How long did it take noah to build the ark?
The Bible doesn’t directly answer how long it took Noah to build the ark, but there are some clues that suggest it took a maximum of 75 years:
- Time for sons to be born, mature, and marry: God didn’t tell Noah about the flood until his sons were grown up and married, which could have taken at least 25 years.
- Time for Noah to build the ark: After that, Noah would have had a maximum of 75 years to build the ark.
Some believe it took Noah 100 or 120 years to build the ark, while others believe it took as many as 300 years. Not much is known about the ship-building process when Noah was alive. However, some say that Noah could have built the ark in fewer than 70 years if he had tools as advanced as those used today.
How long did it take noah to build the ark?
From the time the Bible states that after Noah reached age 500 he began to have his three sons kind throws a kink in determining how much time it took for Noah to build the Ark.
We cannot determine the actual time it took but we can get fairly close as to how long it took.
God instructs Noah and tells him to build an Ark and to place himself, his wife, his sons and his sons wives into the Ark to be preserved alive.
Because this is the Point we count to determine how long it took to build the Ark then we have to understand that all three of Noah’s sons had to have already been of age and already had their wives as the scripture shows when God instructs Noah to build the Ark and to place also his sons and his son’s wives into it to.
That would mean that we cannot begin that time count from Noah’s age at 500 but instead we have to go forward until all three of Noah’s sons have grown to adults and have married first in order to have the start time of the building of the Ark.
What we know from the Bible are these subtle facts→
- Noah after age 500 began having and raising three sons. This is tricky because it really does not state a definite time, it states instead after that time when taking into account the rest of the verse.
- God instructs Noah and tells him to build an Ark and to place himself, his wife, his sons and his sons wives into the Ark to be preserved alive
- Then the flood begins when Noah is age 600 years. Which is 100 years forward from 500 years when Noah is stated to begin having sons after that age.
Noah’s sons were Japheth Shem then Ham in that order and we do know that Shem had a son named Eber just two years after the flood when he was aged 100 years.
That means that when Noah was age 600 when the flood began that Shem was already aged 98 years.
So that gives us somewhat of a point to count backwards to determine a fairly good guess as to when God instructed Noah to build the Ark, to load it with his sons wives and how long it took for Noah to build the Ark.
There are two ways to calculate this. One is by using Bible Chronology. How? Even if the chronology were off even a by a few years, it still provides the most accurate timeline of events.
Chronology places Noah’s birth at 2969
Chronology places Japheth birth at 2469 B.C. Thats 500 years.
Chronology places Shem’s birth at 2468 thats at Noah’s age 501
All three sons grow up and become men with wives. Roughly at Noah’s age of 550 – 560.
And calculate from 600 to 500+50 years for His sons to grow up and to be married by the time God instructs Noah to build the Ark and load his sons wives into it.
That would set the time it took to build the Ark at roughly 40 to 50 years. And actually if we consider all the times God has given to warn the Israelites of their several destructions for not doing his will, then those times all amounted to 40 years.
Noah preached 40 years while he built the Ark.
The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the dessert.
Jonah among several prophets down through the Kings Lines warned the Jews for 40 years.
So it is safe to say Noah was given the same 40 years to preach and to build the Ark.
Here are the Bible versus—→
Genesis 5:32
32 After Noah reached 500 years of age, he became father to Shem, Ham, and Jaʹpheth.
Genesis 7:11
11 In the 600th year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on that day all the springs of the vast watery deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
Genesis 6:14
14 Make for yourself an ark from resinous wood. You will make compartments in the ark and cover it with tar inside and outside.
15 This is how you will make it: The ark should be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. 16 You will make a window for light for the ark, one cubit from the top. You should put the entrance of the ark in its side and make it with a lower deck, a second deck, and a third deck.
17 “As for me, I am going to bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy from under the heavens all flesh that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.
18 And I am establishing my covenant with you, and you must go into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
Genesis 11:10
10 This is the history of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he became father to Ar·pachʹshad two years after the Flood.
Its right here that points out that Noah’s sons were already married by the time God gives his instructions as he states they were married and had wives when he instructs Noah to build.
“and your sons’ wives with you.”
Where does it say that Noah preached for 120 years? How long does it take Noah to build the ark?
My answer will be the craziest answer you have ever heard but if you really study science along with the Bible it will make sense.
The Bible is 100% accurate. Any errors are ours because of translation errors, not Bible errors.
It took Noah 120 years to build the Ark. He had many help him build the Ark. They all thought him a nut. They ridiculed him right up to the time he closed the door.
He took every kind of animal God told him to take. All the animals were juveniles or babies. He took equinine, canines, felines, etc. Modern day horses, cats, dogs, etc. descended from them.
Pangea is how he was able to gather all the animals. All land masses were united because the ocean levels were hundreds of feet lower than today.
Earth’s magnetic field collapsed. The Earth’s oxygen content was much higher than today. Highly charged hydrogen solar particles reacted with the oxygen making water. So much water the oceans rose hundreds of feet.
Took months for the waters to recede to modern levels as it ran off causing incredible erosion. So much scientific evidence backing everything I just wrote.
What is the cat tail meanings?
In the Old Testament, how long did it take Noah to build the ark? How long was Noah on the ark?
Genesis 6:3 says:
And the LORD said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.”
Many feel this indicates that Noah had 120 years to build the ark.
Others feel it took 55-75 years to build the ark.
Noah was between 525-545 years old when they started building the Ark.
We can estimate his age from 3 verses:
- Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. Genesis 7:6
- Noah’s youngest son, Shem, was born when Noah was 502:
These are the family records of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters. Genesis 11:10-11 - The instructions for building the Ark were given in Genesis 6:13-21, and in 6:18 it says:
But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. Genesis 6:18
Since this verse indicated Noah’s sons had wives at the time the ark was started, it is estimated that the sons were 20-40 years old. That would place Noah’s age around 525-545 years old.
He was on the ark for 377 days.
Noah waited on the ark seven days before the 40 days of rain began. The waters “surged” for 150 days (five months) of destruction (v. 24). This includes 40 days of rain followed by 110 days, during which the waters began to recede until the ark settled somewhere on the mountains of Ararat. In 40 more days land became visible (8:5-6). For about three weeks Noah sent out birds until the dove failed to return (8:12). But Noah had to wait another three months before he saw that the “ground was drying” (8:13), and another month before he and his shipmates could disembark, 377 days after climbing aboard
Source:.- “Notes on Genesis” The Apologetics Study Bible: Understanding Why You Believe (Kenneth A. Mathews)
Skeptics and critics have assumed that the people in Noah’s time were unsophisticated and incapable of doing anything that required skill and some level of technology. However, if we were to dig into the facts, it becomes quite clear that they could have build Noah’s ARK. Let us take a look at the evidence.
The Bible answers: “Noah proceeded to do according to all that God had commanded him. He did just so.”—Genesis 6:22.
The work took decades, perhaps 40 to 50 years. There were trees to fell, logs to haul, and beams to hew, shape, and join. The ark was to have three stories, or decks, a number of compartments, and a door in the side. Evidently, there were windows along the top, as well as a roof that likely peaked in the middle with a slight pitch so that water would run off. —Genesis 6:14-16.
“You will make a tsoʹhar [roof; or, window] for the ark,” Noah was told. (Ge 6:16) Just what this was or how it was constructed is not altogether clear. Some scholars think tsoʹhar is related to light and so they translate it “window” (KJ, Mo), “light” (AS, JP), “a place for light” (Ro). Others, however, associate tsoʹhar with a later Arabic root meaning “back (of the hand),” “back (of a beast),” “deck (of a ship),” that is, the part away from the ground or water, and for this reason translate it “roof.” (AT, RS, JB) This tsoʹhar, Noah was told, was to be completed “to the extent of a cubit upward.”—Ge 6:16.
It could be, therefore, that the tsoʹhar provided for adequate light and ventilation, not just a single cubit-square “peephole,” but an opening a cubit in height near the roof and extending around the four sides to give an opening of nearly 140 sq m (1,500 sq ft).
Did Noah Have the Manpower?
What a colossal undertaking. Did Noah builted the Ark alone? Of course not. The leader of any project can claim they did the work even when others help with the project. For example, 1kings chapter 6 states that Solomon built the temple. 1kings 5:13-18 shows us that he had over 150,000 labor force to help him. Likewise, Noah used others to help him. Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah, died the year of the Flood, and Noah’s father, Lamech, passed away five years earlier. Surely, they and other family members could have helped out with the building of the Ark. Additionally, there is no reason why Noah could not have negotiated with merchants’ skill in carpentry to help.
Let us remember at Gen. 7:5 Noah did everything that Jehovah had commanded him. God would not have asked Noah to build the Ark if he could not do the task. If he was lacking in wisdom or skill surely Jehovah would have given him whatever he needed.
Please read the following scriptures.
Heb. 11:7 By faith Noah, after receiving divine warning of things not yet seen, showed godly fear and constructed an ark for the saving of his household; and through this faith he condemned the world, and he became an heir of the righteousness that results from faith.
Gen. 6:18 And I am establishing my covenant with you, and you must go into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
God would have not just given what Noah needed. Jehovah was with him from start to finish. God was the architect and designer of the Ark. Jehovah make a contract (covenant) with him. God was figuratively holding his hand. We should also keep in mind that they had skills to build cities and work with copper and iron in the time before the flood (Gen. 4:16-24) they were not as primitive as some might think.
Great Wooden Ships of the Past
This ark was not a ship, as some assume. It had neither bow nor stern, keel nor rudder—no bends or curves. It was basically a great chest, or box. Jehovah gave Noah the precise dimensions of the ark, some details regarding its design, and directions to coat it inside and out with tar.
Many people assume that it isn’t possible to build a sturdy “ship” as large as Noah’s Ark, even with modern technology. In reality, the ancient Greeks and medieval Chinese perfected the art of building massive ships on the same scale as Noah’s Ark.
A Greek historian describes a massive warship, called Tessarakonteres, built in the third century BC. About the same length as the Ark, it was built for speed and strength. It reportedly carried catapults and three or four thousand mariners.
During the Ming dynasty of the 1400s, the Chinese reportedly built a massive treasure ship with sails, called a junk. Westerners doubted whether the Chinese were capable of such feats, until the 1962 discovery of a rudder post in a Ming shipyard gave credence to these amazing claims.
Conclusion
The Bible doesn’t specify exactly how long it took Noah to build the ark. Some interpretations suggest it could have taken many decades, while others believe it might have been a shorter period. The focus is more on the significance of the event rather than the exact timeline.
There are views that it took Noah 100 or 120 years to build the ark, but you can find out why they are unlikely time frames when you visit our life-size Noah’s Ark or watch the video below.
2 Peter 2:5 describes him as a preacher. But aside from that just using plan old fashioned common sense. And taking the Bible as a whole. Aside from blatant enemies of God and His people, Has God ever destroyed anyone without fair warning? No. Not only that when we read the the lineage of Noah, we see that he apparently had siblings. I’m sure they would’ve inquired of Noah what was going on.
God never commanded him not to warn people. As a righteous man that’s just what he would’ve done.Jesus himself used the comparison of those days with the last days. Jesus said that the good news of the kingdom would be preached in all the earth and THEN the end would come. We see that today.
People may know who God is. But they DO NOT KNOW GOD. And that is completely by choice. Because the Bible is practically everywhere. New Testament or Old Testament it doesn’t matter, If it says Noah was a preacher….then he was a preacher. And if you take the time to read ALL of 2 Peter 2…..It is perfectly plain that Noah was a preacher BEFORE he entered the ark.
Well It’s perfectly plain to me anyway. My God is a God of love. And he would never destroy the inhabitants of the earth without a warning.
How long did it take noah to build the ark?