sacred physical relics like the jar of manna and Aaron's staff [רלב״ג].

In stark contrast, other scholars argue for addition rather than limitation. Drawing on the principle that a double negative affirms a positive presence, they maintain that the Ark did indeed hold other items, provided they shared the identical spiritual essence of the Tablets. Therefore, both the broken pieces of the first Tablets and the original Torah scroll rested inside [מלבי״ם, אברבנאל]. This perspective specifically rejects the idea that physical relics like the jar of manna or Aaron's staff were inside the Ark, noting that those items were placed outside and in front of it for safekeeping. Instead, the Ark served exclusively as the divine treasury for God's teachings in all their forms. The covenant, therefore, encompasses not only the stone Tablets themselves but the entire body of Torah and commandments written in the scroll placed right beside them [אברבנאל].