Genesis7:17

Translation

And it came about that the flowing waters

[were on] the earth forty days and the waters grew great and lifted up the vessel

and it rose high above the earth. (See comments below.)

Paraphrase

And it happened that the rushing waves of water were present on the earth for a full and complete period of time, and at some point they increased in depth enough to lift the ark off the ground and it floated higher and higher above the ground as the waters continued to rise. (See comments below.)

Footnotes

1: "flowing waters":

This word is often rendered “flood or deluge” but its basic meaning is “flowing waters” because it comes from a verb which means “to flow, to carry along.” While flood or deluge are not wrong, I wanted you to see that the basic idea is that of “flowing waters strong enough to pick up things and carry them for long distances.”

2: "vessel":

The word “ark” is a very general word meaning “box, container, or vessel”.

THERE ARE TWO NUMBERING SYSTEMS USED IN THE FLOOD NARRATIVE

Remember that there are two numbering systems used in the flood narrative – dates, and the number of days since the beginning of the flood. Dates showed timing, while numbers since the beginning of the flood showed emphasis. What was being emphasized? This method of numbering highlighted the fact that the water was strong and prevailing. Nothing could stop its surging. God’s judgment was unstoppable.

Oh, and by the way, in the midst of all this unstoppable judgment, the ark floated. God’s provision of salvation was efficacious, but it took effect once things began to get worse, not right at the beginning when the effects of water were not yet bad.

DID THE ARK FLOAT ON DAY 40?

The fact that floating is mentioned in a loose connection with day 40 may tell us that the ark floated somewhere close to that day. The important thing was that it did float, and it protected its occupants from judgment.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE ON THE ARK WHEN IT STARTED FLOATING?

I had always thought that the water rose and rose, and slowly lifted the ark – I did not picture it as violent in any way. But I was probably wrong! A more likely scenario is that the ark was struck by a few tsunami waves which only bumped it, then bigger tsunamis rocked it, then, as the water level rose even more, some of those waves lifted it and carried it a few feet, then set it down with a bump. Each wave carried the ark further inland and then out again, setting it down not so gently and not always in a perfectly level place. Finally the water level was high enough and a wave was big enough to lift it fairly high. This wave carried the ark partially inland, but enough water moved under it that this time it did not get stuck on higher ground before the wave began moving out to sea again. Thus, the wave carried the ark out to sea where it remained afloat until it came to rest on Mount Ararat in what is now Turkey.

DID IT RAIN AFTER DAY 40?

We know that it rained non-stop for 40 days and 40 nights. This was probably the duration of the hypercane. But did it rain after day 40? I think that it did rain off and on from day 40 till “the window lattices of the heavens were closed” (Gen 8:2), which happened somewhere between day 100 and 150. The warm seas made the situation perfect for intense evaporation and intense rainfall. So the rain during that time was probably more on than off.