What the 120 years measure
Genesis 6:3 says man’s days would be 120 years, but it does not say Noah spent those years constructing the Ark. Jasher 5:6–11 treats them as a period granted for repentance while Noah and Methuselah warned the people.
The second thousand years
Noah, the Ark,
and the generations to Abram
Follow the overlapping generations from Seth’s final years through the Flood, the line of Shem, and Abram’s first fifty-one years.
Creation year
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
Dated events
CY 1056 · about 2868/2867 BCNoah is bornCY 1536 · about 2388/2387 BCGod gives a 120-year warningCY 1554 · about 2370/2369 BCNoah takes Naamah as wifeCY 1558 · about 2366/2365 BCShem is bornCY 1650 · about 2274/2273 BCArk construction beginsCY 1651 · about 2273/2272 BCLamech diesCY 1656 · about 2268/2267 BCMethuselah diesCY 1656 · about 2268/2267 BCThe Flood beginsCY 1656 · about 2268/2267 BCArk rests on AraratCY 1657 · about 2267/2266 BCNoah leaves the arkCY 1657 · about 2267/2266 BCThe rainbow covenantCY 1658 · about 2266/2265 BCArphaxad is bornCY 1693 · about 2231/2230 BCSalah is bornCY 1723 · about 2201/2200 BCEber is bornCY 1757 · about 2167/2166 BCPeleg is bornCY 1787 · about 2137/2136 BCReu is bornCY 1819 · about 2105/2104 BCSerug is bornCY 1849 · about 2075/2074 BCNahor is bornCY 1878 · about 2046/2045 BCTerah is bornCY 1948 · about 1976/1975 BCAbram is bornCY 1958 · about 1966/1965 BCAbram learns with Noah and ShemCY 1996 · about 1928/1927 BCPeleg diesCY 1997 · about 1927/1926 BCNahor dies
Drag sideways on a small screen to follow the timeline →
Chronology notes
How the second thousand years fits together
Five years building the Ark
Jasher 5:34 separately says Noah began the Ark in his 595th year and made it in five years. Genesis records the command and Noah’s obedience, but gives no construction duration. See the dated evidence →
Shem to Abram
Genesis 11 supplies the fatherhood ages used to carry the dated line from Arphaxad to Abram.
Babel in Peleg’s days
Genesis says the earth was divided in Peleg’s days, but does not name the exact year. The timeline keeps that distinction visible instead of assigning a false precision.
Noah’s sons and the nations
Genesis 10 names the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth and the lands, tongues, and nations that followed. Jasher adds a more detailed post-Babel settlement tradition. Follow the three family branches →