Genesis 8:6
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
American King James Version (AKJV)
And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
American Standard Version (ASV)
And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Then, after forty days, through the open window of the ark which he had made,
Webster's Revision
And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
World English Bible
It happened at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made,
English Revised Version (ERV)
And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
Definitions for Genesis 8:6
Barnes's Genesis 8:6 Bible Commentary
The raven and the dove are sent out to bring tidings of the external world. "Forty days." Before Noah made any experiment he seems to have allowed the lapse of forty days to undo the remaining effect of the forty days' rain. "The window." He seems to have been unable to take any definite observations through the aperture here called a window. The raven found carrion in abundance, floated probably on the waters, and did not need to return. This was such a token of the state of things as Noah might expect from such a messenger. He next sends the dove, who returns to him. "Yet other seven days." This intimates that he stayed seven days also after the raven was sent out. The olive leaf plucked off was a sign of returning safety to the land. It is said by Theophrastus (Hist. Plant. 4, 7) and Pliny (H. N. 13, 50) that the olive strikes leaves even under water. From this event, the olive branch became the symbol of peace, and the dove the emblem of the Comforter, the messenger of peace. After seven other days, the dove being despatched, returns no more. The number seven figures very conspicuously in this narrative. Seven days before the showers commence the command to enter the ark is given; and at intervals of seven days the winged messengers are sent out. These intervals point evidently to the period of seven days, determined by the six days of creation and the seventh day of rest. The clean beasts also and the birds are admitted into the ark by seven pairs. This points to the sacredness associated with the number arising from the hallowed character of the seventh day. The number forty also, the product of four, the number of the world or universe, and ten the number of completeness, begins here to be employed for a complete period in which a process will have run its course.
