Genesis 8:11

Gen 8:11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth [was] an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

Ver. 11. In her mouth was an olive leaf.] The olive never casteth her leaf, and is greenest in the spring, saith Pliny. It might very well continue so under water during the flood. It may also very well, by an allegory, set forth that grace and peace by Jesus Christ, brought in the mouth of his ministers in this evening of the world. {Rom 10:15} The dove returned at first without her errand; but, sent again, she brought better tidings. The man of God must not only be "apt to teach," but "patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; proving, if at any time, God will give them repentance." {a} All are not sent into the vineyard at the same hour of the day. Holy Melancthon, being himself newly converted, thought it impossible for his hearers to withstand the evidence of the gospel. But after he had been a preacher a while, ‘tis said he complained, "that old Adam was too hard for young Melancthon." {b} And yet he lacked not afterwards the seal of his ministry. For among many others converted by him, was that sweet saint, George, Prince of Anhalt, whose house was eccelesia, academia, curia , and whose heart was so upright with God, his life so laudable among men, that Melancthon {c} (once publicly defending the certainty of our future felicity by this argument, that godly men must be hereafter rewarded, wicked men punished), he named this pious prince as an unquestionable example of such a man, as might assuredly expect the promised crown of life eternal, which God the righteous Judge will give to all his. {2Ti 4:8}

{a} Dιδακτικον, ανεξικακον. {2Ti 2:24} Aνεχου και απεχου. - Epictet.

{b} Melch. Adam.

{c} Scultet. (ex ore Bucholceri, qui Melancthonis fuit auditor.)

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.

8:11 Unlike the raven (8:7), the dove feeds on vegetation. Since olive trees are not tall, Noah could tell that the water was almost gone.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which was a sign that the waters were much diminished: for the olives grow not on the high mountains.

Or, bill.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

11. at eventide] i.e. at the time when the dove would return to roost; implying a long absence from the ark.

an olive leaf pluckt off] Better, as R.V. marg., a fresh olive leaf. This would shew two things, (1) that the waters had sunk to a level at which the olive would grow, and (2) that life had revived upon the earth. The scene has universally been accepted as symbolical of reconciliation and peace. It finds no counterpart in the Babylonian story. The olive would be the most familiar tree to the dweller in Palestine.

LXX φύλλον ἐλαίας κάρφος, Lat. ramum olivae virentibus foliis.

13 (P). And it came to pass … earth] The disappearance of the waters is dated by P as coinciding with the 1st day of the 1st month of Noah’s 601st year. The 1st month would be Tisri, corresponding to our October. See note on Gen_7:11. Those who assume a reference to the later Heb. reckoning, which was identical with that of the Babylonian calendar, suppose the 1st month to be that of Abib, in the spring time, when the rainy season ended.

(J) and Noah removed] LXX ἀπεκάλυψε τὴν στέγην τῆς κιβωτοῦ, Lat. aperiens tectum arcae.

the covering of the ark] The literal rendering of the Heb. But what it was, and how it was removed, we are not told. The details of the structure of the ark, according to J, were probably left out, in order to make way for the description of P in Gen_6:14-16.

14 (P). And in the second month] We have here the last date in the Flood story. The earth is dry on the 27th day of the 2nd month in the 2nd year. The Flood had begun on the 17th day of the 2nd month in the previous year (Gen_7:11). From first to last we have here a period of one year and 10 days. It has been pointed out that a lunar year consists of 354 days; and that one lunar year and 11 days is exactly a solar year of 365 days. This may be merely a coincidence; and in calculating the months we reckon them as solar months of 30 days each.

The LXX in Gen_7:11 dated the commencement of the Flood from the 27th day of the 2nd month of the 1st year; and, therefore, assigns an exact year to its duration.

dry] Note the successive stages in P: Gen_8:5 waters decreased, tops of mountains visible; Gen_8:13 waters gone; Gen_8:14 soil dry.

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.

And the dove came in to him in the evening,.... It having been out all day delighting itself in a free air, and perching upon the trees, but yet not finding sufficient food, or a proper lodging, it returned to Noah at the evening for food and dwelling in the ark:

and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: which might easily be done, and even an "olive branch", as the word sometimes signifies, and is by some (p) rendered; for it being now the summer season, young branches sprouted out, which being tender, were easily cropped: the Targum of Jonathan adds,"which it had took from the mount of Olives;''but there is no necessity to suppose it went so far from the ark, since Assyria, a country nearer, was a land of olive oil, like that of Judea; Kg2 18:32 and besides, olives grew in Armenia itself, where the ark rested. Gogarene, in Armenia, is said by Strabo (q) to produce olive trees; though a modern author says (r)"I do not see where the dove which was sent out of the ark could find an olive branch, if the ark be supposed to have rested on Mount Ararat, or any of the mountains in Armenia; for this sort of trees is not found hereabout, where the species must be lost, and yet olives are known to be a kind of trees which never die:''but the above accounts show it to be otherwise in ancient times:

so Noah knew the waters were abated from off the earth: by this he perceived not only that they were gone off the mountains, but the lower grounds, at least the hills on which olive trees delight to grow; and yet that they were only abated, and not entirely gone off, since the dove returned to him: this dove sent out the second time, and returning, may be considered as an emblem of a Gospel minister, comparable to a dove, for the dove like gifts of the Spirit of God, by which he is qualified for his work, and for his simplicity, harmlessness, meekness, and humility; and the olive leaf in its mouth may be an emblem of the Gospel, which is from Christ, the good olive; is the Gospel of peace, which an olive branch is a symbol of, proclaiming and publishing peace and reconciliation by Christ; and as that is ever green, the Gospel always continues, and is the everlasting Gospel, and which was brought, and more fully and clearly dispensed in the evening of the world; and by it, it is known that the waters of divine wrath are assuaged, and the people of God may be assured they will never return to come upon them.

(p) "ramum olivae", V. L. so Ainsworth, see Neh. viii. 15. (q) Geograph. l. 11. p. 363. (r) Tournefort's Voyage to the Levant, vol. 3. p. 173.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Green leaves. The olive tree preserves its verdure and grows even at the bottom of the Red sea, and other seas in the East. (Pliny, Natural History xii. 25.) --- Many other trees and seeds will live for a long time under the waters. (Calmet) --- This tender branch of the olive seems to agree better with the spring than autumn; whence Tirinus infers, that the deluge began and ended in spring.

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).

The dove came in to him in the evening, as the manner of doves is, partly for better accommodation, both for food and lodging, than yet she could meet with abroad; and partly from her love to her mate.

In her mouth was an olive leaf.

Quest. Whence was this leaf, when trees had been so generally overthrown and rooted up by the deluge?

Answ.

1. Many trees might be preserved by an advantageous situation, between the rocks or hills which broke the force of the waters.

2. It is probable that God, by his powerful providence, preserved the plants and trees for future ages; and therefore there is no mention of any of their roots or seeds preserved in the ark.

3. The olive-tree especially will not only stand, but live and flourish under the waters, as Pliny, 1. 13. c. 25, and 16. 20, and Theophrastus, 4. 8, observe. Add, that the word here rendered leaf signifies also a tender branch.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Olive leaf plucked off — Not picked up. The freshly torn leaf or twig showed that the bird had plucked it from the tree. The olive tree puts out its leaves even if covered with water; and Noah saw by this freshly plucked leaf that the waters had subsided to the plains or slopes where the olive trees grew, and that their tops at least now rose above the surface. This fresh leaf was the first sign of the earth’s resurrection to life. The dove, with the olive branch in her mouth, has thus become the herald of peace and salvation.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the dove came in unto him. Literally, to him. As the manner of doves is, partly for better accommodation both for food and lodging than yet he could meet with abroad, and partly from love to his mate (Peele). In the evening (of the seventh day). And, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. Not as if "Deo jubente, uno die germinavit terra" (Ambrose), but because the olive leaves kept green under water (Chrysostom). Rosenm Lange, and Kalisch quote Pliny (13. 50) and Theophrastus ("Hist. Plant., 4:8) to this effect. That the olive tree grows in Armenia is proved by the testimony of Strabo (11. 575), Horace (Od. I 7. 7), Virgil (Gen_2:3), Diodorus Siculus (1. 17), &c. On this point ;vide Kalisch. The leaf which the dove carried towards the ark was "taraf," freshly plucked; hence rightly translated by "viride (Michaelis, Rosenm rather than by "decerptum" (Chaldee, Arabic) or "raptum" (Calvin). Karfov (LXX) is just the opposite of "fresh," viz., withered. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

טרף בפיה PLUCKED IN HER MOUTH — I am of opinion that it (the dove) was a male and that therefore it (the text) speaks of it sometimes as masculine and sometimes as feminine, because really wherever יונה “dove” occurs in the Scriptures it is spoken of as feminine, as (Song 5:12) “[His eyes] are like those of doves beside the water brooks. that are washing themselves (רוחצות fem.) in milk”; (Ezekiel 7:16) “Like the doves of the valleys, all of them moaning" and as (Hosea 7:11) “Like a silly (פותה fem.) dove”

טרף means IT HAD PLUCKED OFF — The Midrashic explanation takes it as meaning “food”, and interprets בפיה as “speaking” — viz., she said. “Rather that my food be bitter as an olive but from the hand of God, than as sweet as honey and from the hand of mortal men” (Eruvin 18b; Genesis Rabbah 33).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND LO AN OLIVE LEAF. From the plain meaning of this verse it would appear that the trees were not uprooted or blotted out in the flood because there was there no flooding stream since the whole world became full of water. But in Bereshith Rabbah the Rabbis have said, “From where did the dove bring the olive leaf? Rabbi Levi said, ‘She brought it from the Mount of Olives since the land of Israel was not inundated by the waters of the flood. This is as the Holy One, blessed be He, said to the prophet Ezekiel: Son of man, say unto her: Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.’ Rabbi Biryei said, ‘The gates of the garden of Eden were opened for the dove and from there she brought the leaf.’” Thus the intent of the Rabbis is that the trees were uprooted and blotted out in those places where the flood was, and surely the leaf faded. Similarly the Rabbis said, “Even the [solid substance of the] lower stationery millstone was blotted out in the flood,” and [to substantiate this statement] they expounded the verse, The waters wore the stones, [as referring to the waters of the flood which wore down stones]. And their saying that “the Land of Israel was not inundated by the flood” is to be understood as meaning that the rain of the flood was not there, as it is written, nor rained upon; the fountains of the great deep were not therein. But the waters did spread over the whole world, and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered, 19. as it is clearly written, and there is no partition around the Land of Israel to prevent the waters from entering. And so did the Sages say in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer: “The waters of the flood did not come down from heaven upon the land of Israel, but they rolled in from other lands and came there, as it is said, Son of man, say unto her, etc.” Now according to the opinion of Rabbi Levi, [mentioned above, that the dove brought the olive leaf from the Mount of Olives], it was because the torrential rain did not come down upon the land of Israel and the windows of heaven were not opened there that the trees remained there while in the rest of the world they were broken and uprooted by the flood and His mighty rain. But I wonder about their saying that [the olive leaf was brought by the dove] from the garden of Eden. If it were so, then Noah did not know that the waters abated from off the earth for there [in Eden] the waters of the flood did not enter. But perhaps its gates were closed so that the waters did not enter there, but when the waters abated they were opened. [Thus the olive leaf indicated the opening of the gates which in turn indicated that the waters had abated.]It is on the basis of this opinion of theirs [—that the trees were broken and uprooted in the entire world during the flood — that the Rabbis] have said there in Bereshith Rabbah, “And he [Noah] planted a vineyard. And from where did he have a branch? Said Rabbi Abba bar Kahana, ‘When he went into the ark he had taken with him branches of the vine, shoots of fig trees, and stumps of olive trees.’”

‘TARAPH’ (PLUCKED) IN HER MOUTH. Rashi wrote: “I am of the opinion that the dove was a male and that therefore Scripture sometimes speaks of it as masculine (he plucked) rather than tarpha (she plucked). and sometimes as feminine (in her mouth). because where the word yonah (dove) occurs in Scripture it is spoken of as feminine. Taraph however means ‘he plucked.’ But a Midrashic explanation takes it [taraph] as meaning ‘food,’ and the word b’phiha (in her mouth) it explains as meaning ‘speaking.’ Thus she said: ‘Rather that my food be bitter as an olive and come by the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, than as sweet as honey and from the hand of mortal man.’”All this does not appear to me to be correct for there is no reason why Scripture should change its reference to doves from feminine to masculine in one place in the same section. And if it is proper language to always speak of yonah in Scripture as feminine, why did it change here? Similarly, their Midrashic explanation does not at all make the word b’phiha to mean “speaking.” Instead, their Midrash is based on the fact that she brought this kind of leaf for if we should say that it just happened [that she brought an olive leaf], it cannot be in vain that Scripture mentioned it since it should have said, “And, lo, in her mouth a leaf freshly plucked.” Besides, the olive does not come from the very high trees that the fowl should nest there on account of its long branches. It was for this reason that the Sages said that there was in this a hint that it is more pleasing to the fowl to have their food bitter as wormwood from the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, and not have it be good and sweet as honey from the hand of mortal man, and surely, all the more, people do not wish to be dependent for their livehood upon one another. In the words of Bereshith Rabbah: “Rabbi Abahu said, ‘If the dove brought the olive leaf from the garden of Eden, could she not have brought something exceptional such as either cinnamon or balsam? But it was a hint which she gave to Noah: rather something even more bitter than this from the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, than something sweet from your hand.’” But in the Gemara they [the Sages] added: “What evidence is there that the word taraph means food? It is written, ‘Hatripheni’ (Feed me) with mine allotted bread.” It is due to the reason we have stated, [namely, that Scripture mentioned the name of the tree in order to indicate this hint] for which the Rabbis found support in the word hatripheni, implying that it is as if Scripture said, “And, lo, an olive-leaf of tereph (food) (he plucked), as it is actually vocalized. in her mouth.”As for the plain meaning of Scripture, the commentators have explained that the word taraph modifies the word “leaf,” thus stating, “And, lo, a plucked olive leaf was in her mouth.” Proof for this [i.e., that taraph modifies “leaf” rather than acting as a verb] is that taraph is wholly vocalized with the kamatz, as is the rule. followed by a patach. It is, however, found in irregular forms: For ‘taraph’ (He hath torn), and He will heal us;, and yet it is a verb rather than an adjective. And he shall restore that which ‘gazal’ (he took by robbery); The error which ‘shagag’ (he committed);, Verse 18. This too is similar to the above. and many other additional verses.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ותבא...לעת ערב, it came (back) at evening time of the same day it had been dispatched.

טרף, both vowels in this word are kametz, indicating that the word is an adjective similar to having been spelled טרוף, as a participle. The word implies that the pigeon had torn this leaf off an olive tree with its beak in order to bring it back to Noach. This is the reason why the Torah used the word טרף, to show that Noach realised that it had torn it off the tree and broken it from the olive. [not just from a branch. Ed.] This was not a leaf which had been found floating on the surface of the water.

כי קלו המים, that they had decreased in quantity. When something is in short supply it is often referred to as being קל, whereas when something is in ample supply it is called כבד. Examples of this are found in Job 14,21 יכבדו בניו,”his sons become ‘heavyweights’ (important, of consequence) We have the expression מקנה כבד, a great deal of cattle (Exodus 12,38) or חיל כבד, an army of numerous soldiers (Kings II 18,17). Why did the pigeon choose a leaf from an olive tree? Perhaps it was the first tree it encountered after flying away from the ark. Or, seeing that the leaves of the olive tree stay on the tree all year round it was the most likely leaf available. According to Sanhedrin 108 the pigeon reasoned that even a bitter tasting leaf eaten in freedom was preferable to being cooped up in luxurious surroundings. In the final analysis, the pigeon preferred to entrust its future to G’d rather than to man.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.