In Genesis, for how many days did Noah wait before the Floodwaters came?

Genesis says Noah waited seven days before the Floodwaters came. In Genesis 7:4, God announces that the rain will begin after seven more days, and Genesis 7:10 says the waters arrive after that interval.

This seven-day wait follows Noah’s entry into the Ark with his family and the animals. It is separate from the later period of rain, which Genesis describes as 40 days and 40 nights. The two numbers refer to different stages of the narrative.

The passage also emphasizes that Noah’s family and the animals entered the Ark before the rain began. Genesis presents the waiting period as part of the divine warning and preparation, not as the time required to build the vessel.

Readers sometimes merge the seven-day interval with the 40 days of rainfall or with the longer period during which the waters remained high. Genesis gives each period its own place in the sequence.