Genesis Deeper ㉛ Another Seven Days · Why Didn't Noah Leave After the Olive Leaf? (Genesis 8:6~12)
This series takes one Bible passage at a time and looks at it a little more closely. The images are free to use in worship, class, and on social media.
At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made, and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground, but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned into the ship to him, for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship. He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship. The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth. He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him anymore.
Genesis 8:6~12 (World English Bible)
1. Noah Opens the Window
In the verses just before, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Some months later, the tops of the mountains could be seen above the water (8:4~5). Then forty more days passed, and at last Noah opened the window he had made in the ark. Today’s passage begins here. (The World English Bible quoted here calls the ark “the ship.”)
With the window open, Noah sends out birds. First a raven, then a dove. The dove finds no place to land and comes back. A week later he sends it out again, and this time it returns with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak. The text says, “…So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth.” (8:11)
Yet even with that leaf in hand, Noah does not leave the ship. The next words in the text are “He waited yet another seven days…” That raises a question. Noah knew the waters had gone down. So why did he not go out?
2. The Moment Most of Us Would Have Gone Out
The olive leaf the dove brought back was good news. It meant the water had gone down far enough for a bird to pull a leaf from a living tree. After many months inside the ship, anyone seeing that leaf would have wanted to go outside right away.
We are much the same. When a small sign appears in something we have waited on for a long time, we want to read it as ‘Now it is time to go.’ Seen that way, Noah’s extra week of waiting can look like too much caution, or like hesitation. Whether that is really so becomes clear from when Noah finally came out of the ship. So it helps to read a little past today’s passage.
3. Going Deeper · When Noah Came Out
The answer first. Noah sent out the birds to learn what it was like outside. But the birds did not decide when he would leave. Noah received the olive leaf, and he even saw with his own eyes that the waters were gone from the ground, and still he did not go out. Noah came out of the ship after God said, ‘Go out.’
Follow the text step by step. Noah sent out the dove “to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground” (8:8). And through the olive leaf the dove brought back, Noah did in fact know “that the waters were abated from the earth” (8:11). Now the situation outside was clear.
Here is what happened after that, in order.
After the olive leaf: Noah “waited yet another seven days” and sent out the dove again (8:12).
After the dove did not come back: Noah removed the covering of the ship and looked. “…He saw that the surface of the ground was dried.” (8:13)
Almost two months after that: “…the earth was dry.” (8:14)
And then the very next verse: “God spoke to Noah, saying, ‘Go out of the ship…’” (8:15~16)
The text does not record Noah’s going out right after the words ‘the earth was dry.’ It records it right after God’s word: “Noah went out, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him.” (8:18) When Noah went into the ark, he did so at God’s word (7:1~5). When he came out, he did the same. The birds told Noah what it was like outside, but God’s word decided when he would leave.
So there is no reason to read Noah’s extra week after the olive leaf as too much caution or as hesitation. The order the text gives shows something else. Noah saw with his own eyes that the waters were gone, and still he did not go out until God said, ‘Go out.’
4. Word Study · Yachal · Manoach · Taraf
The Old Testament was first written in Hebrew. Here are three Hebrew words from today’s passage.
① waited · vayyiyyachel(וַיִּיָּחֶל). This is ‘waited’ in verse 12. The basic form is yachal (יָחַל), meaning ‘to wait, to hope.’ The ‘waited’ in verse 10 is spelled a little differently in Hebrew, but the World English Bible gives both the same words: “He waited yet another seven days…” In the Psalms, yachal is often used to mean ‘to hope.’ In particular, here are five verses where it is used for hoping in God’s word (Psalms 119:74 · 81 · 114 · 147, 130:5).
In the World English Bible, all five of those verses put ‘hope’ right next to God’s word. So an English reader can see the shared phrase directly on the page. Here they are.
“…because I have put my hope in your word.” (119:74)
“…I hope in your word.” (119:81)
“…I hope in your word.” (119:114)
“…I put my hope in your words.” (119:147)
“…I hope in his word.” (130:5)
Each one is the voice of someone who waits for the Lord’s word and puts their hope in it. In Genesis 8 the same Hebrew verb is translated ‘waited.’ With the very word the Psalms use for that kind of heart, the text records the seven days Noah spent in the ship after he received the olive leaf.
② place to rest · manoach(מָנוֹחַ). In 8:9 the dove “found no place to rest her foot.” Manoach means ‘a place to rest, a place to stay.’ It comes from nuach (נוּחַ), meaning ‘to rest.’ The same nuach was used in 8:4, where the ark ‘rested’ (vattanach) on the mountains. The World English Bible keeps this link too: “The ship rested” (8:4) and “no place to rest her foot” (8:9). In all of Genesis, manoach appears only here, in 8:9. The ark had already found its place to rest on the mountain, but the dove had not yet found one outside. So Noah “put out his hand” and brought the dove back into the ark (8:9).
③ freshly plucked · taraf(טָרָף). This word describes the olive leaf: “a freshly plucked olive leaf” (8:11). It comes from a verb meaning ‘to tear off,’ and here it means a leaf that had just been torn off. It was not a leaf that had lain under water for a long time. It had just been picked from a living tree. That is why one leaf was enough for Noah to know the waters had gone down.
5. One More Thing · Noah Put Out His Hand
The Noah of today’s passage is very different from the Noah of the flood’s worst days. In 7:17~24, while the waters rose, only one verb was used of Noah: he ‘was left’ (“…Only Noah was left…” 7:23). But in today’s passage Noah opens the window, sends out a raven and a dove, puts out his hand, takes the dove in, and waits twice.
The warmest scene among these is verse 9. When the dove comes back with no place to land, Noah “put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship” (8:9). Noah did not sit idle while he waited. He checked on the world outside, he took in the dove that had found no place to rest, and after seven days he sent it out again.
So Noah’s waiting was full of action. He did what he could do.
6. For Us Today
This passage leaves us with one message. Even after Noah knew how things were outside, he waited and left the timing of his going out to God’s word.
The text does not say how Noah felt about this waiting. We cannot know whether he felt restless or at peace. But the text does make clear what Noah did. He sent out birds to check on the world outside. He took in the dove when it came back. He received the olive leaf and still waited one more week. And he came out after God said, ‘Go out.’
Our lives have moments, too, when it feels like ‘This must be it.’ It might be the day a body that has been sick for a long time feels a little better. It might be the day a small way forward appears in something that has been stuck, or the day a short message arrives from someone who had grown distant. On days like these we want to decide, from that one small change, that the waiting is all over. On the day we feel a little better, it is easy to say we are fully well and stop taking care of ourselves all at once. It is just as easy to think one small opening means everything is solved, or that one short message means the friendship is fully mended.
Noah received an olive leaf too. It was good news, and from that leaf Noah knew the waters had gone down (8:11). But he did not go out right away because of it. He took what the leaf told him for what it was, and he put off going out until God’s word came.
And while he waited, Noah kept doing what he could. He sent out the dove to check on the world outside, and when it came back he put out his hand and took it in (8:8~12). In the same way, not rushing to conclusions does not mean our daily life has to stop. We can keep up our treatment, do the work in front of us, and send a short reply to the person who reached out. And we can still hold back the conclusion: ‘I am fully well, it is all solved, we are fully mended.’
So if good news has come about something you are waiting for these days, it may be good to receive it with joy. That one piece of news does not have to settle everything. It may help to write the good news in a notebook or a memo on your phone. Under it, you could add one line: ‘Thank you. But I will not rush to conclusions; I leave them to God.’ May today be a day of doing what is ours to do, as Noah did, while leaving the conclusion with God.
“God who said to Noah, ‘Go out of the ship,’ when you give us good news on our days of waiting, help us receive it with thanks. But keep us from rushing to a conclusion because of that one piece of news, and give us hearts that leave the timing to you. Even while we wait, help us do today’s work faithfully and walk through this time together with the people around us. Amen.”
🕊 How to Use This in Ministry
Opening question
Ask, “On the morning of a picnic, if the rain outside the window seems to have stopped, do you run straight outside? Or do you wait until Mom or Dad says, ‘Let’s go’?” and listen to the children’s answers. Then say, “Today the Bible tells about a man who knew the water had gone down but still did not go out right away,” and move into the passage.
Activity
Draw a long line across the board. At the left end write ‘Opened the window (verse 6)’ and at the right end write ‘Came out of the ship (verse 18).’ Read 8:6~18 slowly together. Each time something happens, let a child come up and write it on the line in order (sent out a raven, sent out a dove, the dove came back, waited seven days, the dove brought an olive leaf, waited seven more days, the dove did not come back, removed the covering, the earth was dry, God said ‘Go out’). When the line is full, ask, “Did Noah come out right after ‘the earth was dry’?” As the children follow the line and find what comes after ‘the earth was dry,’ say, “That’s right. What comes after ‘the earth was dry’ is not Noah going out. It is God saying, ‘Go out.’ Noah heard that word and then came out.” Circle the words God said ‘Go out’ on the line. Finally, show the image captioned ‘In her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf’ from today’s images. Say, “Even when good news came, Noah waited for God’s word.”
Application
Give each child a small card. Have them write or draw one thing they are waiting for these days (a sick family member getting better, making up with a friend after a fight, seeing family who live far away, and so on). At the bottom of the card, have them write one thing they can do while they wait. When they finish, say together, “Like Noah, even when good news comes, we do not rush. We leave it to God and wait,” and have each child put the card in their bag to take home.
🖼️ Today’s Four Images · Press and hold or right-click to save
In her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf |
He sent out a raven |
He put out his hand, and took her |
She didn’t return to him anymore |
📄 Image license CC0 (public domain) · Free to use, modify, and redistribute without attribution.
🤖 These images were created with AI (ChatGPT).
📖 Genesis Deeper ㉙ Only Noah Was Left · the days of the flood, when only one verb was used of Noah
Origin Bible · Mission Zedero
Contact joypej@gmail.com
✍️ This article was written with the help of AI and reviewed by a person.
The text is CC BY-NC 4.0. You are free to use it for noncommercial purposes with attribution.
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