Genesis 8:1-8

The Flood Subsides

1 But God 1remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And 2God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
2 3The fountains of the deep and 4the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,
3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end 5of 150 days the waters had abated,
4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of 6Ararat.
5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made
7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.

Genesis 8:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 8

This chapter gives an account of the going off of the waters from the earth, and of the entire deliverance of Noah, and those with him in the ark, from the flood, when all the rest were destroyed: after an one hundred and fifty days a wind is sent over the earth, the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven are stopped, the waters go off gradually, and the ark rests on Mount Ararat, Ge 8:1-4 two months and thirteen days after that the tops of the mountains were seen, Ge 8:5 and forty days after the appearance of them, Noah sent forth first a raven, and then a dove, and that a second time, to know more of the abatement of the waters, Ge 8:6-12. When Noah had been in the ark ten months and thirteen days, he uncovered it, and the earth was dry, yet not so dry as to be fit for him to go out upon, until near two months after, Ge 8:13,14 when he had an order from God to go out of the ark, with all that were with him, which was accordingly obeyed, Ge 8:15-19 upon which he offered sacrifice by way of thankfulness for his great deliverance, which was accepted by the Lord; who promised him not to curse the earth any more, nor to drown it, but that it should remain, and as long as it did there would be the constant revolutions of the seasons of the year, and of day and night, Ge 8:20-22.

Cross References 6

  • 1. Genesis 19:29; Genesis 30:22; Exodus 2:24; 1 Samuel 1:19
  • 2. Exodus 14:21
  • 3. Genesis 7:11
  • 4. Genesis 7:11
  • 5. Genesis 7:24
  • 6. 2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38; Jeremiah 51:27
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.