A) THE SIZE OF THE ARK.

B) A BREAKDOWN OF BIBLICAL TIME.

C) TO THE DAYS IN THE ARK.

D) HERE IT IS IN A QUICK RUN-DOWN.

E) TOTAL.

 

 

A) THE SIZE OF THE ARK

(Note:  See also my Bible Study:  “NOAH’S ARK, OBJECTIONS TO”)

 

 

Before we tackle this issue, the size of Noah’s ark, let’s disarm another main issue which would make this issue of none effect without establishing this one (confused yet).

 

Was The Ark Large Enough To Hold All Of The Species Of Noah’s Time?

Many people are skeptical about a literal ark having saved all the animals, etcetera.  They are doubtful that it could have been big enough.  However, we are told that the ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits abeam, and 30 cubits high.  The Biblical cubit was a measure intended to represent the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger, and is approximated by most scholars at about 18 to 22 inches.  Various cubits have also been discovered ranging from 17 to 25 inches.

Assuming the lowest 18-inch cubit, the ark would contain 1.5 million cubic feet, and would displace approximately 24,000 tons.  This space approximates over 500 railroad cars and could contain 125,000 sheep, or their equivalent.  Since it has been estimated that there were about 18,000 species, and most of those would be smaller than a sheep, this space doesn’t seem to be a real problem.

 

 

B) A BREAKDOWN OF BIBLICAL TIME

 

 

Now On To Our Real Study.

 

According to Genesis 7:11-12:  “in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.”  But according to Genesis 7:10, this didn’t happen until “after seven days [that is “after” Noah and his family were safely inside the ark, that it was then], that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.”

 

Thus, we begin our chart, starting with day one of Noah and his family being inside the ark, “in the second month, on the tenth day of the month.”  In the entire counting sequence we will use the Biblical accounting of constituting a Biblical month consisting of exactly 30 days -- no more, no less.

 

 

C) TO THE DAYS IN THE ARK

 

 

Day 1 = Month 2, Day 10 = Genesis 2:10.

 

It rained “forty days and forty nights,” Genesis 7:12 & 17.  Which would bring us to:

 

Day 40 = Month 3, Day 20 = Because (30-day month, remember).

 

According to Genesis 7:24:  “And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.”  This would be reckoning from, “the second month, the seventeenth day of the month,” of verse 11, which would equal 117 more days, Thus:

 

Day 157 = Month 7, Day 17.

 

This is confirmed in Genesis 8:3-4:  “(3) and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. (4) And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.”  And, it wasn’t “until the tenth month:  in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen,” Genesis 8:5, which would be 74 days later.  Which brings us to:

 

Day 231 = Month 10, Day 1.

 

According to Genesis 8:6, “forty days” later, Noah, “opened the window of the ark,” and in verse 7, he “sent forth a raven.”  And verse 8 informs us that at the same time, “Also he sent forth a dove,” (we’ll call this, “Dove 1”).  40 more days would bring us to:

 

Day 271 = Month 11, Day 11.

 

According to Genesis 8:10, Noah waits another “seven days” until he “sent forth the dove [we’ll call this, “Dove 2”] out of the ark.”  Seven more days would bring us to:

 

Day 278 = Month 11, Day 18.

 

In Genesis 8:12 we learn, “he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove [Guess, what?  We’ll call this, “Dove 3”].”  Seven more days would bring us to:

 

Day 285 = Month 11, Day 25.

 

Then we discover this statement in Genesis 8:13:  “in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth:  and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.”  If we agree, we are at, Month 11, Day 25, then we will have to add 35 days to our reckoning, bring us to:

 

Day 320 = Month 1, Day 1.

 

Moving on to Genesis 8:14, we learn, “And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.”  Thus, from verse 13’s Month 1, Day 1, we go to Month 2, Day 27; therefore we must add 57 more days; which brings us to:

 

Day 377 = Month 2, Day 27.

 

Then God tells Noah to, “Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.”  Genesis 8:16.

 

Thus, our final total for Noah and his family being inside the ark is 377 Days.

 

 

D) HERE IT IS IN A QUICK RUN-DOWN

 

 

DAYS OF THE FLOOD

 

Noah enters into the ark, Genesis 7:4 & 7 & 10.

Month 2, Day 10.

 

Beginning of the Flood, Genesis 7:11.

Month 2, Day 17.

 

Rain and Prevailing Waters (first 40 days), Genesis 7:4 & 12 & 17.

Month 3, Day 27.

 

Waters Prevailed (110 additional days), Genesis 7:24.

Month 7, Day 17.

 

Ark rests upon the mountains of Ararat, Genesis 8:4.

Month 7, Day 17.

 

Note:  A period of exactly 5 Months (a month equaling 30 days, Genesis 7:24 stating this period as 150 Days) elapsed from the beginning of the Flood to the time that the Ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat, Genesis 7:11; 8:4.

 

Mountains seen by Noah, Genesis 8:5.

Month 10, Day 1.

 

Raven Released (40 Days later), Genesis 8:6.

Month 11, Day 11.

 

Dove Released First Time, Genesis 8:8.

Month 11, Day 18.

 

Dove Released Second Time, Genesis 8:10.

Month 11, Day 25.

 

Dove Released Third Time, Genesis 8:12.

Month 12, Day 2.

 

Covering of the Ark Removed, Waters Dried, Genesis 8:13.

Month 1, Day 1.

 

Noah Leaves the ark, Genesis 8:14-16.

Month 2, Day 27.

 

 

E) TOTAL

 

 

Remembering that there are 360 Days in a Biblical year, Noah and his family would have been in the Ark a Total of 377Days.

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