Metaphysical meaning of Ararat (mbd)
Ararat (A. V., Armenia, II Kings 19: 37 and Isa. 37:38), ar'-a-rat (Heb.)--sacred land; holy land; light's effluence; wilderness; accursed terror. The last two definitions are accepted by a certain group of commentators, but do not accord with the Sanskrit, or the true Hebraic root. The first three are the most accurate.
According to the Bible, Ararat was a country, not a mountain as has been commonly supposed. The ark of Noah, at the time of the flood, rested ''upon the mountains of Ararat" (Gen. . 8: 4) . Other Bible texts refer very clearly to Ararat as a land, and so we are led to believe that the ark rested upon some mountains in the country of Ararat, and not on a mountain by the name of Ararat. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was murdered by his sons, who then fled to the land of Ararat (II Kings 19:37). In Jeremiah 51:27 we find that Ararat was one of the powers that Jehovah was going to send against Babylon and Chaldea. History is not decided as to where this land of Ararat was, but it is thought to have been Armenia of the present day, or a part of it.
Meta. From the lack of decision on the part of historians as to where and what Ararat really was, and the diversity of meanings attributed to the name, we infer that it represents that which to the spiritually unawakened man is unknown. This "unknown" may to one individual be sacred, high, holy, and filled with creative power (sacred land, holy land, light's effluence), and to another it may be a chaotic wilderness or something fearful and terrible (wilderness, accursed terror), according to the trend of each person's thought and belief.
The rivers Euphrates and Tigris (Hiddekel) rise in Armenia, which is supposed to be the land of Ararat of Bible history. The Hiddekel symbolizes the great nervous system in man; the Euphrates symbolizes the circulatory system of man. The nervous system lies very close to the mental and spiritual; the circulatory system is more in the region of the physical. Thus the realm of which Ararat is symbolical (the unknown) is the source of both the mental and the physical of man. We should call this source the realm of Spirit; it is a savior of life unto life, or of death unto death, according to whether the laws of Spirit are recognized and obeyed, or are unacknowledged in thought and act.
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Preceding Entry: Aran
Following Entry: Araunah
