TheoMaps

Act II · Fall

Genesis 8: God remembered Noah

God remembers Noah, and after Noah's offering He resolves never again to strike every living thing.

Chapter 8 of 5022 verses4 sectionsBSB

Where Genesis 8 sits

Genesis66 books · 1,189 chaptersRevelation
In the story
Act II, Fall: Genesis 3–11
In the Bible
Old Testament · The Law · chapter 8 of 50 in Genesis
In Genesis
Noah: the flood and the covenant, 6:9–9:29 · part of All humanity
Before
Genesis 7: The LORD shut him in
After
Genesis 9: The rainbow covenant

Genesis 8 summary

God remembers Noah and the animals, sends a wind, and stops the deep and the rain; the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat and the mountaintops appear. Noah sends out a raven and then a dove, which comes back with an olive leaf and at last does not return. When the earth is dry God brings them all out to multiply; Noah builds an altar, and the LORD, pleased with the offering, resolves never again to curse the ground because of man or to strike every living thing, though man's heart is evil from his youth, and that seedtime and harvest, day and night, will not cease as long as the earth endures.

Genesis 8 in context

Speaking
Moses, narrating; God speaks the command to leave, and the LORD speaks His resolve to Himself
Written for
Israel, whose own sacrifices are meant to rise as a pleasing aroma, learning that God keeps the world steady by His own decision
Around it
The turning point of the flood story; the covenant with Noah is spelled out next (ch. 9)

How Genesis 8 points to Christ

God's patience with an evil world holds history open for the Redeemer (Acts 14:17; 2 Pet 3:7–9); the pleasing offering after judgment points ahead to Christ, who gave Himself up as a fragrant sacrificial offering (Eph 5:2)

The sections of Genesis 8

  1. God remembered

    God remembers Noah and sends a wind; after 150 days the waters fall, and the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat.

    8:1–5
  2. Raven and dove

    Noah sends out a raven, then a dove that returns with an olive leaf, and at last one that does not return.

    8:6–12
  3. Out of the ark

    The ground is dry, and God brings Noah and every creature out of the ark to multiply on the earth.

    8:13–19
  4. The altar and the LORD's resolve

    Pleased by Noah's offering, the LORD vows, though man's heart is evil, never again to curse the ground or strike all life.

    8:20–22

Read Genesis 8

The Ark Rests on Ararat

1But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside. 2The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained. 3The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.

4On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

Noah Sends a Raven and a Dove

6After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.

8Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground. 9But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because the waters were still covering the surface of all the earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back inside the ark.

10Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

12And Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove again, but this time she did not return to him.

Exiting the Ark

13In Noah’s six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth. So Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was fully dry.

15Then God said to Noah, 16“Come out of the ark, you and your wife, along with your sons and their wives. 17Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”

18So Noah came out, along with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird—everything that moves upon the earth—came out of the ark, kind by kind.

Noah Builds an Altar

20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

22As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

shall never cease.”

Berean Standard Bible, 22 verses. The BSB is in the public domain.

Also in Noah: the flood and the covenant

Places

  • The mountains of Ararat

Read alongside

  • Genesis 19:29 “He remembered Abraham”: God's remembering again brings rescue, this time for Lot.
  • Jeremiah 33:20–21 God's covenant with day and night as the measure of His faithfulness.
  • Acts 14:17 God gives rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, a testimony to His goodness.
  • 2 Peter 3:7 The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment.

Chapters that point here

How Genesis 8 connects

  • Rest · Genesis 8:4 · The ark “came to rest,” the dove found “no place to rest,” and the “pleasing aroma” is literally an aroma of rest (8:4, 9, 21): plays on Noah's name and Lamech's hope (5:29).
  • The Lamb Line · Genesis 8:20–21 · A pleasing offering after judgment; Paul uses the same sacrificial language of Christ's self-offering. (Ephesians 5:2)
  • Mountain · Genesis 8:4 · Salvation comes to rest on a mountain.
  • Promise · Genesis 8:21–22, kept in Acts 14:17; 2 Peter 3:7
  • Covenant with Noah · Genesis 8:20–22 · The LORD's resolve after Noah's offering: no repeat of this judgment, and the order of the seasons kept while the earth lasts. The world is preserved, not yet renewed.

Doctrines Genesis 8 teaches

How Genesis 8 is shaped

The flood in mirror image Gen 6:10–9:19

  1. A 6:10 Noah and his three sons
  2. B 6:14–16 The ark to be built
  3. C 6:17–20 Flood announced; covenant with Noah
  4. D 6:21 Food in the ark
  5. E 7:1–3 Command to enter
  6. F 7:4–10 Seven days and seven days of waiting
  7. G 7:11–16 Entering; the LORD shuts Noah in
  8. H 7:17–20 Forty days; the waters rise and cover the mountains
  9. I 7:21–24 The waters prevail 150 days
  10. X 8:1 God remembers Noah
  11. I′ 8:3 The waters go down after 150 days
  12. H′ 8:4–6 Mountain tops seen; after forty days
  13. G′ 8:6–9 Window opened; raven and dove go out
  14. F′ 8:10–13 Seven days and seven days of waiting
  15. E′ 8:15–17 Command to leave
  16. D′ 9:1–4 Food outside the ark
  17. C′ 9:8–17 Covenant with all flesh; no flood again
  18. B′ 9:18 The ark
  19. A′ 9:18–19 Noah's three sons fill the earth

A condensed form of the 31-item mirror (see the book record). The turning point at 8:1 is strong; the full mirror is probable, and Noah's altar (8:20–22) stands outside it.

Questions on Genesis 8

  1. What event stands at the turning point of the flood story?

    Show the answer

    God’s remembering Noah: “But God remembered Noah” and the animals with him (8:1). God sends a wind, the waters begin to subside, and the story turns from rising waters to falling ones.

  2. What does the LORD resolve after smelling Noah's offering (8:21–22)?

    Show the answer

    Never again to curse the ground because of man, though man’s heart is evil from his youth, nor to destroy all living creatures as He has done; while the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, day and night will not cease (8:21–22).

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Written and reviewed by AJ Reyes. Reviewed . How we write the notes

Sources for these notes (6)
  • The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible, ed. Joel R. Beeke
  • The Reformation Study Bible (ESV), ed. R. C. Sproul
  • The Coherence of the Flood Narrative, Gordon J. Wenham, VT 28 (1978) 336-48
  • Notes on Genesis, Thomas L. Constable
  • Why Is the Story of Noah and the Ark So Repetitive? (KnoWhy 629), Scripture Central
  • A Discourse of the Covenants, Nehemiah Coxe (1681)