And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
All Commentaries on Genesis 7:10 Go To Genesis 7
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
It is now time to examine the evidence that proves convincingly that the biblical years, so far from being only onetenth as long as ours, were precisely as long as the present solar years. This is true of the years used in giving those extremely long life spans. It is said, for example, that the flood occurred in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life. But notice the full text: “The waters of the flood overflowed the earth in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, in the twentyseventh day of the month.” Now those words are inexplicable if a year was so short that it took ten of them to make one of ours. That would mean that a year had only thirtysix days. For so short a year (if it was actually called a year in ancient usage) either had no months at all, or if it had twelve months, then each month could have had but three days. How, then, [can we] explain the words of the text, “in the six hundredth year … in the second month, in the twentyseventh day of the month,” unless the months then were the same as they are now? There is no other way of explaining how the flood could be said to have had a beginning on the twentyseventh day of the second month.
