1)
Where was the Aron?
1.
Radak (26) #1: It was in Shilo. It is called Beis Kel and Beis Hashem ("Beis Hashem Ani Holech" - 19:18). We do not find that they brought the Aron to Beis Kel. Also the first time they asked in "Beis Kel" (verse 18), i.e. Shilo.
2.
Radak #2: Perhaps they brought the Aron to Beis Kel. 1 It is near Shilo, which was "Tzafonah l'Beis Kel" (21:19). They brought it there to pray there. Hashem answered them in the merit of Yakov, whom Hashem blessed there (Bereishis 35:9), and Binyamin was born at that time.
1
Radak: "Sham Aron Bris ha'Elokim ba'Yamim ha'Hem" implies that that was its place, and not that it was brought there.
