1But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside. 2The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained. 3The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.
4On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
Noah Sends a Raven and a Dove
6After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark7and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.
8Then Noah sent out†a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground. 9But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because the waters were still covering the surface of all the earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back inside the ark.
10Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
12And Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove again, but this time she did not return to him.
Exiting the Ark
13In Noah’s six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth. So Noah removed the coveringfrom the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was fully dry.
15Then God said to Noah, 16“Come out of the ark, you and your wife, along with your sons and their wives. 17Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”
18So Noah came out, along with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird—everything that moves upon the earth—came out of the ark, kind by kind.
Noah Builds an Altar
20Then Noah built an altarto the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offeringson the altar. 21When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
22As long as the earth endures,seedtime and harvest,cold and heat,summer and winter,day and nightshall never cease.”
Commentary
Genesis 8:1
God remembered: This structural and theological center of the flood story does not mean that God had at any point forgotten Noah. This is covenant language reflecting God’s faithfulness to his promise to ensure the safety of his covenant partner (cp. 6:18; 9:15–16; Exod 2:24; Lev 26:42, 45).
wind: The same word is translated “Spirit” in Gen 1:2. This and other parallels (see Gen 9:1–2) suggest that the restoration of the earth after the flood was effectively a new creation.
The mountains of Ararat might be in the region of Ararat (Urartu) southeast of the Black Sea near Lake Van, which touches parts of eastern Turkey, Armenia, and Iran. There is a Mount Ararat (Agri Dag) in Turkey, but this verse only identifies the region, not a specific mountain.
Commentary
Genesis 8:5
the waters continued to go down: Another parallel with the creation week (see 1:9) suggests that the earth’s restoration was effectively a new creation (see study note on 8:1).
Commentary
Genesis 8:7
The raven is the biggest bird in the crow family and in Noah's time the raven was considered ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 11:15; Deuteronomy 14:14). As a scavenger that eats dead animals, it could survive without returning to the boat.
Commentary
Genesis 8:11
Unlike the raven (8:7), the dove feeds on vegetation. Since olive trees are not tall, Noah could tell that the water was almost gone.
Commentary
Genesis 8:13
On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began: This was two months after the peaks of the mountains first became visible (8:5).
Commentary
Genesis 8:14
the earth was dry! This special word for dry land is uniquely used in connection with the sea to portray God’s sovereignty over both domains (see 1:9–10; Exod 14:22, 29; Ps 95:5; Jon 1:9).
This first mention of an altar in the Bible shows Noah’s gratitude for having passed through the judgment.
sacrificed as burnt offerings: The same wording is used of the whole burnt offering in Leviticus (Lev 1:3–9); however, it can refer to any offering that is burned. Noah gave this offering to thank and worship God, who had delivered him and his family from the flood.
pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice (literally smelled the sweet aroma): The narrator uses anthropomorphic language (i.e., he describes God’s activity in human terms) to show God’s acceptance of Noah’s offering (see also Exod 29:18; Lev 1:9; Num 15:3). The common ancient Near Eastern notion that the gods ate the sacrifices offered to them is notably absent.
to himself (literally in his heart): The phrase echoes “broke his heart” (6:6), just as think or imagine echoes “everything they thought or imagined” (6:5). God’s commitment to a new order replaced his grief over the old.
I will never again curse . . . destroy: The old curse was not lifted (5:29), but God promised not to add to it, thus establishing new limits for life in a disordered world (cp. Isa 54:9). The flood was to stop violence, not to reform the human heart (Gen 6:5). Humankind’s bent toward evil would be contained to some degree through accountability to a new law (9:5–6).