Genesis 8:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 8:13
And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
the new moon · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
waters
הַמַּ֖יִםha.Ma.yim
H4325
water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
up
חָֽרְב֥וּcha.re.Vu
H2717
to parch (through drought) i.e. (by analogy · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
earth
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Noah
נֹ֙חַ֙no.ach
H5146
Noach · proper noun, a man's name
removed
וַיָּ֤סַרvai.Ya.sar
H5493
to turn off (literal or figurative) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
covering
מִכְסֵ֣הmikh.Seh
H4372
a covering · noun, common masculine singular construct
ark
הַתֵּבָ֔הha.te.Vah
H8392
a box · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
looked
וַיַּ֕רְאvai.Yar'
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
face
פְּנֵ֥יpe.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct
ground
הָֽאֲדָמָֽהHa.'a.da.Mah
H127
soil (from its general redness) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
dry
חָֽרְב֖וּcha.re.Vu
H2717
to parch (through drought) i.e. (by analogy · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 8:13-14
Here is, 1. The ground dry (Gen 8:13), that is, all the water carried off it, which, upon the first day of the first month (a joyful new-year's-day it was), Noah was himself an eye-witness of. He removed the covering of the ark, not the whole covering, but so much as would suffice to give him a prospect of the earth about it; and a most comfortable prospect he had. For behold, behold and wonder, the face of the ground was dry. Note, (1.) It is a great mercy to see ground about us. Noah was more sensible of it than we are; for mercies restored are much more affecting than mercies continued. (2.) The divine power which now renewed the face of the earth can renew the face of an afflicted troubl…
Noah removed the covering of the ark--probably only as much of it as would afford him a prospect of the earth around. Yet for about two months he never stirred from his appointed abode till he had received the express permission of God. We should watch the leading of Providence to direct us in every step of the journey of life.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 8:8
He sent forth a dove - The dove was sent forth thrice; the first time she speedily returned, having, in all probability, gone but a little way from the ark, as she must naturally be terrified at the appearance of the waters. After seven days, being sent out a second time, she returned with an olive leaf pluckt off, Gen 8:11, an emblem of the restoration of peace between God and the earth; and from this circumstance the olive has been the emblem of peace among all civilized nations. At the end of the other seven days the dove being sent out the third time, returned no more, from which Noah conjectured that the earth was now sufficiently drained, and therefore removed the covering of the ark,…
And it came to pass, in the six hundred and first year,.... Of Noah's life, and so the Septuagint adds, in the first month:
the first day of the month; so that it was the first day of the year, New Year's Day, and a joyful one it was to Noah and his family, when they saw dry ground; which they had not seen for above ten months: according to R. Joshua, this was the month Nisan, which was the first month with the Jews on sacred accounts; but according to R. Eliezer it was the month of Tisri, as Jarchi observes, which was their first month on civil accounts, and was their most ancient way of reckoning; and so the Targum of Jonathan explains it, adding, and Tisri; which answers to part of Septe…
The Church Fathers
Therefore, in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters were dried from the earth; and Noah, opening the covering of the ark, looked out and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. The covering of the ark refers to its uppermost plank, about which it was previously said: "And you shall finish the ark to within a cubit from the top." In this roof, namely a cubit in length and width, we have said that the Mediator between God and men is symbolically represented, who willed thus to be humanly joined to the members of His Church, so as to distinctly transcend it by the dignity of His dominion and protect it from above in its entirety. However, Noah opened this roof after the flood had receded, because after the celebration of the sacrament of baptism, it is necessary for the mysteries from the time of the Lord's Incarnation to be diligently disclosed by the mouths of teachers to each of the faithful, so that knowing what He did or taught in the flesh, they might follow His footsteps by imitating them to the extent of their ability. And it is most fitting that this is said to have occurred on the first day of the first month after six hundred years, to show the beginning of the new spiritual life that was to be initiated by the faithful. Indeed, the same month in the law in which the Passover is commanded to be observed is called the month of new things, due to the great sacrament of renewing our old life in the passion of Christ.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Deluge — The name given to Noah’s flood, the history of which is recorded in Gen. 7 and 8. It began in the year 2516 B.C., and continued twelve lunar months and ten days, or exactly one solar year. The cause…
Dove — In their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated “dove-cots” are prepared for them (Cant. 2:14; Jer. 48:28; Isa. 60:8). The dove was placed on the…
Deluge, The · Date of its complete removal — Date of its complete removal
Time · Eras from which, computed: Nativity of the patriarchs during the patriarchal age — Eras from which, computed: Nativity of the patriarchs during the patriarchal age
Years · Length of, during the patriarchal age — Length of, during the patriarchal age
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
At the end of forty days. We may hence conjecture with what great anxiety the breast of the holy man was oppressed. After he had perceived the ark to be resting on solid ground, he yet did not dare to open the window till the fortieth day; not because he was stunned and torpid, but because an example, thus formidable, of the vengeance of God, had affected him with such fear and sorrow combined, that being deprived of all judgment, he silently remained in the chamber of his ark. At length he sends forth a raven, from which he might receive a more certain indication of the dryness of the earth. But the raven perceiving nothing but muddy marshes, hovers around, and immediately seeks to be readm…
Noah waited some time, and then, on the first day of the first month, in the 601st year of his life, removed the covering from the ark, that he might obtain a freer prospect over the earth. He could see that the surface of the earth was dry; but it was not till the 27th day of the second month, 57 days, therefore, after the removal of the roof, that the earth was completely dried up. Then God commanded him to leave the ark with his family and all the animals; and so far as the latter were concerned, He renewed the blessing of the creation (Gen 8:17 cf. Gen 1:22). As the flood commenced on the 17th of the second month of the 600th year of Noah's life, and ended on the 27th of the second month…
On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began: This was two months after the peaks of the mountains first became visible (8:5).
Rashi on Genesis 8:13
בראשׂון IN THE FIRST MONTH — According to R. Eliezer this would be Tishri, and according to R. Joshua Nisan (Rosh Hashanah 11b).
חרבו [THE WATERS] DRIED UP — It (the earth) had become like clay, for now its surface had become somewhat hardened.
