and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth.
Parallel Translations
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and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth.
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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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And he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Genesis 8:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 17:4 You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
- 1 Kings 17:6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
- Job 38:41 Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
- Psalms 147:9 He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.
- Leviticus 11:15 any kind of raven,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 8:7 And he sent forth a raven, which…
Gen 8:7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
Ver. 7. And he sent forth a raven.] Which when it is made tame, though it delights in dead carcasses, whereof Noah knew the earth was now full, yet doth not easily forget its station, but returns thereto, when nature is satisfied.
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Which went forth to and fro.] Fluttered about the ark, but kept out of it. Manet foris cum voce corvina, qui non habet simplicitatem columbinam. (August.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He sent forth a raven; a fit messenger for…
He sent forth a raven; a fit messenger for that purpose, because it smells dead carcasses at a great distance, and flies far, and then returneth to its former habitation with something in its bill.
To and fro; Heb. going and returning; i.e. went forth hither and thither; now forward, then backward; sometimes going from the ark, and sometimes returning to the ark, though never entering into it again. Not as if she returned afterwards; the phrase implies that she never returned. And so the word until is often used, as 2Sa 6:23, Michal had no child until the day of her death, i.e. never had a child. See also Psa 110:1; Mat 1:25.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he sent forth a raven,.... That by it…
And he sent forth a raven,.... That by it he might make his observation, how high or low the waters were upon the earth; and the rather he sent out the raven, a bird of prey, which feeds on carrion, that if the earth had been dry, the smell of the dead carcasses would have invited it to go far off from the ark, and not return; but if not, he would see it again:
which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from the earth; or, "and it went forth, going forth and returning" (l); it went forth out of the ark, and returned, but might not go into it, but went forth again, and then returned; and thus it continued going backwards and forwards, until the waters were dried up, when it returned no more: the Septuagint version is, "and it returned not"; and so some Jewish writers (m) say, it found the carcass of a man on the top of the mountains, and sat upon it for food, and returned not: hence came the fable of Apollo's sending a raven to fetch water, while he was sacrificing, which lighting on a large corn field, yet green, and being willing to enjoy some grains of it, waited till it was ripe, and neglected its orders (n); and hence is the proverb, "corvus nuntius". Some make this creature to be an emblem of the law, first sent forth, but brought no good tidings of the waters of God's wrath being assuaged, but worketh wrath, and is the ministration of condemnation and death: rather it is an emblem of unregenerate men, who are, like it, black through original sin and actual transgressions; are unclean and polluted in all the powers and faculties of their souls; are hateful, hating one another, and live in carnal and sensual lusts pleasures.
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(l) "et exiit egrediende et redeundo", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt. (m) Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. (n) Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 1. c. 47.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Noah sent forth a raven through the window of…
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. This gave Noah little satisfaction: therefore,
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. He sent forth a raven, which went…
Verse 7. He 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. She made frequent excursions, and continued on the wing as long as she could, having picked up such aliment as she found floating on the waters; and then, to rest herself, regained the ark, where she might perch, though she was not admitted. Indeed this must be allowed, as it is impossible she could have continued twenty one days upon the wing, which she must have done had she not returned. But the text itself is sufficiently determinate.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 8:7-12. Noah sent forth a raven — Through…
Gen 8:7-12. 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. This gave Noah little satisfaction: therefore, he sent forth a dove — Which returned the first time with no good news, but probably wet and dirty; but the second time she brought an olive-leaf in her bill, which appeared to be fresh plucked off; a plain indication that now the trees began to appear above water. Note here, that Noah sent forth the dove a second time, seven days after the first time, and the third time was after seven days too: and probably the first sending of her out was seven days after the sending forth of the raven. The olive-branch is an emblem of peace.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Did not return. The negotiation Not, is not to…
Did not return. The negotiation Not, is not to be found in any Hebrew copy now extant; though it is still retained by the Septuagint, and several Latin manuscripts, according to the testimony of Liranus. If we add here, therefore, to the Hebrew text, we must translate it with St. Jerome, thus; It went forth, going and returning, (Egredicbatur exiens et revertens,) sometimes repairing to the mountains, where it found carcasses to feed on, and at other times returning not unto the ark, but to rest upon the top of it. (Estius) (Challoner) --- Or receded farther from it; as the Hebrew may be explained, agreeably to the Vulgate, Septuagint, Syriac, &c. which admit the negation. (Calmet) --- Till, as long as the waters covered the earth, not that it returned to the ark afterwards. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain And he sent forth a raven--The smell of carrion…
And he sent forth a raven--The smell of carrion would allure it to remain if the earth were in a habitable state. But it kept hovering about the spot, and, being a solitary bird, probably perched on the covering.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. A raven — Hebrews, the raven; the well…
7. A raven — Hebrews, the raven; the well known: historic from this event.
To and fro — Hebrews, it went going and returning; that is, going away from the ark and returning to it, settling upon but not entering into it. The raven may have found abundant sustenance from the floating caresses, so that it needed not to return to the ark for food. This black bird of death, finding a congenial home in the watery sepulchre of the antediluvian world, is a symbol of judgment and wrath.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. a raven] The Heb. and LXX give the…
7. a raven] The Heb. and LXX give the definite article, “the raven,” which some have explained as the only male raven in the ark. But the article is idiomatically generic; cf. Gen_8:8, Gesenius, Heb. Gr. 126, § 4. The Israelite story records the sending, first of a raven, and then, on two successive occasions, of a dove. The Babylonian account records the sending first of a dove, which returned; then of a swallow, which returned; and lastly of a raven, which turned not back.
Noah, stranded with the ark on the highest point, is unable to see anything around or below him.
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went forth to and fro] Presumably it was preying upon floating carcases. The “to and fro” suggests the picture of its flitting backwards and forwards, near the ark.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain The raven and the dove have been thought to…
raven
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.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 8:7 The raven is the largest member of the…
8:7 The raven is the largest member of the crow family, and was among Noah’s unclean animals (Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14). As a scavenger and carrion eater, it was able to sustain itself without returning to the boat.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.