Genesis 8:7
in Genesis 8and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
KJV
And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
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This verse in Genesis 8
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHe sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro - It is generally supposed that the raven flew off, and was seen no more, but this meaning the Hebrew text will not bear; ויצא יצוא ושוב vaiyetse yatso vashob, and it went forth, going forth and returning. From which it is evident that she did return, but was not taken into the ark.
This site's exposition
Noah opened the window he had made
on Genesis 8:6-7
Noah opens the window he had made after forty days, the same span the rain fell at 7:12. He sends out a raven, which keeps flying back and forth until the waters dry up, a bird that feeds on carrion and can rest anywhere on a drowned world. Leviticus 11:15 lists it among the unclean birds.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Augustine of HippoSERMONS ON THE LITURGICAL SEASON 224.4 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
You do not know when that last hour is going to come and yet you say, "I am reforming." When are you going to reform? When are you going to change? "Tomorrow," you say. Behold, how often you say, "Tomorrow, tomorrow." You have really become a crow. Behold, I say to you that when you make the noise of a crow, ruin is threatening you. For that crow whose cawing you imitate went forth from the ark and did not return.
As a sign that the flood had abated the dove is now bringing Back to the ark in her beak the budding green branch of an olive.
But for the present we need to explain the reason why the bird [the raven] did not come back. Perhaps, with the waters subsiding, the bird, being unclean, happened upon corpses of men and beasts and, finding nourishment to its liking, stayed there! This would have been something that proved to be no little sign of hope and encouragement for the just man [if the raven had returned].
The Medieval Church2 voices
He went out and returned, until the waters were dried up from the earth. It does not say he went out and returned to the ark; but he went out and returned, it says, until the waters were dried up from the earth, because obviously …
A commentator
BedeHomilies on the Gospels, HOMILY XI. ON THE FEAST DAY OF THEOPHANY · Written before 735.
proposed
Noah wanted to know how things stood on the face of the earth when the inundation had come to an end, and he sent forth a raven, which scorned to return to the ark, signifying those who, although they have been cleansed by the waters …
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Noah sent forth a raven through the window of the ark, which went forth, as the Hebrew phrase is, going forth and returning, that is, flying about, but returning to the ark for rest; probably not in it, but upon it.
Noah sent forth a raven through the window of the ark, which went forth, as the Hebrew phrase is, going forth and returning, that is, flying about, but returning to the ark for rest; probably not in it, but upon it.
And he sent forth a raven,....
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְשַׁלַּ֖ח | vayshalach | and he sent out | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָֽעֹרֵ֑ב | haorev | the raven | H6158 → | |
| וַיֵּצֵ֤א | vaiyetze' | and it went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| יָצוֹא֙ | yatzo' | continuously <to go out> | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וָשׁ֔וֹב | vashov | and returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| יְבֹ֥שֶׁת | yevoshet | dried up | H3001 → | |
| הַמַּ֖יִם | hamayim | the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מֵעַ֥ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַיְשַׁלַּ֖חand he sent out
vayshalachH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָֽעֹרֵ֑בthe raven
haorevH6158 →
וַיֵּצֵ֤אand it went out
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
יָצוֹא֙continuously <to go out>
yatzo'H3318 →1067 times
וָשׁ֔וֹבand returned
vashovH7725 →1056 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
יְבֹ֥שֶׁתdried up
yevoshetH3001 →
הַמַּ֖יִםthe waters
hamayimH4325 →581 times
מֵעַ֥לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 38:41Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
it leads to
- Luke 12:24
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 147:9
He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 12:24
Through
Psalms 147:9He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
it leads to
- Psalms 104:27–28
All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 38:41
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 136:25
He gives food to every creature. His loving devotion endures forever.
- Psalms 104:27–28
Through
1 Kings 17:6The ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he would drink from the brook.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:23–24
Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
- Psalms 78:23–24
Through
1 Kings 17:4And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
it leads to
- 1 Kings 17:9
“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
- 1 Kings 17:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, SERMONS ON THE LITURGICAL SEASON 224.4; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Bede, Homilies on the Gospels, HOMILY XI. ON THE FEAST DAY OF THEOPHANY; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 26.12; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Prudentius, SCENES FROM SACRED HISTORY 3.