Chronology of the Flood/2/en

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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.

"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 forty days, the seven months are not counted from after the beginning of the year.

"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.11
"בָּעֲשִׂירִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ נִרְאוּ רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים"
"וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם"
"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