Overview of Genesis 8

Says After the waters have prevailed a hundred and fifty days (7:24), God remembered Noah and caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters abated (8:1). The springs and windows of 7:11 were stopped (8:2). The waters went back, going and returning, and decreased at the end of a hundred and fifty days (8:3). The ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, a region, not one peak (8:4). The tops of the mountains were seen in the tenth month (8:5). Noah sent a raven, which went out, going out and returning, and a dove three times (8:6–12). In year 601 the waters were dried, and on the twenty-seventh of the second month the earth was dry (8:13–14). God told Noah to go out; the animals went out by their families; Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings (8:15–20). The Lord smelled the soothing smell and resolved not to curse the ground or strike every living thing again; seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease (8:21–22). See the notes that follow.

Implies God remembered Noah in covenant faithfulness. The Lord accepts the offering and resolves to preserve, though the heart is unchanged. 8:22 leads into the covenant of 9:8–17. Noah is a real person, as the New Testament treats him.

Uncertain The dates, the extent of the waters, the wording of the raven, and the relation of 8:21 to 3:17 are treated below. No lean is taken.