Bible Timeline · Traditional count about 2348 BC

Noah, the Ark and the Flood

When the earth was filled with violence, God told Noah to build an ark. Noah, his family and the animals were saved through the flood, and God set His rainbow in the clouds as a promise. The traditional count puts the flood about 2348 BC, when Noah was 600.

Read it in the Bible: Genesis 6:1-22 Genesis 7:1-24 Genesis 8:1-22 Genesis 9:1-17 Matthew 24:37-39 1 Peter 3:20-21 2 Peter 2:5 Numbers 13:33

The flood is the event in Genesis 6 to 9 when God judged a violent world with water and saved Noah, his family and the animals in a huge boat called the ark. Noah was 600 years old when the waters came. By the traditional count from the genealogies, that was about 2348 BC, though the Bible gives no calendar year and many Christians date it much earlier. Afterward God made a covenant never to flood the whole earth again, and He put His rainbow in the sky as the sign.

Why Did God Send the Flood?

Genesis gives a sad picture of the world before the flood.

Then Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. Genesis 6:5

Genesis 6:11 adds that the earth was "full of violence." It had only been ten generations since Adam, and things had gone very far wrong. But one man stood out.

Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of Yahweh. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:8 to 9

Notice the order. Noah found favor, which is grace, and then he walked with God, just like his great grandfather Enoch.

Who Were the Sons of God and the Nephilim?

Genesis 6:1 to 4 is one of the strangest passages in the Bible. The sons of God married the daughters of men, and the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, "the mighty men of old, men of renown." Christians have read it two main ways:

Fallen angels: This is the oldest Jewish and early Christian view. "Sons of God" refers to angels in Job 1:6, and the Book of 1 Enoch tells a long version of this story. Many read 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 as pointing to it.
The line of Seth: Augustine and many later teachers read it as the godly line of Seth marrying into the ungodly line of Cain. This view points out that Jesus said angels do not marry in Matthew 22:30.

The word Nephilim shows up again in Numbers 13:33, when Israel's spies said they saw giants in Canaan who came from the Nephilim. So whoever they were, the word stuck around as a name for giants. Some also suggest the spies were exaggerating out of fear, since they said they felt like grasshoppers.

How Big Was Noah's Ark?

God gave Noah the plans in Genesis 6:15. The ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. That is about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. It had three decks, a door on the side and a roof. It was not a ship built for speed or steering. It was a giant floating box built to stay steady. Peter calls Noah "a preacher of righteousness" in 2 Peter 2:5, so while he built, he also warned people. Imagine being the neighbor who watched that thing go up in the yard for decades.

Eight people went on board: Noah and his wife, and his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives. Two of every kind of animal came, and seven pairs of the clean animals and birds, according to Genesis 7:2 to 3.

How Long Did the Flood Last?

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. Genesis 7:11

It rained for 40 days and 40 nights, and the waters rose for 150 days. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah sent out a raven and then a dove, and the dove came back with an olive leaf. All told, Noah and his family were on the ark for about a year and ten days before they stepped out onto dry ground in Genesis 8:14.

Was the Flood Worldwide or Local?

Christians who fully trust the Bible hold two main views:

A worldwide flood: This is the traditional view. Genesis says the waters covered all the high mountains, and the size of the ark and the gathering of every kind of animal make the most sense if the whole earth was covered. Peter compares it to the coming judgment of the whole world in 2 Peter 3:6.
A large regional flood: Others believe the flood covered the whole world Noah knew, likely Mesopotamia. They point out that words like "all the earth" can mean a whole region in Hebrew, as in Genesis 41:57, when "all the earth" came to Egypt to buy grain.

Both views agree that it really happened, that it was God's judgment, and that God saved Noah's family by grace.

Do Other Cultures Have Flood Stories?

Yes, many do. The most famous is in the Epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia. In 1872, George Smith of the British Museum read a clay tablet from the library at Nineveh and found a flood story. In it, a man named Utnapishtim builds a boat, rides out a great flood, lands on a mountain and sends out birds, including a dove that comes back. Smith was so excited he reportedly started taking off his clothes in the museum, which is one way to celebrate.

Scholars read the parallels differently. Some think Genesis borrowed from older stories. Many Christians think the many flood stories around the world are distant memories of a real event, and that Genesis tells it truly. One big difference stands out. In Gilgamesh the gods flood the earth because humans are too noisy. In Genesis, one holy God judges real evil and saves a righteous man by grace.

What Is the Rainbow Covenant?

After the flood, Noah built an altar and worshiped. Then God made a promise to Noah, his descendants and every living creature.

I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Genesis 9:13

God promised never again to destroy all life with a flood, and He promised that the seasons would keep coming as long as the earth endures, in Genesis 8:22. He also told Noah's family to be fruitful and fill the earth again. Every rainbow you see is God keeping a promise He made thousands of years ago.

How Does Noah's Flood Point to Jesus?

Jesus used Noah's day to describe His own return.

As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:37 to 39

Peter says the eight people saved through water picture baptism, and the salvation we have through Jesus' resurrection, in 1 Peter 3:20 to 21. The ark had one door, and everyone inside was safe. Jesus said, "I am the gate" in John 10:9. The same God who shut Noah in still keeps safe everyone who comes to Him through Christ.

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Questions People Ask

When did Noah's flood happen?

The Bible gives no calendar year. By the traditional count from the genealogies, the flood happened about 2348 BC, when Noah was 600 years old. Many Christians who see gaps in the genealogies, or who hold an old earth, date it much earlier.

Was Noah's flood worldwide?

The traditional view is that the flood covered the whole earth, based on Genesis 7:19 and the size of the ark. Other Christians believe it was a huge regional flood that covered the world Noah knew. Both views accept it as a real event and God's judgment.

How big was Noah's ark?

Genesis 6:15 gives 300 by 50 by 30 cubits. That is about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall, with three decks.

Who were the Nephilim?

Genesis 6:4 calls them mighty men of old, linked to the sons of God marrying the daughters of men. The oldest view says the sons of God were fallen angels, while another says they were the line of Seth. The word appears again in Numbers 13:33 for giants in Canaan.

Is Noah's flood the same as the Gilgamesh flood?

The Epic of Gilgamesh has a flood story with a boat, a mountain landing and birds sent out, which George Smith read on a tablet in 1872. Some scholars think Genesis drew on older stories, while many Christians think the many flood stories remember one real event. Genesis is very different in showing one holy God who judges evil and saves by grace.

Sources

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