Chronology of the Flood/2/en

Chronology of the Flood

Exegetical Approaches

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One Set of 150 Days Which Includes the First 40 Days

The two mentions of the 150 days refer to the same time period which encompasses the forty days of rain. The ark lands at the conclusion of these 150 days.

Sources:Qumran Scroll 4Q252Fragment 1 Columns 1-2About the Qumran Scrolls, the KaraitesYefet b. Eli Bereshit 8:4Aharon b. Yosef Bereshit 8:3-8Aharon b. Eliyahu Bereshit 8:3-6, rejected approach in Lekach TovBereshit 7:24About R. Toviah b. Eliezer, Ibn EzraBereshit 8:3-5Additional Commentary Bereshit 7:11Additional Commentary Bereshit 8:14Iggeret HaShabbatAbout R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 7:24Bereshit 8:3-10About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RidBereshit 7:12Bereshit 8:4About R. Yeshayah of Trani, approach in ChizkuniBereshit 7:17Bereshit 7:24Bereshit 8:3-13About R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach, both approaches in RambanBereshit 8:4-5About R. Moshe b. Nachman, Akeidat YitzchakBereshit 13About R. Yitzchak Arama, AbarbanelBereshit 7:24About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, SefornoBereshit 7:24About R. Ovadyah Seforno, second approach of R. Eliezer AshkenaziMa'asei Hashem Bereshit 26About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi (Ma'asei Hashem), ShadalBereshit 7:24Bereshit 8:2Bereshit 8:4About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto, Hoil MosheBereshit 7:11About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi, R. D"Z HoffmannBereshit 7:21-24About R. David Zvi Hoffmann, U. CassutoBereshit Introduction to the FloodAbout Prof. Umberto Cassuto

"וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם" – Most of these commentators hold that the seventh months is being counted from the beginning of the year.  According to this all dates in the story of the flood are being counted from the same time.  R. Eliezer Ashkenazi points out that there is no need for the Torah to mention the date that the ark landed if it was the same with the date the 150 days ended on. Ramban in his first approach and R. Eliezer Ashkenazi explain instead that the seventh month is counted from the start of the flood and the ark landed a month after the end of the 150 days.¹

How do 150 days fit in five months? According to Ramban's first approach and R. Eliezer Ashkenazi there are six months between the start of the rain and the landing of the ark and the 150 days end before the landing.  However, the majority in this approach holds that between the start of the rain and the landing of the ark there are only five months and 150 days do not fit in five regular consecutive Hebrew months.  The commentators resolve this issue in different ways:

• Different calender – the Qumran scrolls calculate the dates based on their own calender in which two out of every three months has thirty days and the third month has thirty one days.  Yehuda HaParsi quoted in Ibn Ezra's Iggeret HaShabbat and options quoted in the Karaites explain that Noach was using the solar calender. According to both of these approaches there are two days after the end of the 150 days before the ark landed.  Ibn Ezra suggests instead that Noach was using a calender that adds to one month a few days.  R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, Seforno, and Hoil Moshe hold that Noach was using a thirty month calendar.  Hoil Moshe writes that in Noach's time people were not so knowledgeable regarding the length of months.
• Special Hebrew months – Yefet and Anan the Karaites wanted to prove from here that one declares the month based on eyewitnesses and not based on calculations that never have five months which are 150 days.  Yefet and Anan also explain that if one does not see the moon (like Noach when he was in the Ark) one counts the month as a thirty day month.²
• Rounded number – the Rid, the other Karaites, and U. Cassuto say that the months were real Hebrew months and instead reinterpret the 150 days and say that it is a round number.³

"בָּעֲשִׂירִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ נִרְאוּ רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים" – The commentators in this approach are consistent in their explanation of the tenth month and seventh month.  Ramban in his first explanation and R. Eliezer Ashkenazi explain also here that the month is counted from the beginning of the rain while most commentators explain that the month is the tenth month from the beginning of the year.

"וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם" – According to Ramban and R. Eliezer Ashkenazi's approach the second forty days are from the first of the tenth month from the start of the rain and therefore the 21 days after the forty end around the first of the first month when Noach opens the Ark's cover.  Most of the other commentators who explain that the tenth month is from the beginning of the year say also the the second forty days are from the tenth month.  According to them the dove not coming back is not because "חָרְבוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ" but they are two separate stages and after the dove did not come back there was another month until "חָרְבוּ הַמַּיִם". The Rid explains that the forty and 21 days are after the landing of the ark.  According to him the sending of the raven lasted for ten days that are not mentioned explicitly and therefore the last sending of the dove was on the first of the tenth month when the tops of the mountains appear. This explains why the dove could not land until the last time it was sent.

"וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם" and "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם" – The commentators disagree regarding what happened during the rest of the 150 days after the forty days of rain:

• Some maintain that the water was increasing for all 150 days.  They understand verse 7:24 as its simple meaning that the water was increasing on the land for 150 days. Verse 8:3 which says "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם מִקְצֵה חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם" they explain to mean that the water decreased from the end of the 150 days.  Akeidat Yitzchak questions what the was the need for extra days after the forty themselves. Seforno explains that while in the forty days there was both rain and water rising from underneath the ground, after the forty days the rain stopped.⁴ These commentators have to explain how the ark landed immediately after the water stopped increasing.⁵  According to Qumran, Ramban's first approach, and R. Eliezer Ashkenazi there are extra days between the end of the 150 days and the landing of the ark in which the water decreased.  However, according to the other commentators the ark landed immediately after the 150 days.⁶ Ramban in his second approach explains that Hashem brought a wind which caused the water to decrease a lot.⁷
• Other commentators explain that already from the end of the forty days the water was decreasing.  They⁸ explain that until the end of the 150 days the water were still considered high upon the earth since the ark could not land yet. Chizkuni explains that "וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם" is mentioned before the decreasing of the water since the Torah wanted to put together everything about the ceasing of the water.

Water level relative to the ark – According to verse 7:20 the water covered 15 ammot on top of the mountains. According to those who say that the water was decreasing already from the end of the forty days the 15 ammot were decreasing for 180 days until the first of the tenth month and when the ark landed the water was only covering 6 ammot of the height of the ark.⁹  However, according to those who maintain that only after the 150 days did the water start decreasing when the ark landed the water was still covering half the height of the ark.¹⁰ Ramban writes that in the night after the water started decreasing and before the ark landed the next morning most of the water decreased and compares it to Yam Suf.

One Set of 150 Days Which Does Not Include the First 40 Days

Both sets of 150 days are combined and in order to fit the separate forty days, the seven months are not counted from the beginning of the year.

Sources:Seder Olam Rabbah4About Seder Olam Rabbah, Bereshit Rabbah33:7About Bereshit Rabbah, Sefer HaArukhs.v. קלAbout R. Natan b. Yechiel, RashiBereshit 7:12Bereshit 8:3-14Ms. Leipzig 1 Bereshit 8:5-6About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, Lekach TovBereshit 7:24Bereshit 8:3-6Bereshit 8:10-14About R. Toviah b. Eliezer, ChizkuniBereshit 7:24Bereshit 8:3-13About R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach, R. Chaim PaltielBereshit 8:6About R. Chaim Paltiel, Tosafot HaShalemBereshit 8:4:8Bereshit 8:4:8 (in footnote)Bereshit 8:5:5About Ba'alei HaTosafot, Minchat YehudaBereshit 8:6About R. Yehuda b. Elazar, Daat ZekeinimBereshit 8:3About Daat Zekeinim, first approach of R. Eliezer AshkenaziMa'asei Hashem Bereshit 26About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi (Ma'asei Hashem)

"וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם" – Most of these commentators explain that the seventeenth of the seventh month is really the seventeenth of the ninth month to the beginning of the year and then the 150 and 40 days fit before the ark landed. Ba'alei HaTosafot do quote an approach that the seventh month is really only the eighth month to the start of the year but they reject it since the ark would have rested before the water started decreasing. According to the rejected approach it is possible that the ark got stuck and landed as Rasag quoted in Yefet suggests. This would be simpler to say if during the 150 days the water wasn't increasing anymore but just stayed in their place or were already decreasing.

When do the 150 days end? Seder Olam Rabbah writes that the 150 days were until the first of Sivan.  The problem with Seder Olam Rabbah is that the first of Sivan is the 151 day.  Later on, Seder Olam Rabbah also writes that there are 16 days in which the water decreased before the ark landed on the seventeenth of Sivan implying that the first of Sivan is not counted but he does count the day as part of the second set of forty days. Rashi writes in one place that the first day of the flood is not counted .  is trying to explain Seder Olam Rabbah and therefore

"בָּעֲשִׂירִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ נִרְאוּ רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים" – These commentators hold that the tenth month is the eleventh month of the year.  They hold this in order to explain how the second set of forty days and the 21 days fit exactly.

"וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם" – Three options are brought explaining from when the forty days are counted:

• According to Seder Olam Rabbah

Calculating the seventh and tenth month – Most of the exegetes hold that the seventh month is counted from the end of the rain and the tenth month from the beginning of the rain.  Many commentators note this inconsistency between both months and two alternative explanations are offered.  According to the Arukh and R. Yitzchak in a gloss on Ms. Leipzig 1 of Rashi there are seven full months from the start of the rain until the ark landed and the tenth month is also counted from the start of the rain.¹¹ According to one of the Ba'alei HaTosafot the year of the flood was a leap year.  Therefore if the tenth month is ten months from the end of the rain there is still time for the forty days and 21 days to fit before the start of the year.

How do 61 days fit in two months?

"וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם" and "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם" – These commentators hold that "וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ" happened during the 150 days and the water started to abate only after the end of the 150 days and that is the meaning of "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם מִקְצֵה חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם".  However, the commentators offer two explanations regarding what happened during the 150 days themselves:

• According to Seder Olam Rabbah and the Arukh after the forty days the water stopped increasing but stayed in its place. Seder Olam Rabbah explains that during these 150 days the wicked were each being sentenced for their actions.  The Arukh explains the language of "וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם" to mean that they stayed in their strength.
• According to Ba'alei HaTosafot the water were still increasing throughout all the 150 days even though the rain stopped already after the first 40 days. Perhaps, the water may have continued coming out from underground.

Shifting water levels

Two sets of 150 Days Which Include the Second 40 Days

Sources:RadakBereshit 7:24Bereshit 8:3-14About R. David Kimchi

¹ R. Saadia also suggests that the seventh month is from the start of the flood but it is unclear what his position is in general.  He brings a similar case in Yirmeyahu 28:17 where Yirmeyahu prophesied that Chananyah will die by the end of the year but he dies on the seventh month which is the first month of the next year. Therefore, R. Saadia explains that the seventh month is from the time of Yirmeyahu's prophecy.

² R. Saadia quoted in Yefet questions this position that there is no reason Noach could not see the moon for the whole five months since it was only raining during the first month and even if he could not see the moon the calculations could have been made by Hashem and it would not matter if the moon was hidden.  R.  Saadia also questions their first claim that 150 days do not fit in five months.  R. Saadia says that if the five months started from Cheshvan one could have four of the five be full months if Cheshvan and Kislev were full that year and the year was a leap year in which the first of Adar is also full.

³ For other examples where the Torah uses round numbers see the Karaites and the Rid and see Round Numbers.

⁴ In verse 7:11 it says that on the seventeenth of the second month the underground waters and the heavens opened up.  Seforno is based on verses 7:4 and 7:12 where it says that for forty days there was rain but only in verse 8:2 after the 150 days end does it say that the underground waters stopped. However, in verse 8:2 it is also mentioned that the rain stopped, implying that both ended at the same time.

⁵ Akeidat Yitzchak points out that the Torah mentions that the ark landed only after it talks about the decrease in the water even though this approach holds that the ark landed at the beginning of the decrease.

⁶ Akeidat Yitzchak points out that the Torah mentions that the ark landed only after it talks about the decrease in the water even though this approach holds that the ark landed at the beginning of the decrease.

⁷ Ramban compares this to Yam Suf where it says: "וַיּוֹלֶךְ י"י אֶת הַיָּם בְּרוּחַ קָדִים עַזָּה כׇּל הַלַּיְלָה וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת הַיָּם לֶחָרָבָה וַיִּבָּקְעוּ הַמָּיִם".

⁸ See Akeidat Yitzchak, Abarbanel, R. D"Z Hoffmann and perhaps R. Yosef Bekhor Shor.

⁹ Lekach Tov and R. Yosef Bekhor Shor write that the water was decreasing evenly for all the 180 days and therefore every twelve days the water decreased an ammah. Therefore, in the 110 days before the ark landed the water decreased nine full ammot and the other six of the fifteen ammot decreased after the ark landed.

¹⁰ According to Ramban's first approach and R. Eliezer Ashkenazi there is an extra month after the water started decreasing before the ark landed but the water would still be covering a lot of the ark.

¹¹ They explain the language "בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ" to mean that the ark landed seven months after the start of the rain on the seventeenth of the month.