Genesis 8:6-12

"And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from the earth. And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand and took her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him anymore."

This incident of sending forth the birds is also a feature of the Babylonian myth regarding the flood, but there are also marked differences. In the myth, the raven was sent out last, to which there could have been no point whatever. This is only one of many unreasonable and illogical characteristics of the extra-Biblical stories of the Flood, the same being merely "perverted versions"[10] of the true Biblical account. We shall notice another of these under Genesis 8:21.

"And, lo, in her mouth an olive leaf ..." Here is the origin of the universally-known symbol of the dove and the olive leaf as signifying peace and good will. In the N.T., the dove is seen as a symbol of the Holy Spirit (John 1:32,33), thus marking a connection between the salvation of Noah and the salvation of mankind. Brownville presented a remarkable study on the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit,[11] and the subject of the fitness of the dove for the elaborate symbolism connected with it is discussed in this series of commentaries (See my commentary on Matthew 3:16).

"Yet other seven days ..." occurs in both Genesis 8:10 and Genesis 8:12; and despite the fact of no such period having been mentioned prior to the sending out of the dove the first time (Genesis 8:8), scholars usually agree that there was also similar waiting of seven days after the raven was sent out and before the dove was sent out for the first time, as seemingly implied by the recurrence of this expression. It is one of the ambiguities connected with the chronology of this event.