Bible Quiz #4 -- Noah & The Flood

Ark Replica in Netherlands

[See "Bible Quiz #3 -- Descendants of Adam & Eve" ]

In addition to its obvious religious importance, the Bible is a significant work of literature. However, much of what we know about the Bible is through hearsay and forgotten lessons. The following is an educational lesson of sorts. It is in "quiz" format, but it will not affect your grade point average.

The Bible in this case refers to the Hebrew Scriptures: the TANACH. For the translation from Hebrew, I will use the American Jewish Version. This quiz will only cover the passages regarding Noah and The Flood in Genesis 6.9-9.28.

I will provide some insight into TANACH passages that are hidden from English readers. If your your computer screen does not display the Hebrew characters correctly, it's no big deal, since you cannot read them anyway, right?

For atheists, don't slink away. This is not a religious or theological lesson, nor a conversion attempt. It's just a parsing of a unique piece of literature from a unique perspective.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the size of Noah’s Ark?

2. Noah takes at least two of each kind of creature aboard the Ark.  However, upon God’s instructions, Noah actually takes more than two of many creatures.  Which are these creatures and how many of each does he take?

3. How many days is Noah given to gather the animals for the Ark?

4. The Flood is not caused only by the rains.  What else contributes to the Flood?

5. How high above the mountains does the Flood reach?

6. The rains continue for 40 days and 40 nights.  How long does Noah stay aboard the Ark?

7. Noah sends birds from the Ark to determine if the Flood has subsided.  How many times does he send a bird, and which birds does he send?

8. God says the rainbow is to be considered a sign of something.  What is it a sign of?

ANSWERS

1. About 450 feet (157 meters) long, 75 ft. (23 m.) wide, and 45 ft. (14 m.) high
 God instructs Noah to build an ark that is 300 cubits long (450 feet/157 meters), 50 cubits wide (75 feet/23 meters), and three decks totaling 30 cubits high (45 feet/14 meters).  The total is 450,00 cubic cubits (1.519 million cubic feet/50,554 cubic meters), which would displace about 43,000 tons.
Genesis 6:15

Light inside the Ark: Rather than using the more common words for “light” [אור -- or ] or “window” [ חלון -- khalon ], God commands Noah to make a צהר [tsohar].  This is the only time the word ever appears in the Bible (interestingly, its plural form -- צהר'ם [tsaha-ra-eem] means “noon,” while the verb צהר [tsahar] means “shine” or “glitter”).

2. Seven pairs of each “clean” animal and seven pairs each of birds
God instructs Noah to take the following numbers of creatures aboard the Ark:  “Of every clean beast you shall take seven and seven, each with his mate; and of the beasts that are not clean, two, each with his mate; of the fowl also of the air, seven and seven, male and female….”  Therefore, Noah is to take 14 of each clean animal (seven males and seven females), 14 of each bird, and only two of each unclean animal.   There is no mention of sea creatures.
Genesis 7:2

3. Seven
After instructing Noah to gather the animals for the Ark, God warns: “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth….”
Genesis 7:4

4. The Fountains of the Deep
At the same time that the rains begin, “all the fountains of the great deep burst apart.”
Genesis 7:11

5. 15 cubits (22.5 feet/6.75 meters)After 40 days of rain, “fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered.”
Genesis 7:20

6. One year and 10 days
It rains for 40 days.  The Flood peaks and the Ark comes to rest upon a mountaintop after 150 days.  Other mountaintops do not become visible until after 223 days.  One year and 10 days after the rains had begun, the earth is dry, and God tells Noah to exit the Ark .
Genesis 7:24-8:16

7. A raven once; a dove three times
On the 263rd day of the Flood, Noah sends a raven, which “went to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth.”  Then he sends a dove, which returns to the Ark.  He sends the dove a second time, and it returns with an olive branch.  On the 284th day, he sends the dove a third time, and it does not return.
Genesis 8:7-12

The end of vegetarianism:  On the final day of Creation, God explains how he is providing vegetation as food for all living creatures:  “I have given you every herb yielding seed … and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed -- to you it shall be for food; and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, every green herb for food.” [Genesis 1:29-30]  After Noah disembarks from the Ark, God tells him:  “Every moving thing that lives shall be for food for you; as the green herb have I given you all.” [Genesis 9:3]

8. God’s agreement not to destroy the world again with a great flood
God says: “I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.  …when I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen in the cloud, that I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
Genesis 9:13-15