Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
8. a dove ] The definite article is used also here, though there would have been seven pairs of doves. From the opening clause of Gen 8:10, we may conclude that the narrative here was originally fuller, and that this verse must have begun “and he stayed seven days.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 8. He sent forth a dove] The dove was sent forth thrice; the first time she speedily returned, having, in all probability, gone but a little way from the ark, as she must naturally be terrified at the appearance of the waters. After seven days, being sent out a second time, she returned with an olive leaf pluckt off, Ge 8:11, an emblem of the restoration of peace between God and the earth; and from this circumstance the olive has been the emblem of peace among all civilized nations. At the end of the other seven days the dove being sent out the third time, returned no more, from which Noah conjectured that the earth was now sufficiently drained, and therefore removed the covering of the ark, which probably gave liberty to many of the fowls to fly off, which circumstance would afford him the greater facility in making arrangements for disembarking the beasts and reptiles, and heavy-bodied domestic fowls, which might yet remain. See Ge 8:17.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The dove flies lower and longer than the raven, and is more sociable and familiar with man, and more constant to its accustomed dwelling, and more loving and faithful to its mate, and therefore more likely to return with some discovery.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8-11. Also he sent forth a doveabird flying low and naturally disposed to return to the place of herabode.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Also he sent forth a dove from him,…. Seven days after he had sent out the raven, as in Ge 8:10
to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; for the dove is a creature that delights in cleanness, flies low, and goes far off, so that if it returned not again, he might conclude that the waters were gone off the earth; but being a sociable creature, and familiar to men, and especially loving to its mate, if they were not gone off, it would certainly return again. This some take to be an emblem of the Gospel, bringing the good tidings of peace, pardon, righteousness and salvation by Jesus Christ: rather it is an emblem of a sensible sinner, and true believer in Christ, being mournful, timorous, swift, modest, and affectionate; such persons, like doves of the valley, mourn for their iniquities; tremble at the sight of their sins, and the curses of the law, at the apprehension of divine wrath, at the awful judgment of God; and are fearful lest Christ should not receive them, to whom they swiftly fly for refuge, as doves to their windows; and who are modest, meek, and lowly, and affectionate to Christ, and one another. The Targum of Jonathan calls this an house dove, or tame one: hence, perhaps, came the practice of making use of doves as messengers to carry letters from place to place o.
o Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 37.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8, 9) He sent forth a dove . . . From the nature of its food, the raven had not brought back to Noah any special information; but as the dove feeds on vegetable products, he hopes that he shall learn by her means what is the state of the ground, the low-lying admh. But as this species of bird does not fly far from its home, except when assembled in vast numbers, it quickly returned, finding water all around. This proves that the ark had not settled upon a lofty eminence; for as it had been already aground 120 days, and as within another fortnight the waters had abated from off the earth, it could only have been in some valley or plain among the mountains of Ararat that the waters were thus on the face of the whole earth, the larger word, yet which certainly does not mean here the whole world, but only a very small region in the immediate neighbourhood of the ark. For, supposing that the raven was sent out one week before the dove, forty-seven days (see Gen. 8:6) would have elapsed since Noah beheld the glorious panorama of mountain heights all around, and seven days afterwards the dove brought him a freshplucked olive-leaf. Yet, literally, the words are, for waters were upon the face of the whole earth. Plainly these large terms in the language of the Bible are to be limited in their interpretation by the general tenor of its narratives. For a similar conclusive instance, comp. Exo. 9:6 with Exo. 9:19-20.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Also he sent forth a dove Rather, the dove; so well known from this event . Probably seven days after the raven had been sent forth, (Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Knobel,) for Gen 8:10 states, that he waited yet other seven days. The dove, unlike the raven, alights only where it is clean and dry, and so the fact of her not returning would give more certain information in regard to the state of the earth.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 8:8. Also he sent forth a dove, &c. From Gen 8:10 it appears, that there was seven days’ interval between the sending forth the raven and the dove. The dove was sent forth, probably, because it is a bird of strong wing, flies long and far, and feeds upon the seeds which are cast or fall upon the ground; and returns to its nest or home from the most remote places. The dove found no place to rest upon, and returned; but being sent out a second time, she brought with her an olive-leaf, or branch, plucked off: “Folia olivae viridis,” the leaves of a green olive-tree, says Houbigant, Who reads the word in the plural, ali. She brought this, it is supposed, from Assyria, which abounded with olive-trees, the property whereof is to live and be green under water. Thus it first became a pledge of restored favour and peace with God, and it hath continued an emblem of peace from that time to the present. It may just be hinted, that these little circumstances testify the truth of the scripture-account of things, and ought to have their weight. Bochart justly observes, that two things might be collected from this by Noah: the one, that not only the mountains were dried, but also the plains, or at least the lower hills, in which the olive-trees principally flourish; the other, that the earth was not so corrupted by the waters of the deluge, but that trees remained upon it, which might shortly vegetate again by the heat of the sun, and afford him food. This writer may be consulted for a full account of this great event, the heathen traditions concerning it, and other things, which our compass will not allow us to admit.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 8:8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
Ver. 8. Also he sent forth a dove. ] A bird that being swift and simple, willingly “flies” back “to his windows,” Isa 60:8 through love and faithfulness to his mate and young. Besides, he fleeth a long while together, and very near the ground, and so was fitter for this service. Josephus saith, that he came into the ark with his feet and wings wet and dirty, which could not but be good news to Noah. Plutarch affirmeth, that Deucalion sent a dove to try whether the waters were dried: Satan est Dei simia .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
dove: a clean bird. Deu 14:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
dove
The raven and the dove have been thought to stand for the believer’s two natures: the “old man” satisfied with a world under judgment; the “new man” finding satisfaction only in the things of the new creation.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
a dove: Gen 8:10-12, Son 1:15, Son 2:11, Son 2:12, Son 2:14, Mat 10:16
Reciprocal: Isa 60:8 – as the 1Co 15:14 – General