Numbers 14:44

the ark of the covenant of Jehovah] The words -of the covenant" are probably a gloss by a Dt. writer. There is no evidence in J or E that the tablets of the Covenant laws were placed in the ark. See on Numbers 10:33 b.

and Moses Moses was the guardian of the ark.

out of the midst of the camp In E the sacred tent, in which the ark was presumably housed, stood outsidethe camp (cf. Numbers 12:4; Exodus 33:7-11). The position, here implied by J, afterwards formed an important factor in P's description of the Tabernacle (Numbers 1:50; Numbers 1:53).