In Genesis, seven days passed between Noah being told about the Flood and the rain beginning.
Genesis 7:4 records God telling Noah that the Flood would come after seven more days. Genesis 7:10 then says that, after the seven days, the waters of the Flood came upon the earth. This interval is distinct from the later forty days and forty nights of rain.
The seven-day period is sometimes confused with the forty-day rainfall because both numbers appear in the Flood narrative. The text presents them as different stages: a warning and waiting period, followed by the storm itself. The account also says that Noah, his family, and the animals entered the ark before the waters rose. The number seven frequently appears in Genesis, including the specified groups of clean animals brought aboard.