Genesis 8

Genesis 8 is the second half of the Flood narrative in the early chapters of Genesis. The waters that covered the earth in Genesis 7 recede in this chapter, and the Noahic covenant is established in the following chapter, Genesis 9.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 God remembers Noah and the animals in the ark. A wind passes over the earth and the waters subside; after 150 days, on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains become visible.
• Verses 6–12 After forty days Noah opens the window and sends out a raven. He then sends out a dove, which at first returns because it finds no place to rest. Seven days later it returns with a fresh olive leaf, and after another seven days it does not return.
• Verses 13–19 On the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the waters are dried up from the earth, and by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth is dry. At God's command, Noah's family and every living creature come out of the ark.
• Verses 20–22 Noah builds an altar and offers burnt offerings (sacrifices burned whole) of clean animals and birds. The LORD says that he will never again curse the ground for man's sake or destroy every living thing.

Key verses

• Genesis 8:1 "And God remembered Noah …" — the turning point at which the narrative moves from judgment to restoration.
• Genesis 8:11 "and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off" — a sign that the earth has been restored. The dove bearing an olive leaf later became a widely used symbol of peace.
• Genesis 8:22 "seedtime and harvest … shall not cease" — a promise to uphold the order of nature.

Characters and places

• Noah — the man who built the ark and survived the Flood.
• Noah's wife, sons, and sons' wives — they are not named in this chapter. The sons' names are given as Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
• Mount Ararat — the place where the ark came to rest. The Hebrew text reads "the mountains of Ararat," and some hold that it refers to a region rather than a particular peak.

Points to consider

• Duration of the Flood: Taken together, the dates in chapters 7 and 8 indicate that the Flood lasted a little over a year. Interpretations of the details vary depending on which calendar is used to reckon the dates.
• Extent of the Flood: Some read the account literally as describing a global flood, while others regard it as a local flood. Views differ even within the same denomination (see Creation and Evolution).
• Claims beyond the text: Claims to have found remains of the ark on Mount Ararat have been made on several occasions. However, the text itself makes no such claim, and none of these claims has gained wide acceptance.
• Human wickedness: The statement in verse 21 that "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" is frequently cited as a description of humanity's sinful nature.
• Connections to the New Testament: 1 Peter 3:21 links salvation through the ark with baptism. Jesus also speaks of "the days of Noah" in Matthew 24.

In the Korean church

• The scene of the dove and the olive leaf is often featured in Sunday school lessons on the story of Noah.
• Verse 22 is also used as a sermon text for the early-harvest thanksgiving observed in Korean churches (Maekchu Thanksgiving) and for Thanksgiving Day.