Genesis 8
New English Translation
8 But God remembered[a] Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over[b] the earth and the waters receded. 2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed,[c] and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 3 The waters kept receding steadily[d] from the earth, so that they[e] had gone down[f] by the end of the 150 days. 4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.[g] 5 The waters kept on receding[h] until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible.[i]
6 At the end of forty days,[j] Noah opened the window he had made in the ark[k] 7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth[l] until the waters had dried up on the earth.
8 Then Noah[m] sent out a dove[n] to see if the waters had receded[o] from the surface of the ground. 9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered[p] the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah[q] in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove,[r] and brought it back into the ark.[s] 10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 11 When[t] the dove returned to him in the evening, there was[u] a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again,[v] but it did not return to him this time.[w]
13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year,[x] in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that[y] the surface of the ground was dry. 14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth[z] was dry.
15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out[aa] every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase[ab] and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!”[ac]
18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.
20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.[ad] 21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma[ae] and said[af] to himself,[ag] “I will never again curse[ah] the ground because of humankind, even though[ai] the inclination of their minds[aj] is evil from childhood on.[ak] I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
22 “While the earth continues to exist,[al]
planting time[am] and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
and day and night will not cease.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 8:1 tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).
- Genesis 8:1 tn Heb “to pass over.”
- Genesis 8:2 tn Some (e.g., NIV) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.
- Genesis 8:3 tn The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned…going and returning.”
- Genesis 8:3 tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 8:3 tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.
- Genesis 8:4 tn Heb “on the mountains of Ararat.” Obviously a boat (even one as large as the ark) cannot rest on multiple mountains. Perhaps (1) the preposition should be translated “among,” or (2) the plural “mountains” should be understood in the sense of “mountain range” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 53). A more probable option (3) is that the plural indicates an indefinite singular, translated “one of the mountains” (see GKC 400 §124.o).sn Ararat is the Hebrew name for Urartu, the name of a mountainous region located north of Mesopotamia in modern day eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 29-32; G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:184-85; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:443-44.
- Genesis 8:5 tn Heb “the waters were going and lessening.” The perfect verb form הָיָה (hayah) is used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive absolute חָסוֹר (khasor, “lessening”), while the infinitive absolute הָלוֹךְ (halokh) indicates continuous action.
- Genesis 8:5 tn Or “could be seen.”
- Genesis 8:6 tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayehi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.
- Genesis 8:6 tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.
- Genesis 8:7 tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsaʾ), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.
- Genesis 8:8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 8:8 tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
- Genesis 8:8 tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.
- Genesis 8:9 tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 8:9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 8:9 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 8:9 tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”
- Genesis 8:11 tn The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.
- Genesis 8:11 tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to the olive leaf. It invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the olive leaf with their own eyes.
- Genesis 8:12 tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 8:12 tn Heb “it did not again return to him still.” For a study of this section of the flood narrative, see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Dove with the Olive Leaf (Gen VIII 8-11),” ExpTim 18 (1906/07): 377-78.
- Genesis 8:13 tn Heb In the six hundred and first year.” Since this refers to the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, the word “Noah’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 8:13 tn Heb “and saw and look.” As in v. 11, the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the dry ground with their own eyes.
- Genesis 8:14 tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, haʾadamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, haʾarets) is dry.
- Genesis 8:17 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 8:17 tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.
- Genesis 8:17 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
- Genesis 8:20 sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.
- Genesis 8:21 tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ, reakh hannikhoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.
- Genesis 8:21 tn Heb “and the Lord said.”
- Genesis 8:21 tn Heb “in his heart.”
- Genesis 8:21 tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
- Genesis 8:21 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.
- Genesis 8:21 tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
- Genesis 8:21 tn Heb “from his youth.”
- Genesis 8:22 tn Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”
- Genesis 8:22 tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.
Genesis 8
New American Standard Bible
The Flood Subsides
8 But (A)God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and (B)God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. 2 Also (C)the fountains of the deep and the [a]floodgates of the sky were closed, and (D)the rain from the sky was restrained; 3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end (E)of 150 days the water decreased. 4 Then in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, (F)the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the (G)window of the ark which he had made; 7 and he sent out a raven, and it [b]flew here and there until the water was dried up [c]from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a [d]dove, to see if the water was low on the [e]surface of the land; 9 but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him in the ark, for the water was on the [f]surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took it, and brought it into the ark to himself. 10 So he waited another seven days longer; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 And the dove came to him in [g]the evening, and behold, in its [h]beak was a fresh olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was low on the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days longer, and sent out (H)the dove; but it did not return to him again.
13 Now it came about in the (I)six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, that the water was dried up [i]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the [j]surface of the ground had dried up. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, that they may [k](J)breed abundantly on the earth, and (K)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every animal, every crawling thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out [l]by their families from the ark.
20 Then Noah built (L)an altar to the Lord, and took some of every kind of (M)clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered (N)burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord (O)smelled the soothing aroma, and the Lord said [m]to Himself, “I will never again (P)curse the ground on account of man, for (Q)the [n]intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; (R)and I will never again [o]destroy every living thing, as I have done.
22 While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
(S)Summer and winter,
And (T)day and night
Shall not cease.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 8:2 Or windows of the heavens
- Genesis 8:7 Lit went out, going and returning
- Genesis 8:7 Lit from upon
- Genesis 8:8 Lit dove from him
- Genesis 8:8 Lit face
- Genesis 8:9 Lit face
- Genesis 8:11 Lit the time of evening
- Genesis 8:11 Lit mouth
- Genesis 8:13 Lit from upon
- Genesis 8:13 Lit face
- Genesis 8:17 Or swarm
- Genesis 8:19 Or according to their kind
- Genesis 8:21 Lit to His heart
- Genesis 8:21 Or inclination
- Genesis 8:21 Lit strike
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