Bible Synapse

Did Moses or Bezalel make the ark of the covenant?

Hard question · The law of Moses · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate

Both true, in different sensesA summary and a fuller account
See the passages joined in the interactive map

The passages

Deuteronomy 10:1–5

Moses recalls God’s command to hew new tables and make an ark of wood: “I made an ark of shittim wood”, and he put the tables in it.

At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.

Exodus 31:1–7

God appoints Bezalel and Aholiab to make all he has commanded Moses, including “the ark of the testimony”.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee; …

Exodus 37:1

“And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood”, to the measurements God had given.

And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:

Exodus 39:42–43

Israel makes all the work as the Lord commanded Moses; Moses inspects it and blesses them.

According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

The objection

In Deuteronomy Moses says, “I made an ark of shittim wood”, and put the new tables in it. Exodus says “Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood”. Critics ask who made it, and add that in Deuteronomy the ark seems to be made before Moses went up the mountain for the second tables, while in Exodus it was made months later with the rest of the tabernacle.

The answer

Both are true, in the way that a king is said to build the palace his craftsmen built. God had appointed Bezalel and Aholiab to make “the ark of the testimony” and everything else he had commanded Moses (Exodus 31:1-7), and Bezalel did the work (37:1). But it was made under Moses’ direction and by his authority. When the work was finished Moses inspected it, saw that they had done it “as the Lord had commanded”, and blessed them (39:42-43). So Moses can say ‘I made an ark’, just as Exodus can say “so the children of Israel made all the work” (39:42). Gill gives the same answer: Moses ‘ordered it to be made, and it was made by Bezaleel’.

Deuteronomy 10:1-5 is a short summary in a speech, not a full narrative. Moses is reminding Israel how God forgave them after the golden calf, renewed the tables and kept them safe in the ark. He gathers into a few sentences things that belong together, without keeping to the order of events, which his hearers knew. Keil and Delitzsch and Barnes’ Notes both note that the ark had been commanded before the calf (Exodus 25:10), was made after the second tables were given, and received the tables when the tabernacle was set up (Exodus 40:20). Moses’ closing words, “there they be” (Deuteronomy 10:5), point to that same ark, still holding the tables as he spoke.

Other answers Christians give

A first, plain ark

Rashi, following earlier Jewish tradition, held that Moses made a plain wooden ark at once to hold the new tables, separate from Bezalel’s gold-covered ark, and that this plainer ark went out with Israel to battle. Keil and Delitzsch and Barnes’ Notes take Deuteronomy to mean the one ark described in Exodus.

From the classic commentators

And I made an ark of shittim wood,.... That is, ordered it to be made, and it was made by BezaleelJohn Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Deuteronomy 10 (1746–1763), at Bible Hub
But here as elsewhere (compare the Deuteronomy 9:1 note) Moses connects transactions closely related to each other and to his purpose without regard to the order of occurrence.Barnes’ Notes on the Bible: Deuteronomy 10, at Bible Hub

Sources

Further reading

Raised by: The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible. Only the verse references come from these lists.

Checked 2026-10-22. All hard questions