Flood Recession (8:1-19)

Divine Remembrance

Genesis 8:1 #p-source

“Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And Elohim made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.”

  • Divine Remembrance: God remembers covenant obligation
  • Wind Creation: Divine breath causes recession
  • Universal Care: All living things remembered

Genesis 8:2-3a #p-source

“The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters receded continually from the earth.”

  • Cosmic Waters Stopped: Reverse of 7:11
  • Systematic Recession: Orderly withdrawal

Genesis 8:3b-5 #p-source

“At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.”

  • 150 Day Count: Completion of P’s flood duration
  • Ararat Landing: Seventh month, seventeenth day
  • Mountain Visibility: Tenth month, first day
  • Precise Chronology: P’s systematic dating

Bird Reconnaissance

Genesis 8:6-12 #j-source

“So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.”

  • Forty Days: J’s time reference
  • Raven and Dove: Two-bird reconnaissance
  • Olive Leaf: Sign of dry land
  • Seven Day Intervals: J’s time pattern
  • Narrative Detail: Personal, dramatic account

Exit from Ark

Genesis 8:13 #composite

“And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry.”

  • New Year: 601st year, first month, first day
  • Covering Removal: Noah’s investigation
  • Ground Dryness: Visual confirmation

Genesis 8:14 #p-source

“And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried.”

  • Complete Dryness: Second month, twenty-seventh day
  • Full Year: Complete flood cycle

Genesis 8:15-19 #p-source

“Then Elohim spoke to Noah, saying, ‘Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.’ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.”

  • Divine Command: God orders exit
  • Systematic Exit: Organized by families/kinds
  • Fruitfulness Command: Be fruitful and multiply
  • Classification Order: “According to their families”

Post-Flood Worship and Covenant

J Source - Sacrifice and Promise (8:20-22)

Genesis 8:20-22 #j-source

“Then Noah built an altar to the YHWH, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the YHWH smelled a soothing aroma; then the YHWH said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.’”

  • Divine Name: YHWH (YHWH) throughout
  • Altar Building: First post-flood act
  • Clean Animals: Explains need for seven pairs
  • Soothing Aroma: Anthropomorphic divine response
  • Divine Soliloquy: God’s internal decision
  • Never Again Promise: Unilateral divine commitment
  • Human Nature Acknowledgment: Evil from youth
  • Natural Order: Seasonal cycles guaranteed