In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood - Did the Flood Last 40 Days and 40 Nights?

[ Frequently Asked Questions > Did the Flood Last 40 Days and 40 Nights?

Table 26. Log of the Flood Year 1
Day (Duration)	Reference in Genesis	Event	Comments
D - 7	7:1, 4, 10	Loading the Ark begins. Noah, his wife, their three sons, their sons’ wives, and representatives of all air-breathing land animals enter the Ark.
D	7:11, 13	Humans enter the Ark for the last time. Then, on this single day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open² and rain³ begins. [See Figures 42, 57, and 58.]	This occurred on the 17th day of the 2nd month. Noah was 600 years old.
(40 days)	7:12, 17	Rain³falls upon the earth. The Ark is lifted above the earth. The waters increase greatly⁴ upon the earth.	Evidently, the Ark was loaded on dry land.
(150 days)	7:19, 24	Waters prevail [rise with mighty power] upon the earth. They eventually cover all the earth’s preflood mountains.	Notice that the waters rose for 110 days after 40 days of “geshem” rain.
D + 150 days	8:1– 4	A wind passes over the earth. The waters begin to subside; the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky close, and the rain is restrained. The Ark rests upon the mountains of Ararat, and the water steadily recedes.	Months were probably 30 days long. Compare 8:3 and 8:4, and note that 8:4 begins with “And.” At the end of the flood, rapid rising of mountains displaced air and caused the wind.⁵ [See pages 499–500.]
D + 224 days	8:5	The tops of the mountains become visible.	Noah saw at least two peaks.
D + 264 days	8:7	Noah sends out a raven, a scavenger, so it may not have returned.	The birds may have been released at seven-day intervals. (Study Genesis 8:10.) This hints at a seven-day week and a Sabbath—a commemoration of the creation week. [See Genesis 7:4.] Because the dove—a non-scavenger—returned to Noah, Noah could deduce that little food was growing on earth.
D + 271 days⁶	8:8–9	Noah sends out a dove, a non-scavenger. It returns to Noah.
D + 278 days	8:10 –11	Again, Noah releases a dove. It returns with an olive leaf.
D + 285 days	8:12	Noah releases a dove for the third time. It does not return.
D + 314 days	8:13–14	Noah removes the covering of the Ark and sees the dry ground.	Noah stayed in Ark 57 more days. Conditions outside were unsafe. [See page 517.]
D + 371 days	8:15–19	God tells Noah to off-load the Ark.	Humans and animals probably migrated soon afterwards to lower, warmer, higher-pressure elevations.

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Did the Flood Last 40 Days and 40 Nights?

Table 26. Log of the Flood Year 1
Day (Duration)	Reference in Genesis	Event	Comments
D - 7	7:1, 4, 10	Loading the Ark begins. Noah, his wife, their three sons, their sons’ wives, and representatives of all air-breathing land animals enter the Ark.
D	7:11, 13	Humans enter the Ark for the last time. Then, on this single day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open² and rain³ begins. [See Figures 42, 57, and 58.]	This occurred on the 17th day of the 2nd month. Noah was 600 years old.
(40 days)	7:12, 17	Rain³falls upon the earth. The Ark is lifted above the earth. The waters increase greatly⁴ upon the earth.	Evidently, the Ark was loaded on dry land.
(150 days)	7:19, 24	Waters prevail [rise with mighty power] upon the earth. They eventually cover all the earth’s preflood mountains.	Notice that the waters rose for 110 days after 40 days of “geshem” rain.
D + 150 days	8:1– 4	A wind passes over the earth. The waters begin to subside; the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky close, and the rain is restrained. The Ark rests upon the mountains of Ararat, and the water steadily recedes.	Months were probably 30 days long. Compare 8:3 and 8:4, and note that 8:4 begins with “And.” At the end of the flood, rapid rising of mountains displaced air and caused the wind.⁵ [See pages 499–500.]
D + 224 days	8:5	The tops of the mountains become visible.	Noah saw at least two peaks.
D + 264 days	8:7	Noah sends out a raven, a scavenger, so it may not have returned.	The birds may have been released at seven-day intervals. (Study Genesis 8:10.) This hints at a seven-day week and a Sabbath—a commemoration of the creation week. [See Genesis 7:4.] Because the dove—a non-scavenger—returned to Noah, Noah could deduce that little food was growing on earth.
D + 271 days⁶	8:8–9	Noah sends out a dove, a non-scavenger. It returns to Noah.
D + 278 days	8:10 –11	Again, Noah releases a dove. It returns with an olive leaf.
D + 285 days	8:12	Noah releases a dove for the third time. It does not return.
D + 314 days	8:13–14	Noah removes the covering of the Ark and sees the dry ground.	Noah stayed in Ark 57 more days. Conditions outside were unsafe. [See page 517.]
D + 371 days	8:15–19	God tells Noah to off-load the Ark.	Humans and animals probably migrated soon afterwards to lower, warmer, higher-pressure elevations.

No. This is a common misunderstanding. Violent geshem³ rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights, but the floodwaters continued to rise and eventually covered all preflood mountains 150 days after the flood began. People and animals were in the Ark for more than a year—7 months after the Ark landed, because conditions outside the Ark were hostile. [To see why, read "Why Did the Floodwater Drain So Slowly?" on page 517.]

The flood was the deadliest event in human history, and it occurred in the most precisely recorded year in the Bible. Here are some flood-year events. (“D-day ” marks the start of the flood. D-7 represents one week before the flood began.)