Genesis 8:2-12

2 and the wells of the sea were closed, and the windows of (the) heaven(s) were closed, and (the) rains of (the) heaven(s) were ceased. (and the wells of the sea were closed, and the windows of the sky were closed, and the rains from the sky ceased.)

3 And [the] waters turned again from (off) the earth, and went again, and began to be decreased, or assuaged, after an hundred and fifty days.

4 And the ship rested in the seventh month, in the seven and twentieth day of the month, on the hills of Armenia. (And the ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Mount Ararat.)

5 And soothly the waters went and decreased till to the tenth month, for in the tenth month, in the first day of the month (on the first day of the month), the tops of [the] hills appeared.

6 And when forty days had passed, Noe opened the window of the ship which he had made,

7 and sent out a crow, which went out, and turned not again till the waters were dried on [the] earth. (and sent out a crow, which went out, and did not return until the waters were dried up from off the earth.)

8 Also Noe sent out a culver after him, to see if the waters had ceased then on the face of the earth; (And then Noah sent out a dove after him, to see if the waters had now gone from off the face of the earth;)

9 and when the culver found not where her foot should rest, she turned again to him into the ship, for the waters were on all [the] earth; and Noe held forth his hand, and brought the culver, (once) taken, (back) into the ship. (but when the dove found nowhere to rest her feet, she returned to him in the ship, for the waters were still over all the earth; and Noah held forth his hand, and caught her, and brought the dove back into the ship.)

10 Soothly when other seven days were abided afterward, again he sent out a culver from the ship; (And he waited another seven days, and then again he sent out the dove from the ship;)

11 and she came (back) to him at eventide, and bare in her mouth a branch of (an) olive tree with green leaves. Therefore Noe understood that the waters had ceased (from flowing) on (the) earth (And so Noah understood that the waters had now gone from off the face of the earth);

12 and nevertheless he abode seven other days, and (then) sent out a culver, which turned not again to him. (nevertheless he waited another seven days, and then again sent out the dove, but this time she did not return to him.)

Genesis 8:2-12 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.