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The Torah · Old Testament

Genesis 8

Waiting for the waters to recede

General context

God remembers Noah and the creatures in the ark, sends a wind and brings the floodwaters into retreat. The ark rests, mountain tops appear, and Noah sends out a raven and then a dove to learn about the ground. The dove first returns without a resting place, later brings an olive leaf, and finally does not return. Noah sees dry ground before God tells him to leave with his family and the creatures. He builds an altar and offers clean animals and birds. The chapter closes with God's resolve not to curse the ground again for humanity's sake or strike every living thing as he has done, and with the continuing seasons while the earth remains.

Cited passages: Genesis 8:1, Genesis 8:2, Genesis 8:3, Genesis 8:4, Genesis 8:5, Genesis 8:6, Genesis 8:7, Genesis 8:8, Genesis 8:9, Genesis 8:10, Genesis 8:11, Genesis 8:12, Genesis 8:13, Genesis 8:14, Genesis 8:15, Genesis 8:16, Genesis 8:17, Genesis 8:18, Genesis 8:19, Genesis 8:20, Genesis 8:21, Genesis 8:22

Genesis 8 (KJV)

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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The ark rests on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month; mountain tops become visible on the first day of the tenth month. Later notices place Noah's inspection of dry ground in his six-hundred-and-first year, with the earth dry by the twenty-seventh day of the second month. The birds provide signs of changing conditions, and seven-day waits separate the dove's later releases. The account names a mountain region without identifying one modern summit. Its exit scene includes the whole household and the creatures, followed by an altar and burnt offerings.

Cited passages: Genesis 8:4, Genesis 8:5, Genesis 8:7, Genesis 8:8, Genesis 8:9, Genesis 8:10, Genesis 8:11, Genesis 8:12, Genesis 8:13, Genesis 8:14, Genesis 8:16, Genesis 8:17, Genesis 8:18, Genesis 8:19, Genesis 8:20

Literary context

God's remembering opens the reversal of the rising waters. The sources of the flood are stopped, the waters recede, and the ark comes to rest. Dated notices and repeated waiting slow the movement toward departure. The dove's changing returns make the receding water visible through a small repeated action, while Noah's sight of dry ground remains distinct from God's command to leave. The command to be fruitful and multiply recalls the language of the creation account. The ending places continuing human evil beside God's resolve and the recurring rhythms of seedtime, harvest, seasons, day and night.

Cited passages: Genesis 8:1, Genesis 8:2, Genesis 8:3, Genesis 8:4, Genesis 8:5, Genesis 8:6, Genesis 8:9, Genesis 8:10, Genesis 8:11, Genesis 8:12, Genesis 8:13, Genesis 8:14, Genesis 8:15, Genesis 8:16, Genesis 8:17, Genesis 1:22, Genesis 1:28, Genesis 8:21, Genesis 8:22

Key moments

  1. God remembers those in the ark (Genesis 8:1). God remembers Noah and the creatures, sends a wind and causes the waters to subside.
  2. An olive leaf returns (Genesis 8:11). The dove brings an olive leaf, and Noah knows that the waters have receded.
  3. The command to leave (Genesis 8:16). God tells Noah to leave the ark with his wife, sons and their wives.
  4. The earth’s rhythms continue (Genesis 8:22). Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night are to continue while the earth remains.

For reflection

What difference does the account make between noticing signs of change and receiving the command to leave the ark?

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