Noah’s flood happened much earlier than most people think

We believe that most Bible translations suggest completely the wrong date for the great flood in Noah’s day. The older, more reliable manuscripts suggest a much earlier date.

Most Christian denominations say that it happened around 4,300 years ago. This is because most Bible translations use manuscripts dating from the 9th century (about 1,100 years old). However, our translation uses much older manuscripts, from the 3rd or 4th centuries (about 1,600-1,700 years old). Yes, we use manuscripts about 500 years older than most English Bibles!

Those older manuscripts give different numbers for the events in Genesis. However, these are the same numbers that were likely read by the early Jews as well as Jesus and his apostles in the 1st Century AD. We know this because they’re backed up by other manuscript discoveries, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Well then, what do those numbers say? They suggest a totally different date for Noah’s flood, about 5,239 years ago!

Yes, according to the oldest sources, the flood happened around 3217 BC. That’s almost a thousand years earlier than most Bibles suggest!

This is important because it helps the Bible's chronology to match up with several archaeological discoveries. It also helps to harmonize the Bible text with many carbon dating results.

To learn more about this fascinating topic, please see our page on chronology at https://2001translation.org/about/chronology 

We also have an excellent commentary on Bible authenticity at https://commentaries.2001translation.org/Authenticity, which covers diverse topics such as archeology, carbon dating, and related matters.

Warm regards

Alfred Larsen
Editor