The mountains of Ararat in early reading
Says The ark “came to rest on the mountains of Ararat” (Gen 8:4; הָרֵי אֲרָרָט, hare ararat, with mountains plural). Elsewhere Ararat is a land: Sennacherib’s sons “escaped to the land of Ararat” (2 Kgs 19:37; Isa 37:38), and Jer 51:27 summons the kingdoms “Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz”. The text names a region, not a single peak.
Early readers placed the landing variously. Pseudo-Jonathan has “the mountains of Qadron”, naming one “Qardania” (Etheridge’s footnote: or “Kurdania”) and the other “Irmenia”, where “the city of Armenia” was built. Josephus has “a certain mountain in Armenia”, whose people call the place “The place of descent”; he cites Berosus for “the mountain of the Cordyaeans” and Nicolaus of Damascus for “a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called Baris”. Jubilees names “Lûbâr, one of the mountains of Ararat” (5:28). Berossos, in Rogers, has “the land of Armenia”. Keil takes Ararat as “the name of a province”, “probably the central province of the country of Armenia”, and then identifies two peaks, “the greater and lesser Ararat”. Calvin follows “the opinion most received” (Armenia) and leaves Josephus’s report of ark fragments “undecided”. These are their views; the reports of remains belong to Josephus and his sources.
Uncertain Where in the Ararat region the ark rested, and whether any mountain these writers name is the place, is open. No lean is taken, and these readings do not fix the meaning of 8:4.
Claims
- SaysGen 8:4: the ark rested on the mountains (plural) of Ararat; 2 Kgs 19:37, Isa 37:38 and Jer 51:27 use Ararat of a land or kingdom; the text names a region, not a single peak.
- UncertainWhere in the Ararat region the ark rested, and whether any mountain named by Pseudo-Jonathan, Josephus, Jubilees, Berossos or Keil is the place, is open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gen 8:4; 2 Kgs 19:37; Isa 37:38; Jer 51:27
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 8:4
- Etheridge public domain Etheridge, vol. 1 (1862), Targum of Palestine (Pseudo-Jonathan) on Gen 8:4, p. 181 (n193); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.3.5 = 1.90–92, p. 17 (n26), and Ant. 1.3.6 = 1.93–95, p. 18 (n27) (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- APOT public domain vol. 2 (1913): Jub 5:28, p. 21 (n40); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels public domain Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912): Berossos, p. 111 (n138); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 8:4–5, p. 148 (n151); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis 1 (King, CTS 1847), on Gen 8:4, p. 278 (n287); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
2026-11-11
Open in Reader All notes on this passage