Genesis 8 Study Notes

8:10-11 When the dove returned to Noah from its second foray with an olive leaf, this confirmed that the lower elevations (where olive trees grow) were now above water. Inspired by this passage, the image of a dove with an olive branch in its mouth has become a universal symbol of peace.

8:12 When Noah sent the dove out a third time and it did not return, it was clear that life-sustaining conditions now existed at the earth’s more temperate, lower elevations.

8:13-14 On Noah’s six hundred and first birthday he removed the ark’s cover and confirmed what the dove had indicated—that the plains beneath the mountain range were drying. Some fifty-seven days (one 29½ day cycle of the moon plus 27 days) later, the earth was dry.

8:15-19 Perhaps this is the first time God had spoken to Noah since before the flood; during the entire year of the catastrophic flood no record shows that God communicated directly with the patriarch or his family. What faith Noah demonstrated during that terrifying time in the ark’s dark interior!

8:20 Noah’s first act following his departure from the ark was to worship God by giving a burnt offering. Since every kind of clean animal and bird—that is, one of every mammal that chewed the cud and possessed split hoofs, as well as one representative of every kind of bird that did not eat carrion—was offered, it must have been an impressive sacrifice.

8:21 Using anthropomorphic language—words that describe God’s actions in human terms—the text notes that the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma. The phrase means that God accepted Noah’s sacrifice. Elsewhere in the Torah, God’s refusal to smell a sacrifice meant he rejected the offering (Lv 26:31). Acceptable offerings in other parts of the Bible are said to have a pleasing aroma (Ex 29:25; Lv 1:9; 2:2; 3:16; Nm 18:17). Following Noah’s sacrifice the Lord made a solemn promise never again to curse the ground as he had done following Adam’s sin (Gn 3:17; 5:29). Almost with a sense of resignation, God noted that the inclination of the human heart was evil from youth onward (Ps 14:1; Rm 3:9,23). The flood did not significantly change the human heart (cp. Gn 6:5). Yet in spite of humanity’s sinful nature, God’s grace and love would prevail: He would never again destroy all life as he had done in Noah’s day.

8:22 The terrifying chaos of the flood would give way to the predictable, comforting rhythms of life—the harvest, the seasons, day and night—for as long as the earth endures.