Genesis 8

1 Forsooth the Lord had mind of Noe, and of all living beasts, and of all work beasts, that were with him in the ship; and [he] brought a wind on the earth. And [the] waters were decreased, or assuaged, (And the Lord remembered Noah, and all the living beasts, and all the work beasts, that were with him in the ship; and he brought forth a wind on the earth. And the waters decreased,)

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.)

13 Therefore in the six hundred and one year of the life of Noe, in the first month, in the first day of the month, [the] waters were decreased on (the) earth; and Noe opened the roof of the ship, and beheld, and saw that the face of the earth was dried. (And so in the six hundred and first year of Noah's life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters were gone from off the face of the earth; and Noah opened the roof of the ship, and looked, and saw that the face of the earth was becoming dry.)

14 In the second month, in the seven and twentieth day of the month, the earth was made dry. (And by the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the whole earth was made dry.)

15 Soothly the Lord spake to Noe; and said,

16 Go out of the ship, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and the wives of thy sons with thee;

17 and lead out with thee all living beasts that be with thee of each flesh, as well in volatiles, as in unreasonable beasts, and all reptiles/all creeping beasts that creep on [the] earth; and enter ye on the earth, increase ye, and be ye multiplied on (the) earth. (and lead out with thee all the living beasts that be with thee of all flesh, yea, the birds, and the unreasoning beasts, and all the reptiles that creep on the earth; and go they over the earth, and increase they, and be they multiplied on the earth.)

18 Therefore Noe went out, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him;

19 but also all (the) living beasts, and work beasts, (and birds,) and reptiles that creep on [the] earth, (all) by their kind, went out of the ship.

20 Forsooth Noe builded an altar to the Lord, and he took of all clean beasts and birds, and offered burnt sacrifices on the altar. (And Noah built an altar to the Lord, and he took one of each kind of the clean beasts and birds, and offered burnt sacrifices on the altar.)

21 And the Lord savoured the odour of sweetness, and said to him(self), I shall no more curse the earth for men, for (I know that) the wit and thought of man's heart be ready, either prone, into evil from (a) young waxing age; therefore I shall no more smite each living soul, as I did; (And the Lord savoured the aroma of sweetness, and said to himself, I shall no more curse the earth for man's sake, for I know that the wit and the thought of man's heart be prone toward evil from a young age; and so I shall no more strike down each living soul, as I have done;)

22 (and so) in all the days of [the] earth, seed and ripe corn, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not rest. (and so for all the days that remain for the earth, seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall never cease.)

Genesis 8 Commentary

Chapter 8

God remembers Noah, and dries up the waters. (1-3) The ark rests on Ararat, Noah sends forth a raven and a dove. (4-12) Noah being commanded, goes out of the ark. (13-19) Noah offers sacrifice, God promises to curse the earth no more. (20-22)

Verses 1-3 The whole race of mankind, except Noah and his family, were now dead, so that God's remembering Noah, was the return of his mercy to mankind, of whom he would not make a full end. The demands of Divine justice had been answered by the ruin of sinners. God sent his wind to dry the earth, and seal up his waters. The same hand that brings the desolation, must bring the deliverance; to that hand, therefore, we must ever look. When afflictions have done the work for which they are sent, whether killing work or curing work, they will be taken away. As the earth was not drowned in a day, so it was not dried in a day. God usually works deliverance for his people gradually, that the day of small things may not be despised, nor the day of great things despaired of.

Verses 4-12 The ark rested upon a mountain, whither it was directed by the wise and gracious providence of God, that might rest the sooner. God has times and places of rest for his people after their tossing; and many times he provides for their seasonable and comfortable settlement, without their own contrivance, and quite beyond their own foresight. God had told Noah when the flood would come, yet he did not give him an account by revelation, at what times and by what steps it should go away. The knowledge of the former was necessary to his preparing the ark; but the knowledge of the latter would serve only to gratify curiosity; and concealing it from him would exercise his faith and patience. Noah sent forth a raven from the ark, which went flying about, and feeding on the carcasses that floated. Noah then sent forth a dove, which returned the first time without good news; but the second time, she brought an olive leaf in her bill, plucked off, plainly showing that trees, fruit trees, began to appear above water. Noah sent forth the dove the second time, seven days after the first, and the third time was after seven days also; probably on the sabbath day. Having kept the sabbath with his little church, he expected especial blessings from Heaven, and inquired concerning them. The dove is an emblem of a gracious soul, that, finding no solid peace of satisfaction in this deluged, defiling world, returns to Christ as to its ark, as to its Noah, its rest. The defiling world, returns to Christ as to its ark, as to its Noah, its rest. The carnal heart, like the raven, takes up with the world, and feeds on the carrion it finds there; but return thou to my rest, O my soul; to thy Noah, so the word is, ( Psalms 116:7 ) . And as Noah put forth his hand, and took the dove, and pulled her to him, into the ark, so Christ will save, and help, and welcome those that flee to him for rest.

Verses 13-19 God consults our benefit, rather than our desires; he knows what is good for us better than we do for ourselves, and how long it is fit our restraints should continue, and desired mercies should be delayed. We would go out of the ark before the ground is dried; and perhaps, if the door, is shut, are ready to thrust off the covering, and to climb up some other way; but God's time of showing mercy is the best time. As Noah had a command to go into the ark, so, how tedious soever his confinement there was, he would wait for a command to go out of it again. We must in all our ways acknowledge God, and set him before us in all our removals. Those only go under God's protection, who follow God's direction, and submit to him.

Verses 20-22 Noah was now gone out into a desolate world, where, one might have thought, his first care would have been to build a house for himself, but he begins with an alter for God. He begins well, that begins with God. Though Noah's stock of cattle was small, and that saved at great care and pains, yet he did not grudge to serve God out of it. Serving God with our little is the way to make it more; we must never think that is wasted with which God is honoured. The first thing done in the new world was an act of worship. We are now to express our thankfulness, not by burnt-offerings, but by praise, and pious devotions and conversation. God was well pleased with what was done. But the burning flesh could no more please God, than the blood of bulls and goats, except as typical of the sacrifice of Christ, and expressing Noah's humble faith and devotedness to God. The flood washed away the race of wicked men, but it did not remove sin from man's nature, who being conceived and born in sin, thinks, devises, and loves wickedness, even from his youth, and that as much since the flood as before. But God graciously declared he never would drown the world again. While the earth remains, and man upon it, there shall be summer and winter. It is plain that this earth is not to remain always. It, and all the works in it, must shortly be burned up; and we look for new heavens and a new earth, when all these things shall be dissolved. But as long as it does remain, God's providence will cause the course of times and seasons to go on, and makes each to know its place. And on this word we depend, that thus it shall be. We see God's promises to the creatures made good, and may infer that his promises to all believers shall be so.

Chapter Summary

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.