Genesis 6:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.

NIV: This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.

NASB: This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

CSB: This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

NLT: Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

KJV: And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

NKJV: And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

In this passage, God has informed Noah of His plan to destroy the entire human race, except for Noah and his family. God has also begun to describe the "ark," a large wooden box, which Noah is to use to preserve his family and certain animals from the flood.

A cubit is a measure of length equal to approximately 18 inches, or about 46 centimeters. A cubit was traditionally thought to be the length from a man's elbow to the tip of his fingers with his hand extended. While that may sound vague to modern ears, it was not uncommon in ancient days to use body parts as measuring sticks. The concept of universal, objective measurements (such as the modern meter) was simply not practical at that point in human history.

Using 1 cubit = 18 inches = 46 cm, the craft God describes to Noah would be about 450 feet (137 meters) long, 75 feet (23 meters) wide, and 45 feet (14 meters) high. This would make the ark 1-1/2 times as long as an American football field. Or, slightly longer than a regulation FIFA soccer field. It would have been somewhere around as tall as a 4-1/2 story building. Even by modern standards, if this was a ship, it would be a big ship!

Despite the size, there's no reason to think Noah could not have constructed this ark. God nowhere orders Noah to use only his own two hands. So, as with any other project, it's common sense to assume Noah had help from his sons, and probably others, in constructing this massive vessel. This would be no different than a contractor or business owner "building" something through oversight of others.

Genesis 6:9-22 begins another new section in Genesis called the ''generations of Noah.'' Because of humanity's power and wickedness, the earth had become filled with violence and sinfulness. By contrast, Noah was a righteous, blameless man who walked with God. God chooses to declare to Noah His plan to end all land-dwelling life on earth, but also to save Noah and his family and two of every animal. Noah obeys God's command to build the ark that would preserve the human race from total destruction in the flood.

God sees. In the first chapter of Genesis, God saw that all He had made was good. Now, many generations after sin entered the world, God sees that all man has made is wickedness and evil. Human beings have used their power for violence and destruction. God declares His plan to wipe out all land-dwelling life on the face of the earth. He will however, preserve humanity and animal life for a new beginning through the one righteous man, Noah, and a huge life-giving structure called an ark.

The previous chapter traced the generations from Adam through his son Seth and all of the way to Noah. This chapter reveals that Noah will be the man through whom God will preserve humanity for a new beginning after wiping out all life on the face of the earth. God tells Noah to build an enormous structure, an ark, and prepare to welcome representatives of all of the animals on earth. Noah does exactly that, setting the stage for the cataclysmic judgment of God to come in chapter 7.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.