Gen 8:1

cross-referenceGen 8:1–22; Eph 5:2; 2 Cor 2:15; Matt 7:11; Jas 5:7

Gen 8 and its NT texts: form only

• SaysEph 5:2 has εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, the phrase of Swete 8:21; the SBLGNT apparatus units at ἡμᾶς and ἡμῶν are given with their editions, and the Textus Receptus has ἡμᾶς and ἡμῶν.
• Says2 Cor 2:15 has εὐωδία, the noun of Swete 8:21, with no apparatus unit.
• SaysMatt 7:11 has πονηροὶ ὄντες, the adjective of Swete 8:21, with no apparatus unit.
• SaysJas 5:7 has the units αὐτῷ / αὐτόν and the Byzantine plus ὑετὸν; it shares no seasonal term with Swete 8:22.
• UncertainForm agreement is not a claim about which text a writer used.

✓ Approved LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 TR (Scrivener 1894) public domain

exegeticalGen 8:1–22

Genesis 8 in the New Testament

• SaysEphesians 5:2, 2 Corinthians 2:15 and Matthew 7:11 state the New Testament’s own use of the offering aroma and of people described as evil who still give good gifts. Phil 4:18 is already treated in the xref from that verse to 8:21. The Genesis 7 New Testament texts treat Noah and the flood as history and are pointed to, not taken up again.
• ImpliesThose Genesis 7 texts read Noah as a real person; this chapter is the going down of the same waters.
• UncertainForm agreement is not a claim about sources. Ephesians 5:2 is the New Testament’s own usage; no further typological system is built from it. No application is drawn.

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exegeticalGen 8:1–22

Overview of Genesis 8

• SaysGenesis 8 moves from God remembering Noah, through the resting of the ark, the raven and the dove, and the drying of the earth, to the exit, the altar, and the Lord’s resolve that the ground will not be cursed again and that the seasons will not cease.
• ImpliesGod 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.
• UncertainThe dates, the extent of the waters, the wording of the raven, and the relation of 8:21 to 3:17 are open. No lean is taken.

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exegeticalGen 8:1–5

God remembered Noah (Genesis 8:1–5)

• SaysGod remembered Noah and caused a wind to pass over the earth; the waters abated. The springs and windows of 7:11 were stopped. The ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, a plural: a region, not one peak.
• ImpliesGod remembered is covenant faithfulness, not recall after forgetting. Rest, resting place and soothing smell share the consonants of Noah’s name.
• UncertainWhether the wind recalls 1:2 as a new creation is not stated. The dates and the extent of all the earth are open. No lean is taken.

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languageGen 8:1–12

LXX Gen 8:1–12: the waters recede, the raven and the dove

• SaysSwete’s Genesis 8 numbering matches the English and the MT; 8:1 has ὁ θεός for אֱלֹהִים and adds the birds and creeping things, which the Cotton and Bodleian Genesis lack in part.
• Says8:1 has πνεῦμα for רוּחַ and ἐκόπασεν τὸ ὕδωρ for וַיָּשֹׁכּוּ הַמָּיִם; 8:2 repeats the phrases of Swete 7:11.
• SaysSwete 8:4 has the twenty-seventh day where the MT has the seventeenth, and 8:5 the eleventh month where the MT has the tenth.
• SaysSwete 8:7 adds a purpose clause and says the raven did not return, where the MT has וַיֵּצֵא יָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב.
• UncertainNo lean is taken on which wording of 8:7 is original.
• Says8:8–12 render the dove, its resting place, the olive leaf and the two waiting verbs as listed.

✓ Approved LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 OSHB CC BY 4.0

languageGen 8:1–3

Gen 8:1–3: God remembered; the wind; the waters going back

• SaysGod remembered Noah and the animals; caused a wind to pass over the earth (Hiphil); the waters abated; no inceptive in the Hebrew.
• Says8:2 springs and windows stopped, rain restrained; 8:3 the waters went back, "going and returning," decreased at the end of 150 days.
• Implies"God remembered" is covenant faithfulness followed by action (8:1; Gen 19:29; Exod 2:24; 6:18), not recall after forgetting.
• UncertainWhether the wind over the waters recalls 1:2 as a new-creation picture; no lean.

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VariantGen 8:1–22

Gen 8: minor variants

• Says8:17 ketiv and qere, two spellings of the Hiphil imperative; Samaritan spelling of Ararat (8:4) and finite verbs (8:5).
• SaysGreek pluses and differences at 8:1, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22.
• UncertainWhether the Greek differences reflect other Hebrew or the translator; no lean.

✓ Approved BSB public domain LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0

Gen 8:3

exegeticalGen 8:3–14

The dates and the days (Genesis 8:3–14)

• SaysThe Masoretic Text dates the rest to the seventeenth of the seventh month, the mountain tops to the first of the tenth, the drying to the first of the first month in year 601, and the dry earth to the twenty-seventh of the second month. Swete differs at 8:4–5 and agrees at 8:14. Two verbs mark 8:13 and 8:14.
• UncertainHow the 150 days, the dates, the forty days and the seven-day waits fit, and whether 7:11 to 8:14 is meant as a solar year, are open. Which figures at 8:4–5 are original is open. The printed wording is the Masoretic Text, medium confidence. No lean is taken.

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Gen 8:4

historicalGen 8:4–21

The flood’s ending in Babylonian stories

• SaysGen 8:4: the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat; 8:6–12: Noah opened the window and sent out a raven, then a dove three times; 8:20–21: he offered burnt offerings and the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma.
• UncertainHow the Babylonian accounts of the flood’s end (Gilgamesh XI, Berossos, the Sumerian text in King) relate to Gen 8, given shared and differing features, is open; no dependence claimed, no lean, and background does not fix the meaning.

✓ Approved BSB public domain Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels public domain King, Legends of Babylon and Egypt public domain

historicalGen 8:4

The mountains of Ararat in early reading

• SaysGen 8:4: the ark rested on the mountains (plural) of Ararat; 2 Kgs 19:37, Isa 37:38 and Jer 51:27 use Ararat of a land or kingdom; the text names a region, not a single peak.
• UncertainWhere in the Ararat region the ark rested, and whether any mountain named by Pseudo-Jonathan, Josephus, Jubilees, Berossos or Keil is the place, is open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning.

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languageGen 8:4–5

Gen 8:4–5: the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat

• SaysThe ark rested (Qal of nuakh) on the seventeenth day of the seventh month on "the mountains of Ararat," a plural: a region, not one peak.
• Says8:5 the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month; on its first day the mountain tops were seen.
• ImpliesRest (8:4), resting place (8:9) and soothing (8:21) share the consonants of Noah's name at three turns of the story.
• UncertainHow the 8:4–5 dates and the 150 days count (thirty-day months, from the end of the rain, a lunar calendar); no lean.

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VariantGen 8:4; Gen 8:5

Gen 8:4–5: the seventeenth or the twenty-seventh day; the tenth or the eleventh month

• SaysMT 8:4 seventh month, seventeenth day; Swete ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι, the twenty-seventh; one manuscript lacks the "seventh" of the day.
• SaysMT 8:5 the tenth month; Swete the eleventh; no entry in Swete's notes; 8:14 agrees (twenty-seventh).
• SaysThe Samaritan text (von Gall p. 12) has the MT's figures at 8:4 and 8:5.
• UncertainMT or Swete figures: grounds and objections; no lean.

✓ Approved BSB public domain LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0

Gen 8:6

exegeticalGen 8:6–12

The raven and the dove (Genesis 8:6–12)

• SaysNoah opened the window, not the opening of 6:16, and sent a raven, which went out, going out and returning, then a dove three times: no resting place, a plucked olive leaf, then no return.
• UncertainWhether the raven returned into the ark, or Swete’s did not return is original, is open. all the earth in 8:9 is open with the Genesis 7 extent note. No dependence on Babylonian bird scenes is claimed. No lean is taken.

✓ Approved BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels public domain

historicalGen 8:6–12

The raven and the dove in early reading

• SaysGen 8:6–7: Noah opened the window and sent out a raven, which went out, going out and returning, until the waters dried up; 8:9–12: the dove found no rest, returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf, and the third time did not return.
• UncertainWhether the raven kept returning (MT) or did not return (Greek, Josephus) is open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning.

✓ Approved BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 Etheridge public domain Josephus (Whiston) public domain Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain

languageGen 8:6–7

Gen 8:6–7: the window and the raven

• SaysAfter forty days Noah opened the window (the ordinary word, not the word of 6:16).
• SaysThe raven went out, "going out and returning" (two infinitives absolute), until the waters dried from the earth.
• UncertainWhether "returning" means back into the ark or to and fro; no lean.

✓ Approved BDB CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0

Gen 8:7

VariantGen 8:7

Gen 8:7: the raven, returning or not returning

• SaysMT "going out and returning," no purpose clause; Swete τοῦ ἰδεῖν εἰ κεκόπακεν τὸ ὕδωρ and οὐχ ὑπέστρεψεν; no manuscript in Swete's notes lacks the "not."
• SaysThe Samaritan text (von Gall p. 12) agrees with the MT, with no negative.
• UncertainMT or Swete original: grounds and objections; no lean.

✓ Approved BSB public domain LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0

Gen 8:8

languageGen 8:8–12

Gen 8:8–12: the dove and the olive leaf

• SaysThe dove goes out to see whether the waters were light (Qal of qalal); it finds no resting place, for waters covered all the earth.
• SaysTwo forms of "wait" (8:10 Piel, another root in OSHB; 8:12 Niphal of yakhal); a plucked olive leaf; the dove did not again return.
• Uncertain"All the earth" (8:9): the whole earth or the land in view; no lean.

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Gen 8:13

languageGen 8:13–14

Gen 8:13–14: the waters dried, the earth dry

• Says8:13 in year 601, first month, first day, the waters were dried; Noah removes the covering and sees the face of the ground dried.
• Says8:14 second month, twenty-seventh day, the earth was dry: two verbs (kharav, yavesh); the day is "on."
• UncertainWhether a year and ten days (7:11 to 8:14) is meant as a solar year; no lean.

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languageGen 8:13–22

LXX Gen 8:13–22: the exit, the offering, and the seasons

• SaysSwete 8:13 has τὸ ὕδωρ as subject of the second clause where the MT has פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה; part of the verse stands over an erasure by A1 in Alexandrinus; 8:14 agrees with the MT’s twenty-seventh day.
• Says8:15 Κύριος ὁ θεός renders אֱלֹהִים, 8:20 τῷ θεῷ renders לַיהוָה, and 8:21 Κύριος ὁ θεός renders יְהוָה.
• SaysSwete 8:18 names the wife before the sons; Alexandrinus as first written lacks two phrases supplied in the margin by a corrector.
• Says8:20–21 render the offering, the fragrance, the heart and the evil inclination as listed.
• SaysSwete 8:22 has θέρος καὶ ἔαρ for וְקַיִץ וָחֹרֶף.

✓ Approved LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 OSHB CC BY 4.0

Gen 8:15

exegeticalGen 8:15–20

The exit and the altar (Genesis 8:15–20)

• SaysGod told Noah to come out and to bring out the living creatures, that they might swarm and be fruitful and multiply. They went out by their families, not by the kind of 6:20 and 7:14. Noah built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings of every clean beast and bird.
• ImpliesNoah comes out at God’s word and answers with worship.
• UncertainWhether 8:17 renews the creation charge is open. No dependence on Babylonian sacrifice scenes is claimed. No lean is taken.

✓ Approved BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels public domain

languageGen 8:15–19

Gen 8:15–19: come out; by their families

• SaysGod tells Noah to go out; 8:17 ketiv and qere are two spellings of the Hiphil imperative "bring out"; the animals swarm and are fruitful and multiply.
• Says8:18 sons before wife (8:16 wife first); 8:19 "by their families" (mishpakhah), not "kind" (min).
• UncertainWhether 8:17 renews the creation charge for the animals; no lean.

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Gen 8:20

historicalGen 8:20–22

Noah’s offering in early reading

• SaysGen 8:20: Noah built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings of clean animals and birds; 8:21: the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said to His heart that He would not curse the ground again; 8:22: the seasons and day and night shall not cease.
• UncertainWhether “smelled” in 8:21 is chiefly accommodated language or an idiom of accepted sacrifice is open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning.

✓ Approved BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 Etheridge public domain Josephus (Whiston) public domain APOT public domain

languageGen 8:20–21

Gen 8:20–21: the altar, the soothing smell, "never again"

• SaysNoah built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings of every clean beast and bird.
• SaysThe Lord smelled the soothing smell (BDB) and said to His heart: not again curse the ground (Piel of qalal, not 'arar), though the heart is evil from youth (no "every"), not again strike every living thing.
• ImpliesThe Lord accepts the offering and resolves to preserve; the heart is unchanged (6:5 wording), so the promise rests on the Lord's resolve.
• UncertainKi "for" or "though"; "curse the ground" and 3:17 or the flood; "smelled" as accommodated language or the idiom of acceptance; no lean.

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Gen 8:21

exegeticalGen 8:21–22

Never again, and the seasons (Genesis 8:21–22)

• SaysThe Lord smelled the soothing smell and said to His heart that He would not again curse the ground (qalal, not the verb of 3:17) or strike every living thing; the heart is evil from youth, without the every of 6:5. Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease all the days of the earth.
• ImpliesThe Lord accepts the offering and resolves to preserve; the heart is unchanged, so the promise rests on His resolve. 8:22 is a pledge to preserve the created order, leading into 9:8–17.
• UncertainKi for or though; whether curse the ground looks to 3:17/5:29 or to the flood; smelled as accommodated language or the idiom of acceptance; autumn or winter in 8:22. No lean is taken.

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Gen 8:22

languageGen 8:22

Gen 8:22: seed and harvest, cold and heat

• Says"Yet all the days of the earth," four pairs shall not cease: seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and autumn, day and night.
• ImpliesGod's pledge to preserve the created order (1:5, 14), leading into the covenant of 9:8–17.
• UncertainAutumn (BDB) or winter (BSB) for the second noun of the third pair; no lean.

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