Genesis — Chapter 8
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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.
6After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark
7and 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.
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 covering from 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.
20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on 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 night shall never cease.”
1And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
2The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
4And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
5And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
6And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
7And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
8Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
9But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
10And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
11And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
12And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
13And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
15And God spake unto Noah, saying,
16Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
17Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
18And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him:
19Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
20And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
22While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
1And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;
2the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.
4And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
5And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
6And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
7and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
8And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
9but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark.
10And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
11and the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
12And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him any more.
13And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dried.
14And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry.
15And God spake unto Noah, saying,
16Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons` wives with thee.
17Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee of all flesh, both birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
18And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons` wives with him:
19every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatsoever moveth upon the earth, after their families, went forth out of the ark.
20And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.
21And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man`s sake, for that the imagination of man`s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.
22While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
1But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over the earth and the waters receded.
2The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped falling from the sky.
3The waters kept receding steadily from the earth, so that they had gone down by the end of the 150 days.
4On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.
5The waters kept on receding until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
6At the end of 40 days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark
7and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.
8Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.
9The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, and brought it back into the ark.
10He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark.
11When the dove returned to him in the evening, there was a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
12He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him this time.
13In Noah’s six hundred and first year, in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.
14And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was dry.
15Then God spoke to Noah and said,
16“Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.
17Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!”
18Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives.
19Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.
20Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
22“While the earth continues to exist, planting time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
1God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.
2The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained.
3The waters continually receded from the earth. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters decreased.
4The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains.
5The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible.
6At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made,
7and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth.
8He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground,
9but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned into the ship to him, for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship.
10He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship.
11The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth.
12He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him anymore.
13In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dried.
14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
15God spoke to Noah, saying,
16“Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.
17Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”
18Noah went out, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him.
19Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.
20Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done.
22While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
Summary
God remembers Noah and the animals, and sends a wind to make the floodwaters recede as the springs and rain are restrained (vv. 1-3). The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat, and the mountaintops gradually become visible (vv. 4-5). Noah sends out a raven and then a dove to test whether the waters have receded; the dove eventually returns with an olive leaf, and later does not return at all, signaling dry ground (vv. 6-12). Noah removes the ark's covering, sees that the earth is dry, and at God's command exits with his family and all the animals (vv. 13-19). Noah builds an altar and offers sacrifices, and God, pleased by the offering, resolves never again to curse the ground or destroy all living creatures, promising that seedtime and harvest, day and night, will continue as long as the earth endures (vv. 20-22).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- The ark rests on the "mountains of Ararat" (v.4) — in the region of modern eastern Turkey/Armenia. Ararat is a region, not necessarily the specific peak known today as Mount Ararat.
- The waters recede to reveal dry land — a new beginning geographically paralleling the original creation emerging from the waters (cf. 1:9).
Places on this map
- AraratAgri Dagi, TurkeyGenesis says the mountains of Ararat, a region of eastern Anatolia rather than one peak; the 16,850-foot volcano now carrying the name is a later identification. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Deep Dive
Setting: For five months the waters have "prevailed" over the earth (7:24). Every land creature outside the ark is dead, and Noah's family and the animals are shut in by God's own hand (7:16), floating on a drowned world. Chapter 8 is the turning point. It begins with "God remembered Noah," which many scholars see as the center of the whole flood story, and it moves step by step from judgment back to life: the wind, the waters going down, the ark coming to rest, the birds sent out, the dry ground, and the family stepping out to start again. It ends with Noah's altar and God's promise to hold the world steady "while the earth remains." The Babylonian flood stories have similar scenes, including birds sent out and a sacrifice at the end, and the differences are telling. In the Gilgamesh epic the hungry gods crowd around the sacrifice "like flies." In Genesis the one God, who needs nothing, receives the offering and answers it with a promise.
The Flood Subsides (vv1–19)
- "But God remembered Noah" (v1). "Remember" (zakar) in the Bible doesn't mean that God had forgotten. It means he turns to act on behalf of someone, usually because of a promise. The same word is used when God "remembered his covenant with Abraham" in Egypt (Exod 2:24), when he "remembered" Rachel and Hannah and gave them children (Gen 30:22; 1 Sam 1:19), and in the thief's prayer, "Jesus, remember me" (Luke 23:42). Here God is keeping his word from 6:18. He remembers "all the beasts and all the livestock" too. His care reaches every creature on the ark.
- "God made a wind blow over the earth" (v1). "Wind" is ruach, the same word as "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (1:2). The story is quietly retelling creation. Then, too, God's ruach moved over the waters, the waters were gathered back (1:9), and dry land appeared. The flood undid creation; now God does it again.
- "The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed" (v2). This reverses 7:11 word for word. What God opened, he shuts. The rain didn't stop by chance.
- "The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat" (v4). "Came to rest" is nuach, the root behind Noah's name, "rest" (5:29). The ark of "Rest" comes to rest. "Ararat" is the Hebrew name for the land the Assyrians called Urartu, a mountain kingdom around Lake Van in what is now eastern Turkey, Armenia and northwestern Iran. The text says "mountains of Ararat," a region, not one named peak. The tall volcano now called Mount Ararat got that name much later. Claimed sightings of the ark there have never been confirmed.
- "In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day" (v4). Exactly five months after the flood began (7:11), matching the 150 days of 7:24 if months are counted as 30 days. On the first day of the tenth month "the tops of the mountains were seen" (v5), just as dry land "appeared" on the third day of creation (1:9).
- "Noah opened the window of the ark… and sent forth a raven" (vv6–7). A raven eats carrion and can live on floating debris, so it "went to and fro" and never needed to come back. It would later be listed as unclean (Lev 11:15). Ancient sailors were known to release birds to find land. In Gilgamesh, the flood hero sends out a dove, a swallow and a raven. Genesis shares the custom but tells it with its own details.
- "The dove found no place to set her foot" (v9). "Place to set her foot" is literally "a resting place" (manoach), another word from the root of Noah's name. The dove finds no rest outside, so she comes back to the man named Rest. "He put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark" is a tender detail. Noah has been silent the whole story, but here we see him gently gathering in a tired bird.
- "In her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf" (v11). Olive trees don't grow on high peaks, so a fresh leaf meant the lower slopes were above water and plants were growing again. Life was coming back. Since then the dove with an olive branch has become a worldwide sign of peace, but in the text it is first a sign of new life after judgment. At Jesus' baptism the Spirit descends "like a dove" as he comes up out of the water (Matt 3:16), and many Christian writers have seen the two scenes as linked.
- "She did not return to him anymore" (v12). The waiting has its own rhythm: forty days, then seven, then seven again. Noah doesn't rush. He watches for signs and waits.
- "The waters were dried… Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked" (v13). The date is the first day of the first month of Noah's 601st year: a new year for a new world. "Removed the covering" probably means lifting part of the roof to look out. Even when he could see the dry ground, Noah stayed in the ark nearly two more months, until the earth was fully dry (v14) and God told him to go.
- "In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day… the earth had dried out" (v14). The flood began on the 17th day of the second month of Noah's 600th year (7:11), so Noah's family was in the ark a year and ten days. "Dried out" (yabesh) is related to the word for "dry land" at creation (1:9) and at the Red Sea (Exod 14:22).
- "Go out from the ark" (v16). The command matches "Go into the ark" (7:1). Noah went in at God's word, and he comes out at God's word, not at the dove's.
- "That they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply" (v17). These are the blessing words of creation (1:22, 28). The animals go out "by families" (v19), in order, as they went in.
- Commentators: Henry says "God remembered Noah" is "an expression after the manner of men," and that it marks "the return of his mercy to mankind." He adds, "Those that remember God shall certainly be remembered by him." He makes the birds a picture of two kinds of people: "The carnal heart, like the raven, takes up with the world, and feeds on the carrions it finds there," while "The dove is an emblem of a gracious soul," which finds no rest in the world and returns "to Christ as to its ark." JFB notes the raven would stay away because "the smell of carrion would allure it," while the dove is "a bird flying low and naturally disposed to return." JFB thinks the dove brought the olive leaf "no doubt by supernatural impulse." The text doesn't say so. Guzik also reads "remembered" as God turning his active care back to Noah, not as a lapse of memory. He observes that the mountains of Ararat would have been a hard place to leave but a good place to keep the ark out of sight.
God's Covenant with Noah (vv20–22)
- "Noah built an altar to the LORD" (v20). This is the first altar in the Bible, and it is the first thing Noah does in the new world. No command to build it is recorded. Noah's obedience has turned into worship. "Burnt offerings" (olot, from a verb meaning "go up") were burned whole on the altar, so all of it went up to God (Lev 1). He offered "some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird," using the extra clean animals God had told him to bring (7:2). This cost something. Each animal offered came from a small surviving stock.
- "The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma" (v21). "Pleasing aroma" is reach nichoach, the standard phrase in Leviticus for an offering God accepts (Lev 1:9). Nichoach means "soothing" or "quieting," and it sounds like Noah's name and "rest" again. Henry translates it "a savour of rest." The language is a human way of describing God's pleasure. Unlike the gods of Babylon, the LORD isn't fed by the sacrifice. He is pleased by the worship of a grateful man.
- "The LORD said in his heart" (v21). This echoes 6:6, where God was "grieved… to his heart." God's grief over the world now gives way to a settled resolve to preserve it.
- "I will never again curse the ground because of man" (v21). The verb here (qalal) is different from the one in 3:17, and it is the same verb used for the waters "subsiding" in vv8 and 11. The curse of 3:17 is not removed; thorns and death are still here. God promises not to add another curse like the flood. Lamech hoped Noah would bring "relief" from the cursed ground (5:29), and this is a first, partial answer.
- "For the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth" (v21). This is nearly the same diagnosis as 6:5, the reason God sent the flood. Now it is the reason he promises not to send another. The flood didn't change the human heart, and God knows it. So the world's future will rest on his patience, not on human goodness. The word "for" here can also be read "even though," as in some translations. Either way, God's mercy goes on in spite of human sin. Paul later speaks of the "forbearance" that "passed over former sins" until God dealt with them fully in Christ (Rom 3:25).
- "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest… day and night, shall not cease" (v22). The promise comes in four pairs, a poem of steady rhythm. The days and seasons of 1:14, broken up by the flood, are restored. "While the earth remains" is a limit, too: this world won't last forever. Jeremiah points to this regular order as proof that God will keep his covenant with David (Jer 33:20–21). Every sunrise and every harvest is a sign that God is keeping his word.
- Commentators: Henry says Noah "begins with an altar for God: God, that is the first, must be first served," and "Those that have received mercy from God should be forward in returning thanks." He calls v22 "God's covenant of the day and of the night." JFB describes the altar as "a mound of earth, on which a sacrifice was offered," and says the offering "was acceptable as the most fragrant incense." Guzik stresses the cost of Noah's offering and links it to David, who refused to offer God what cost him nothing (2 Sam 24:24), and to the sacrifices believers now bring (Rom 12:1; Heb 13:15). Guzik suggests the seasons of v22 reflect a change in climate after the flood, linked to the water canopy he sees in 1:6–7, and that many extinctions came soon after. These are his own theories. The text simply promises that the seasons will go on.
Pointing to Christ
Lamech named his son "Rest" in hope that he would bring relief from the curse, and the whole chapter is full of that word: the ark comes to rest, the dove looks for a resting place and returns to Noah's hand, and God smells the soothing aroma of Noah's offering. But Noah could offer only animals, and the human heart stayed "evil from its youth." Paul writes that Christ "loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Eph 5:2). His sacrifice deals with the heart that the flood couldn't change. In him the weary find the resting place the dove found in Noah's hand: "Come to me… and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28).
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers God's remembrance, the re-creation parallels, the birds, Noah's sacrifice, and God's promise.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- BibleProject: bibleproject.com On the whole book: how its opening chapters work as literature and how they set up everything that follows.
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Genesis -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- God's Remembrance (v.1) — Scripture says God "remembered" Noah — not that He had forgotten, but that He was about to act on his behalf. Where do you need to trust that God hasn't forgotten you, even in seasons of silence?
- Worship After Deliverance (v.20) — Noah's first act off the ark wasn't rest or rebuilding — it was building an altar to worship. What's your first response after God delivers you: gratitude and worship, or moving on to the next thing?
- Grace Toward a Sinful Heart (v.21) — God names our hearts as inclined toward evil from youth, yet resolves never again to curse the ground because of it. Does knowing His mercy isn't based on your goodness change how you receive it?
- The Faithfulness of Ordinary Rhythms (v.22) — God promises that seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, day and night will never cease. Do you notice His faithfulness in the routine, unremarkable parts of your life?