Genesis 8

¹God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.

²The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained.

³The waters continually receded from the earth. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters receded.

⁴The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains.

⁵The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible.

⁶At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made,

⁷and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth.

⁸He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground,

⁹but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned into the ship to him, for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship.

¹⁰He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship.

¹¹The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth.

¹²He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more.

¹³In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry.

¹⁴In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

¹⁵God spoke to Noah, saying,

¹⁶“Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.

¹⁷Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”

¹⁸Noah went out, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him.

¹⁹Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.

²⁰Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

²¹The LORD smelled the pleasant aroma. The LORD said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done.

²²While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”

Previous Genesis 7

Next Genesis 9

Genesis 8 chronicles the gradual recession of the flood waters and Noah's eventual emergence from the ark. After God remembers Noah and causes the waters to subside, Noah tests the conditions by sending out birds, ultimately discovering that the earth is dry and habitable again. The chapter concludes with Noah's worship through burnt offerings and God's covenant promise never again to destroy the earth by flood, establishing the regular cycles of nature.

Context

This chapter concludes the flood narrative that began in Genesis 6, transitioning from divine judgment to restoration and covenant promise.

Key Themes

Outline

1-5
Waters Begin to Recede God remembers Noah and causes the flood waters to gradually subside over several months.
6-12
Testing with Birds Noah sends out a raven and dove to determine if the earth is ready for habitation.
13-19
Exodus from the Ark After confirming the earth is dry, God commands Noah and all creatures to leave the ark.
20-22
Worship and Divine Promise Noah offers sacrifices to God, who promises never again to destroy the earth by flood.

The Flood Narrative

7:1–8:22

narrative narration solemn

This passage narrates the actual flood event, describing Noah's obedience in entering the ark with his family and the animals as God brings judgment upon the earth. The narrative emphasizes both divine justice in destruction and divine mercy in preservation.

person_contrast

Noah's perfect obedience appears seven times using the phrase "as God commanded him," creating a literary counterpoint to humanity's sevenfold corruption that necessitated the flood.

Insight Character Study

Noah's perfect obedience appears seven times using the phrase "as God commanded him," creating a literary counterpoint to humanity's sevenfold corruption that necessitated the flood.

Cross-References

Connected passages across Scripture

Genesis 8:1 2 references

Lexicals 2

Genesis 7:23 Lexical

Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and b…

Genesis 8

The Flood Narrative

Insights

Cross-References

Genesis 8:1 2 references

Genesis 8:2 1 reference

Genesis 8:4 5 references

Genesis 8:9 1 reference

Genesis 8:13 3 references

Genesis 8:17 5 references

Genesis 8:19 4 references

Genesis 8:20 3 references

Genesis 8:21 1 reference

Genesis 8:22 3 references

Interlinear