What happened to the poles once the Ark was placed in the Solomon's Temple?

Question

The placement of the Ark in the Most Holy Place of Solomon's Temple is described in 1 Kings 8 (also 2 Chronicles 5) and makes reference to the poles which had been used to carry it:

For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. (1 Kings 8:7-8 KJV)

This seems to say the poles were removed and stored in such a way the ends could be seen from the Holy Place. Presumably, "before the oracle" means one pole was placed on on the floor on either side of the Ark and the end of each pole could be seen from the Holy Place. However, the poles were not to be removed:

And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. (Exodus 25:14-15 ESV)

The NET translation understands the poles were not removed but were so long¹ the ends protruded into the Holy Place:

The cherubs’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day. (1 Kings 8:7-8 NET)

The Tanakh translation seems to agree with the NET without stating why:

for the cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the Ark, so that the cherubim shielded the Ark and it poles from above. The poles projected so that the ends of the poles were visible in the sanctuary in front of the Shrine, but they could not be seen outside, and there they remain to this day. (1 Kings 8:7-8 JPS 2004)

1 Kings 8:7 כִּי הַכְּרוּבִים פֹּרְשִׂים כְּנָפַיִם אֶל־מְקֹום הָֽאָרֹון וַיָּסֹכּוּ הַכְּרֻבִים עַל־הָאָרֹון וְעַל־בַּדָּיו מִלְמָֽעְלָה׃
1 Kings 8:8 וַֽיַּאֲרִכוּ הַבַּדִּים וַיֵּרָאוּ רָאשֵׁי הַבַּדִּים מִן־הַקֹּדֶשׁ עַל־פְּנֵי הַדְּבִיר וְלֹא יֵרָאוּ הַחוּצָה וַיִּהְיוּ שָׁם עַד הַיֹּום הַזֶּֽה׃

All agree the poles could be seen from the Holy Place; yet there is disagreement as to why. Which is the better understanding of what is written? If it follows the King James, does "drew out" mean removed or drawn out just enough so the ends were visible from the Holy Place?

_{1. This could also result if the Ark was positioned so close to the curtain the ends protruded.}

Answer 1

I think you are mistaken here.

The literal translation of ויאריכו is "and they lengthened". The root of this word is ארך which in Hebrew means "long", thus ויאריכו is to be rendered lengthened. Since it is obvious that they didn't literally lengthen the staves the commentaries explain that they drew them out towards the curtains in a way that they were able to be seen from the outside, in this way the staves protruded outside the Devir and sat firmly in their designated rings at the same time. This is most probably what the KJV means when it says "drew out"; they didn't remove them completely but drew them out a bit towards the curtains. See also Yoma 54a for more on this. I do not see any contradiction between the NET and the KJV, they both explain what was done with the Ark in their own unique way.

It is highly unlikely that according to the KJV they were completely removed, since as you point out the Israelites were specifically commanded not to do so. Furthermore, the the appropriate Hebrew word for "remove" is ויסרו not ויאריכו. In fact this is the term used in Exodus 25:14-15 to proscribe the removal of the staves: לא יסרו ממנו. So it would be wrong to translate this term as such. But "drew out" "project", and "lengthen" are all appropriate translations for ויאריכו in this specific context.

Hope this clears up the confusion.

Answer 2

The correct understanding is that, a) the poles were never removed in accordance with God's command, and, b) the poles were too long to fit within the Holy of Holies where only the ark was housed. Normally hidden by a curtain, the heads of the poles could be seen only as bump-outs protruding from the curtain. This was deliberate so that the poles would extend outside of the Holy of Holies, where it was forbidden even for the high priest to enter, except for once a year, on Yom Kippur. The purpose was so that the poles could be grasped and the Ark removed for transport by standing in the "mere" Holy zone, without anyone having to enter the Holy of Holies.

Answer 3

Possibly: Since the cherubim were shadowing not only the ark, but also the poles, all was hidden by the cover of their shadow. However, the two poles running from front to back (and not along the long sides) of the ark, were brought forth just long enough that only the ends could seen by the high priest when he was to go into the Most Holy Place. It aided in giving him the correct path to the ark. However, still being rather shadowed, it still would not be visible to anyone outside the Holy place.