Chest

The chest (Hebrew 'aron, commonly rendered ark) in its non-ark usage refers to the offering box or coffer set up at the temple entrance to collect money for its repair. King Joash and the priest Jehoiada instituted this chest, boring a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar at the right side of the entrance to the house of the Lord (2 Kgs. 12:9–10; 2 Chr. 24:8–11). The people's willingness to fill the chest with offerings reflected their response to Joash's initiative for temple restoration. The same word covers the boxes of treasure used to transport temple funds, illustrating that in biblical usage chest and ark are the same Hebrew concept applied to different containers.