John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 8:9
There was nothing in the ark, save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb ,.... That is, there were no other writings; or, as Ben Gersom says, no other part of the law, but the decalogue otherwise he observes there were in it Aaron's rod and the pot of manna, according to Hebrews 9:4 though the particle there may be rendered "at", or "with", or "by"; see Gill on Hebrews 9:4 and so they might be not within it, but in some place on the sides of it, see Deuteronomy 31:26 ,... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 8:1-11
The temple, though richly beautified, yet while it was without the ark was like a body without a soul, or a candlestick without a candle, or (to speak more properly) a house without an inhabitant. All the cost and pains bestowed on this stately structure are lost if God do not accept them; and, unless he please to own it as the place where he will record his name, it is after all but a ruinous heap. When therefore all the work is ended (1 Kgs. 7:51), the one thing needful is yet behind, and... read more