Genesis 8:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

NIV: He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

NASB: Then he waited another seven days longer, and sent out the dove; but it did not return to him again.

CSB: After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but it did not return to him again.

NLT: He waited another seven days and then released the dove again. This time it did not come back.

KJV: And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

NKJV: So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.

In this passage, Noah has sent a raven and two doves out from the ark to search for dry land. Sailors used to use this trick to find dry land. Birds which came back did so because they were too far from a place to comfortably rest. The assumption was that if the bird did not return, it must have found a place to land. That would mean that the earth had become dry enough following the flood to support life again. The last dove sent out by Noah returned, but with a bit of olive leaf caught in her beak. This was hard evidence, for Noah, that the earth was dry enough that plant life had once again begun to grow.

After another seven days, Noah sends out another dove. This one never comes back. She was the first occupant of the ark to find a home back in the outside world. For Noah and the others, that meant it was time to start planning to disembark and begin life over again.

Genesis 8:1–19 describes the process of God drying out the earth following the flood. Noah and his family and the animals wait for the waters to recede. Noah uses birds as a test to see if any land is nearby. When the time is finally right, a full year after they entered, God commands Noah, his family, and all the animals to leave the ark. Their mission from God is to swarm over the earth, multiply, and begin again.

Even as all other life was being destroyed, God didn't forget Noah and the animals. He stops the deluge of water flowing from above and below and causes a great wind to blow to begin drying out the earth. The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat. There, its occupants wait for the flood waters to go down. After a full year aboard, Noah and his family and the animals finally disembark. Noah builds an altar in worship to God and offers animal sacrifices. God commits to never curse the earth as He had through the flood, and to never again strike down all life on earth.

Genesis 6 and 7 explain the events leading up to the flood, and the actual catastrophe itself. After the devastation and destruction are over, God begins to dry out the earth in Genesis 8. The waters recede, Noah and the animals finally leave after a year aboard, and Noah offers animal sacrifices in worship to God. God commits to never again strike down all life on earth at once. As long as the earth remains, living things will enjoy the cycles of day, night, and seasons. The following chapters describe the re-population of earth by mankind, leading up to another instance of God's intervention, at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11).

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 5/12/2024 3:05:33 AM