What are some of the most common questions about Noah’s Ark?
How long did it take Noah to build the ark? The Bible does not specifically say how long it took Noah to build the ark. When Noah is first mentioned in Genesis 5:32, he is 500 years old. When Noah enters the ark, he is 600 years old. The time it took to build the ark would depend on how much time passed between Genesis 6:14, when God commanded Noah to build the ark; and Genesis 7:1, when God commanded Noah to enter the ark. Some scholars teach that it took Noah 120 years to build the ark, based on Genesis 6:3. Others say that it took 100 years, based on Noah’s age in Genesis 5:32 and his age in Genesis 7:6.
How long was Noah on the ark? Noah entered the ark in the 600th year of his life, on the 17th day of the 2nd month (Genesis 7:11-13). Noah left the ark on the 27th day of the 2nd month of the following year (Genesis 8:14-15). Therefore, assuming a lunar calendar of 360 days, Noah was on the ark for approximately 370 days.
How many of each type of animal did Noah take on the ark? Seven pairs of each kind of clean animal and one pair of each kind of other animals were taken on the ark (Genesis 6:19-20; 7:2-3). By “clean” the Bible means animals that were “acceptable for sacrifice.” That is why seven pairs of the clean animals were taken – so some of them could be sacrificed after the Flood was over without endangering the species.
How many people were on Noah’s ark? According to Genesis chapters 6-8, Noah, his wife, Noah’s three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), and their wives were on the ark. Therefore, there were eight people on the ark.
Who was Noah’s wife? The Bible nowhere specifically gives us the name or identity of Noah’s wife. There is a tradition that she was Naamah (Genesis 4:22). While possible, this is not explicitly taught in the Bible.
Why did God allow Satan to enter the Garden of Eden?
Genesis 3 explains how sin came into the world but does not patently state why God allowed Satan into the Garden of Eden. However, a viable answer is discernable in God’s plan of salvation.
The Genesis narrative reveals that God created Adam and Eve—the first man and woman of the human race. They were made perfect and sinless, and God gave them everything they needed to enjoy and thrive. He did all this out of His fathomless, unconditional love for them. God desired them to love Him in return and express that love through faithful obedience.
For love to be proved genuine, God gave Adam and Eve and all succeeding people the freedom to choose. We can choose to love or not to love, to obey God or not to obey Him, to do good or evil. If the human will had never been allowed to be tested and proved, then people would be nothing more than robots. God could have created us to love and obey Him automatically. He could have put a fence around the Garden of Eden and never allowed humanity to be tempted. But God’s desire was and is for people to love Him sincerely, obey Him willingly, and worship Him wholeheartedly (Deuteronomy 10:12–13; Matthew 22:37; John 14:15; 1 John 4:19).
God placed a restriction on Adam and Eve. He commanded, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16–17). The tree was God’s test of obedience and love.
Even though Adam and Eve were in paradise without sin, rebellion and evil had already come into creation through the angel Lucifer’s fall (Isaiah 14:12–15). Lucifer was created perfect and beautiful and may have been in the Garden of Eden prior to his rebellion (see Ezekiel 28:13). Lucifer’s undoing was his proud desire to “be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14, NLT). After his fall, Lucifer became known as Satan or the devil. Evil and sin came into the world through Lucifer’s rebellion.
Satan lured Eve with the same sin he had committed—the ambition to be like God (Genesis 3:4–5). Both the tree and Satan presented a test. Eve took Satan’s bait, Adam chose to follow Eve into sin, and the fall of humankind was complete (Romans 5:12). The couple and all subsequent humans would pay the consequences of their disobedience, beginning with separation from God. Sin breaks our fellowship with God. Born in a state of estrangement from our Creator, we all desperately need a Savior to reconcile and restore our relationship with God (Romans 3:9, 10–12, 23; Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:3).
Why did God allow Satan to enter the Garden of Eden? At best, we can speculate that God allowed it as a means of testing Adam and Eve’s love and obedience. Why did God let His beloved creations fall into sin? These questions have no definitive answers in Scripture. The Bible does not tell us everything we want to know, but God, through His Word, does provide everything we need (2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:3). We can stand firm on the truth Scripture does reveal. We know God is good, wise, and loving (Luke 18:19; Genesis 50:20; 1 John 4:8, 16). Everything He does is in our best interest, for a good and loving purpose (Romans 8:28; 31–38).
Some things are hidden from us in Scripture and not for us to know: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). We are allowed to explore, research, and discover much in God’s Word, but there is infinite knowledge beyond our finite reach (Psalm 44:21; Daniel 8:26; Romans 11:33; 16:25). When we are left with unanswerable questions, we must be willing to accept what God has not revealed and cling to what He has.
The book of Genesis relates how God created Eve: “The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21–22). The phrase for “one of his ribs” could be translated “a part of his side” (NET), but almost every English translation specifies the part as a “rib.”
Earlier, in making Adam, God used the “dust of the ground” to form his body and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). But, in making Eve, God did not go back to the dust; He used one of Adam’s ribs to form the woman. When she was brought to Adam, the man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” (verse 23).
God used Adam’s rib to form Eve—He used existing tissue and did not “start from scratch”—to show that Adam and Eve were of the same substance; she was made from the same “stuff” and was a bearer of God’s image and likeness, just as Adam was (see Genesis 1:27). The woman made of Adam’s rib was designed to be a companion and “helper suitable” for Adam (Genesis 2:18). Eve, formed from a physical part of Adam, was truly his complement, an integral part of who he was. As such, she was a perfect companion.
Why did God use Adam’s rib? Interestingly, ribs have amazing regenerative powers. Portions of rib bone and cartilage removed in bone graft surgery will regrow in a few months’ time, as long as the rib perichondrium is left intact. This means that Adam’s loss of a rib was only temporary; he did not have to go through the rest of his life with an incomplete skeletal system.
When God brought Eve to Adam, they were united in marriage: the “woman” in Genesis 2:22 is called Adam’s “wife” in verse 24. The pattern for marriage, the first social institution, was thus established by God in Eden. The manner of Eve’s creation is “why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” The unity of a married couple and the “one flesh” principle are based on the fact that God used one of Adam’s ribs to make the woman.
God’s use of one of Adam’s ribs to make Eve is a reminder that woman was created to be “beside” man. Together, the man and woman complement one another in marriage, and in Christ they are “heirs together of the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:7, NKJV).
Why weren’t Adam and Eve created at the same time (Genesis 2)?
Genesis 2 describes the creation of Adam and then indicates that Eve was created sometime later. Surely, God had a reason for not creating them at the same time.
Some have suggested that there is no clear rationale for God’s delay in creating Eve, but the text does imply a reason. Genesis 2:20 states, “The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.” Each animal lived in community with other animals. In contrast, Adam was alone. It seems that God wanted Adam to recognize that aloneness before God created a wife for him. It was necessary for Adam to feel his need in order for the fulfillment to be truly satisfying.
The answer to Adam’s aloneness was Eve. She was called a “helper,” one who both supported and complemented Adam and a person he could support as well. God’s use of Adam’s rib to form Eve provided a unique connection point to highlight their dependence upon one another and the fact that they were “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
If Adam and Eve had been created at the same time, this aspect of human community or companionship would not have been as conspicuous. The fact that God separated the times of Adam’s and Eve’s creation draws attention to their need for companionship. The man’s solitary existence was the only thing called “not good” in all of creation—a telling description by God Himself to accentuate our need for community (Genesis 2:18).
Interestingly, the Genesis account of the creation of Adam and Eve does not show Adam as better than Eve or Eve as better than Adam. Instead, they are shown as interdependent, one with the other, as part of God’s “good” creation. Genesis 2 concludes with God’s plan for marriage: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Marriage between a man and a woman is a unity that reflects God’s original pattern in creation.
Why did God make man out of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7)?
Genesis 2:7 teaches, “The Lord God formed a man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” With the rest of creation, God had simply spoken things into existence (e.g., Genesis 1:3, 14, 20, 24), but God does things differently with man.
Three important observations can be made. First, the fact that man was created from dust makes him unique among all of God’s creation. To create the sun, mountains, animal life, etc., God simply spoke. We read, “Then God said” over and over in Genesis 1. Human life, however, included the “dust of the earth” and the very breath of God. Man is a unique combination of earthly, natural material and life-giving power from God Himself. Such a mode of creation highlights the importance and value of human life.
Second, the use of dust suggests a certain lowliness. God did not use gold or granite or gemstones to make man. He used dust, a humble substance. What gives man his glory? The dust, or the breath of God within the dust? Genesis 3:19 notes man’s dependence upon God and the fragile nature of human life: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Third, the literary structure of the passage puts man’s creation from the dust of the earth in a place of significance. The structure of Genesis 2:5–9 can be broken down like this:
A No plant life (verse 5a) B No intervention by God (verse 5b) C No man to work the ground (verse 5c) D Mist from God (verse 6) E God creates man (verse 7a) X God gives life (verse 7a) E Man become a living creature (verse 7b) D Garden from God (verse 8a) C Man works the ground (verse 8b; cf. verse 15) B God intervenes (verse 9) A Plant life exists (verse 9)
God could have chosen to create humans in any way He desired. However, Scripture records the particular way He did create—using both natural material (dust) and supernatural power to give humans a unique place in the cosmos. The recipe of dust of the earth + God’s breath emphasizes the supernatural power of God and the fragile nature of humanity. Human life is completely dependent upon God, and, as a result, humans are called to worship the Lord and to serve Him only.
Why did God rest on the seventh day of creation (Genesis 2:2)?
In Genesis 2:2 we read, “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” If God is omnipotent—if He has all power—it doesn’t make much sense that He would need to “rest.” After we’ve had a busy week, we take a nap—but God?
First, we should quote the verse correctly. It doesn’t say God “needed” to rest; it simply says that He did rest. Also, it is clear from Scripture that God did not rest because He was tired. Genesis 17:1 calls God the “Almighty God.” Psalm 147:5 says, “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.” God is all-powerful; He never tires and never needs to rest. As Isaiah 40:28 says, “The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.” God is the sum of perfection; He is never diminished in any way, and that includes being diminished in power.
When God said, “Let there be light,” the light appeared. He simply spoke creation into existence (Genesis 1:1-3). Later, we read that Jesus Christ “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). Forget the image of Atlas straining under the weight of the world on his shoulders. It’s not like that. The entire universe is held together by Jesus’ word. The creation and maintenance of the universe is not difficult for God. A mere word will suffice. As Psalm 33:9 declares, “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
The Hebrew word translated “rested” in Genesis 2:2 includes other ideas than that of being tired. In fact, one of the main definitions of the Hebrew word shabat is “to cease or stop.” In Genesis 2:2 the understanding is that God “stopped” His work; He “ceased” creating on the seventh day. All that He had created was good, and His work was finished.
The context of Genesis 1–2 strongly affirms the idea of God’s “rest” being a cessation of work, not a reinvigoration after work. The narrative tells us which things God created in each of the first six days. His power is displayed through the creation of light, mountains, seas, the sun, moon and stars, plant and animal life, and, finally, humanity. There are many parallels between the first three days of creation and the second three days. However, the seventh day is a sharp contrast. Instead of more creating, there is shabat. Instead of God “doing” more, He “ceased” from doing.
God did not merely “rest” on the seventh day; He “stopped creating.” It was a purposeful stop. Everything He desired to create had been made. He looked at His creation, declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31), and ceased from His activity. In the Jewish tradition, the concept of shabat has been carried over as the “Sabbath.” The Law of Moses taught there was to be no work at all on the seventh day (Saturday). Because God ceased from work that day, the Israelites were to cease from their work on the Sabbath. Thus, the days of creation are the basis of our universal observance of a seven-day week.
Simply put, God’s “rest” was not due to His being tired but to His being completely finished with His creative work.
What does God mean when He tells Adam and Eve to fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28)?
On the sixth day of creation, God created land animals and the first human beings. Unlike every other created thing, humans (both male and female) were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27; 5:1–3; 9:6; James 3:9). God blessed Adam and Eve—His crowning achievements—and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28).
God’s first assignment for this pioneering couple was, in reality, a divine blessing to “fill the earth and subdue it.” The task of “filling” or populating the earth was related to God’s command to “be fruitful and increase in number.” As heads of the human race, Adam and Eve were sanctioned by God to reproduce and inhabit the earth with children. Later, after the flood, Noah and his family (the subsequent heads of the human race) were given the same blessings by God to “be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1).
The job of filling the earth could only be accomplished if the pair worked together. Physically, God created Adam and Eve uniquely so that they could not complete the task alone. Likewise, both would need to work in emotional, spiritual, relational, and social cooperation to fill the earth with many children. In God’s paradisal plan, both a father and mother were essential to producing and raising children. While single-parenting is commonplace today, the circumstances are often challenging and require support from friends and family members.
It’s important to note that God’s command to be fruitful and increase in number is generally understood as an individual command to heads of the human race (Adam and Eve, and Noah and his wife). God would not demand that every person “fill the earth” or reproduce as many children as possible yet allow some couples to experience infertility. Some people are incapable of having children, while God calls others to remain single and childless (1 Corinthians 7:8).
Not only did God bless Adam and Eve with the responsibility to fill the earth, but also to work the earth and subdue it. In the original Hebrew, the word translated as “subdue” means “to make subordinate, dependent, or subservient.” The idea of subduing the earth involves actively ruling over it with physical force or effort, not to destroy it but to cultivate it, making the land productive and life-sustaining.
The Lord created everything for us but handed us the job of keeping it under control. He desired that we work to prevent chaotic conditions from spoiling the earth and rendering it useless. Adam and Eve were to use God’s creation to provide for themselves and to serve the Lord. Along with the privilege, God gave us the responsibility of caretakers: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15).
God graciously and generously blessed humans with “every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food” (Genesis 1:29). People were vegetarians in the Garden of Eden, but God broadened their diet to include animals after the flood of Noah’s day (Genesis 9:3).
When the Lord told Adam and Eve to fill the earth and subdue it, He was showing humanity one of the primary reasons we were created—to be God’s representatives throughout the world and to rule over all things in His name (Psalm 8:6; 115:16). We were fashioned in God’s image so that we could represent Him on the earth. And we were made like Him so that we could be in relationship with Him. From the beginning, God desired to bless us with His magnificent creation, and He enjoyed living in close fellowship with us.
What does the Bible mean by “male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27)?
In Genesis 1:26 recounts God’s stated intention to create humanity. In Genesis 1:27, He accomplishes it and tells the reader that He made man (Hebrew, adam) in His own image and likeness, but the narrative adds that He also created man as male and female. This makes evident the subtle nuance that humanity—called “man” (adam)—was more than the individual human named Adam. While the creation account in Genesis 1 tells us God created man (humanity), the specifics of how He distinguished male and female are found in the next chapter. Genesis 2:7 recounts the creation of Adam. God formed him from the dust of the earth and gave him the breath of life, and Adam became a living being.
After God created Adam, He stated that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone—God had designed humanity to be male and female, and the job wasn’t yet finished. So He showed Adam how other creatures had their opposite-gender counterparts (Genesis 2:19–20) and how none of those were suitable for Adam. Once the need was demonstrated, God put Adam to sleep, removed one of Adam’s ribs (Genesis 2:21), and from that rib fashioned Adam’s female counterpart (Genesis 2:22). When God brought her to Adam, Adam acknowledged that she was of the same nature—recognizing her equality—and yet distinct (Genesis 2:23). That equality, complementarity, and distinctiveness are acknowledged throughout the Bible. For example, Peter would later refer to women as fellow heirs of grace (1 Peter 3:7)
The creation account in Genesis provides the background and basis for gender distinctions, sexuality, and even marriage (see Genesis 2:24). This is particularly timely in an age when there is a great deal of gender confusion and in which gender identity is regularly viewed by many to be optional. God created humanity with two complementary counterparts—male and female—and the binarity of that creative work provides the framework for human relations. Yet the further away from the Designer a society gets, the further away the culture seeks to move from the design.
Many today are struggling to understand who they are and who they are designed to be. For those who are wrestling with uncertainty, we can be encouraged knowing that our Creator has designed us and cares for us even when we lose our way. Where better to look for our definition and our design than the One who defined and designed us? Paul reminds us that we are designed to be His workmanship, born anew in Jesus, and made so that we can fulfill His design for our lives (Ephesians 2:10).
What does it mean that God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:18)?
Seven times in Genesis 1, God observes His creation to be good. In Genesis 1:4, after He had spoken light into existence, He declared it to be good. In Genesis 1:10, after separating the water from the land, He called that good. After creating plant life, in Genesis 1:12 He saw that it was good, also. In Genesis 1:18, after putting in place a system for lighting the earth and for separating night from day, He calls that good. In Genesis 1:21, after creating animals to populate the water and the air, He observes that to be good. In Genesis 1:25, after populating the land with animals and insects, He calls that good, too. Finally, after creating humanity as the capstone of His creation (Genesis 1:26–30), He observed all He had made and declared it to be not just good but very good.
The Hebrew word translated as “good” in the English is tov. The term rendered “very good” is hennah tov, which could be translated as “certainly good” or “surely good.” It is noteworthy that the word good is never actually defined in the Bible—the concept is simply assumed. It does seem, though, that the kind of good referenced in Genesis 1 is a good in the qualitative sense of functionality. Because of the success in design and execution of all that was created, it could be that God was calling things good because they were effective for fulfilling the function for which He designed them. If so, this would reflect a kind of instrumental good.
It is also worth noting that in each of these instances it is said that God “saw” that it was good. That God was observing that these things were good implies that He had a design and purpose in mind and that the created products met His approval—He judged them to be effective for serving His purpose. As the Creator, God has the right to define and judge. He assessed that which He had created and determined it was good. This is a good reminder for us that, because He has the authority that only a sovereign Creator can have, we ought to look to Him to learn of His judgments and assessments. If He judges something to be good (or not good), then it is that.
It is encouraging to know we can trust God to inform us truthfully and accurately. If He is making determinations like this—assessing the quality of all things created—and if we can trust Him with that, then there is a precedent clearly presented that we can trust Him with anything. He is the determiner of what is good and what is not. This is one reason that Satan’s statement in Genesis 3:4 (that God was either wrong or lying and that Eve would not die if she ate the fruit that God had prohibited) was so evidently wrong. God had determined what was good and what was not, and He communicated that to Adam (Genesis 2:17). Unfortunately, Adam and Eve failed to acknowledge that, as the Creator, God had the right to define, assess, and judge. It is easy for us to make the same mistake, but God has graciously allowed us access to His creation account so we can learn that He is the Definer, and we can trust Him—we should trust Him, in fact. If we don’t, we are falling into the same trap Satan set for Eve: trusting someone else’s judgment when God has defined, determined, and communicated. Wouldn’t it be nice if we learned from our mistakes and didn’t repeat them?
Why is a day measured from evening to morning in Genesis 1?
The most natural explanation for a day being measured from evening to morning in Genesis 1 is that the beginning of time was marked by darkness. Genesis 1:2 notes, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.”
Then, in Genesis 1:3-5, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” Light came after darkness, indicating the markers of a full day. In the Jewish tradition, days follow this pattern of night first, then day. Still today, practicing Jews observe the Sabbath beginning on sunset of Friday until sunset on Saturday.
Eventually, there was a change to today’s practice where a day starts at midnight. The modern calendar is based on the Gregorian calendar, a revision of the Julian calendar implemented in 45 B.C. by Julius Caesar. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the Julian calendar became the standard adopted by other nations. The revision into the Gregorian calendar came in 1582.
Genesis 1 reveals that the days of the week were originally measured “evening” then “morning.” Each description of the seven days of creation uses this format, clearly indicating a day that began at sunset.
The Jews in the time of Jesus continued to recognize this pattern. One example in the Gospels involves the burial of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus in a nearby tomb just before sunset (John 19:42). Luke 23:54 reads, “It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin” (NASB). The fact that the Sabbath began at sundown also explains why the two thieves’ deaths were hastened (John 19:31).
Genesis 1 marks days from evening to morning as a natural extension of God turning darkness into light. This tradition continued through the New Testament period and is practiced today by many observant Jews. Christians are not bound to divide days the same way, but an understanding of the Jewish way of reckoning time is basic to understanding some of the cultural practices in the Bible.
