Deuteronomy 31:26

In the side. See 1 Kings 8:9; 2 Chron. 5:10; cf. Deut. 29:21; 30:10. Jewish commentators are divided in their views respecting these words. Some maintain the written scroll was placed inside the ark with the two tables of stone, others, that it was placed in a compartment formed at the right side of the ark by a projecting board. The definite statement that “there was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb” (2 Chron. 5:10) confirms the latter suggestion. The RSV reads, “by the side of the ark” (Deut. 31:26). The principles inscribed upon the two tables of stone were of such a nature as to place them in a class by themselves. The Decalogue was supreme; the “book” containing “the words of this law” (Deut. 31:24) was an amplification and application of its principles to the economy of Israel.