,11bout tho beginning of April) the ark the Russian traveller Automonolf. In 1856 rested on Mount Aro.rat, the Israelites passed five English travellers, Majors Stewart and over tho Red Sea, o.nd our Lord rose again Fra1.er, Rev, Walter Thursby, l\Iessrs. Theo- from tho dead" (' Speaker's Commentary'). bald and Evans, performed the herculean U;eon the mountains. I. e. one of the moun- task. The latest successful attempt was to.ms. "Pluralis numerus pro singulari poni- that of Prof. Bryce of Oxford in 1876 (vide tur" (cf. eh. xxi. 7; xlvi. 7; Judges xii. 7; 'Transca.ucasia and Ararat:' London: llfacmil- vide Glass., 'Philo!. Sacr. Tract.,' i. cap. lan and Co., 1877). (2) An unknown moun- xiv. p. 866). Of Ararat. 1. It is agreed tain in Central Armenia between the Araxe, by 11ll tl1at the term Ararat describes a and lakes Van and Urumio.h (Vulgate, super region. 2. This region has been supposed to mon,tes A rmenire; Gesenius, Murphy, W or<ls- bo the island of Ceylon (Samaritan), Arya- worth, Bush, 'Speaker's Commentary'). (3) varta, the sacred land to the north of India A peak in the Gorclyiean mountains, or (Von Bohlen, arguing from Gen. xi. 2); but Carcluchian range, separating Armenia on the "it is evident that these and·such like theories south from Kurdistan (Chalclee Paraphrase, have been framed in forgetfulness of what Onkelos, Syriac, Calvin), near which is a town the Bible has recorded respecting the local- called Naxuana., the city of Noah (Ptolemy), ity" (Kitto's 'Cyclopedia,' art. Ararat). Idshenan (Moses Chorenensis), and Nachid- 3. Tho locality which appears to have the shenan, the first place of clescent (the Arme• countenance of Scripture is the region of nians), which Josephus translates by ci ,ro/3a- Armenia (cf. 2 Kings xix. 37 ; Isa. xxxvii. r11p,ov, or the place of descent. Against the 38 ; Jeremiah Ii. 27 ; Aquila, Symmachus, first is the inaccessible heightofthemountain; Theodotion, Vulgate). 4. In Armenia three in favour of the thircl is the proximity of different mountains have been selected as the region to the starting-place of the ark. the site on which the ark grounded. (1) Ver. 5.-And the waters decreased con- The modern Ararat, which rises in Northern tinually-literally, 1ce1·e qoin'.] and de<:rea.i- Armenia, about twelve miles south of Eriva.n, i'll{l'-until the tenth month: in the tenth in the form of two majestic cones, the one month, on the first day of the month,- 16,254, and the other 12,284 feet (Parisian) in chodesh, a lunar month, beginning at the new height above the level of the sea (Hierony- moon, from cMdash, to be new; v,0µ11via, mus, Fiirst, Kalisch, Keil, Delitzsch, and LXX. (cf. Exod. xiii. 5). Chcdesh. yamim, Lange). All bl!.t universal tradition has the period of a month (cf. eh. xxi~ 14 ; decided that the loftiest of these two peaks Num. xi 20, 21)-were the tops of the (called Macis in Armenian; Aghri-Dagh, mountains seen. "Became distinctly vis- i. e. the difficult or steep mountain, by the ible" (Tayler Lewis, who thinks they may Turks; Kuchi Nuch, i. e. the mountain of have previously projected above the waters). Noah, by the Persians) was the spot where Apparuerunt cacumina montium (Vulgate). the sacred vessel first felt the solid land. The waters had now been subsiding ten 'fiavellers describe the appearance of this weeks, and as the height of the water above amazing elevation as of incomparable and the highest hills was probably determined over]Jowcring splendour. "It appeared as by the draught of the ark, we may naturnlly if the highest mountains in the world had reason thnt the subsidence \Thich had taken been piled upon each other to form this one place since the seventeenth de.y of the seventh sublime immensity of earth and rocks and month was nc,t less than three hundred and snow. The icy peaks of its double head fifteen inches, at twenty-one inches to the cu- rose majestically into the clear and cloudless bit, or a.bout four and one-third inches a. day. heavens; the sun blazed bright upon them, Vers. 6, 7.-Andit came to pau-litcrally, and the reflection sent forth o. radiance eq,uel it was-at the end of forty days. Delaying to other suns" (Ker Porter's 'Travels, i. through combined fear and sorrow on account 132; ii. 636). "Nothing co.n be more of the Divine judgment (Co.lvin); to allow beautiful than its shape, more awful than sufficient space to undo the effect of the its height. All the surrounding mountains forty days' rain (Murphy); probably just to sink into insignificance when compared to be assured that the Deluge would not return. it. It is perfect in all its po.rts; no hard, That Noah opened the window-chalm, rugged feature, no unn11tura1 prominences ; a window, "so called from being perforated, everything is in harmony, and all combines from chalal, to bore or p;~rce" (Gesenius); to render it one of the sublimest objects in used of the window of Rahab's house (Josh. nature" (Morier's 'Journey,' i. 16 ; ii. 312, ii. 18) ; not the window (tsohar) of eh. vi. 346). The ascent of the Kara Dagh, or 16, q. v.-of the ark which he had made : Greater Ararat, which the Armonians believe and he sent forth a raven. Litorally, the to be gua.rded by angels from the profane foot orev, "so caUed from its black colour' of man, after two unsuccessful attempts, was (Grsenius; cf. Cant. v. 11), Latin, corvu.,, nccomplished in 1829 by Professor Parrot, o. raven or crow; the urticlo being usc1l " G~npun 1 nptl f\vo years lntQr1 in 1834, l>y either (1) becnu~e foe species of bird ia 126 'l'HE BOOK 01!' GEN!<,;SIS. [cu. VIII. 1-14.
intoudod to be indicatrcl (Kalisch), or (2) cl~an ; ?f the mou~tain tops, though visible, because there was only one male raven in bemg either too distant or too high and the ark, the raven being among the unclean doves delighting in valleys and level pio.ins, birds (l_,cnt. xj. ~6; Dcut. xiv. 14; Lange); whenco they aro called doves of the valleya ·but ng1unst tlus 1s "tho dove" (ver. 8) ; or (Ezck. vii. IG). And she returned unto (3) becnnse it had come to be well knO\tu him into the ark, for the waters wero from thi_s ~rticulnr circllmstance (Keil). npon (literally, waters upon,· o. much more Its peculiar fitness for the mission imposed graphic statement .than appears in tho A. V.) on it lay in its being a bird of prey, nnd the face of the whole earth : then (literally tber~fore nble to sustain itself by feeding on and) he put forth his hand, o.nd took her' carr10n (Prov. xxx. 17). To the incident and pulled her in (literally caused her t~ here recorded is doubtless to be traced the coine in) unto him into the ;rk. prophetic character which in tbe ancient Ver. 10.-And he stayed. ~tl'l fut. heathen world, nnd among the Arabians in L :tl' '