e ark came on shore upon the top of it; and that the remains of the timber were a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom Moses the legislator of the Jews wrote." (Antiquity of the Jews, Book I, Chapter 3)
Josephus goes on to say: "Now the sons of Noah were three...these first of all descended from the mountains into the plains, and fixed their habitation there; and PERSUADED OTHERS WHO WERE GREATLY AFRAID OF THE LOWER GROUNDS ON ACCOUNT OF THE FLOOD, and so were very loath to come down from the higher places, to venture to follow their examples. Now the plain in which they first dwelt was called Shinar. God also commanded them to send colonies abroad..." (Antiquity of the Jews, Book I, Chapter 4)
It seems to me that Josephus approved the writing from Nicolaus of Damascus otherwise he would have corrected Nicolaus’ account. Therefore, his understanding of the flood is important because he is the first century Jew who lived contemporary to the time of the writing of the New Testament.
11. There is another interesting thing about the book of Genesis, chapter 4 & 5, mentions TWO family lines that came from Adam. The line of Noah came from Seth. The other line came from Cain. Those who believe in world-wide flood must conclude that all of these were drowned. But there is a problem. The writer of Genesis refers to the descendants of Jabel, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain was STILL LIVING AT THE TIME HE WROTE! (Gen. 4:20-22) Notice there is present tense, not past tense. I will explain a little bit about the line of Seth later.
12. Lastly, the flood, the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth traveled and settled in various countries. "By these were the isles [coastlands] of Gentiles DIVIDED in their lands, every one after their tongues, after their families, in their nations...These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations in their nations: and by these were the nations DIVIDED in the earth after the flood" (Gen. 10:5, 32). Now, if the flood had drowned all but eight people, how can we explain the existence of these nations to which Noah's descendants migrated and which "divided" by them? Therefore, the belief that all nations of the world that came from Noah's three sons are filled with some difficulties because many assumed all races came from them. The Bible says they were scattered because of different languages, not skins or appearances.
I am sure that we have been hearing that Noah was building the ark and preaching for 120 years. Others say that people will not live after 120 year old. Anyway, we read in Genesis 6:3, "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Judgment was pronounced upon the people in that land but the Lord was willing to delay this for 120 years. This passage doesn't say anything about a flood, or about building an ark, or about HOW this judgment would be carried.
What I find it interesting from Woodrow: "At this time, 120 years before the flood, Noah would have been 480 years old (for he was 600 at the time of the flood - Gen. 7:11). Later when Noah was 500 years old, his sons were born (Gen. 5:32). And it was later still, AFTER these sons had grown and married, that Noah was told to build the ark. "Make an ark...I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth...and you shall come into the ark, you, AND YOUR SONS, and your wife, AND YOUR SONS' WIVES WITH YOU" (Gen. 6:14-18)."
Clearly, then, it did not take 120 years it build the ark. It is possible that the legend handed down in the book of JASHER - that it took five years (Jasher 5:34) - is correct, but the Bible itself does not say how many years it took.
What about the Nephilim in Genesis 6:4? “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” (NASB) Notice it says “and also afterward” which means they existed after the flood!
In Gen. 6:2, some assumed that “sons of God