By Archie England, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at NOBTS
Question: My question to begin this New Year comes from a well-known text, Genesis 6, in which God instructs Noah to “make an ark.” How could Noah build an ocean-worthy vessel 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall? What technology existed to fell trees, mill lumber, shape and bore beams and joints, as well as caulk and trim watertight seams? Also, how did Noah “discover” the more specific details of beam sizes (2x12s or 6x6s, etc.), from the general details of Genesis 6:14-16? Finally, how long did this take?
Archie England responds: Genesis 5:32 informs us that Noah was 500 years and had three sons; Gen 7:6,11 states that Noah entered the ark on the 17th day of the 2nd month of his 600th year. This suggests that the ark was built within this 100-year period of Noah’s life. That’s the easy answer. Sawing, drilling, hauling, and lifting technologies for that ancient age are unknown to us: accomplishments of later periods – the Tower of Babel, the pyramids, the Sphynx, and other such wonders – do suggest that these ancients were far more “advanced” than we “moderns” are inclined to think. Nevertheless, Gen 4:20-22 indicates domestication of livestock, the innovation of certain musical instruments, and blacksmithing of bronze and iron metallurgy already existed. Plausibly, then, Noah learned these basic craftsman’s skills, acquired or innovatively forged his own tools, adapted building techniques (from the city builders noted in Gen 4:17), designed detailed “blueprints,” and then “did according to all that God had commanded him” – a hundred years worth of doing!
Noah built an ark, the first of its kind as an inland vessel suited for deep-water, cargo-bearing shipping. But, it took him about 100 years. It interrupted his life, his family, his normal work life and it cost him the opportunity to become an integral part of his community. God’s task became the priority of his life.
