Genesis 8:12-18

Context
8:12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again,¹ but it did not return to him this time.²

8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year,³ 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 that⁴ the surface of the ground was dry. 8:14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth⁵ was dry.

8:15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out⁶ every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase⁷ and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!”⁸

8:18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives.

[8:12] ¹tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:12] ²tn 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.

[8:13] ³tn 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.

[8:13] ⁴tn 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.

[8:14] ⁵tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.

[8:17] ⁷tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:17] ⁸tn 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.

[8:17] ⁹tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”