Genesis 8:16

16 “Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives.

Genesis 8:16 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 8:16

Go forth of the ark
Though the earth was dry and fit to be inhabited, yet be would not go out without orders, as he had to go in; which he waited for before he would, and now he has them:

thou and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives, with thee:
the Jewish writers F26 observe, that the manner of Noah and his family coming out of the ark is different from that of their going into it: when they went into it then went the men by themselves, and the women by themselves, and so continued apart in the ark, the use of the marriage bed being forbidden them, being a time of distress; but now when they came out they are coupled together, signifying that they were now free to cohabit together.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. Jarchi in loc.

Genesis 8:16 In-Context

14 Two more months went by, and at last the earth was dry!
15 Then God said to Noah,
16 “Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives.
17 Release all the animals—the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth.”
18 So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat.
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