Why did Noah release a raven? Why did he later release a dove (Genesis 8)?

Response

Following the Genesis flood, when the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, Noah released a raven and a dove from the ark at different times. The purpose of sending these birds was to determine if the floodwaters had receded enough for Noah and his family to leave the ark.

In Genesis 8:6-7, it is written, “At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out a raven. It flew back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.” The mention of “40 days” here is after the mountain tops became visible (verse 5), more than seven months after the flood started. A raven was set free and seemingly never returned. No explanation is given as to why a raven was chosen over another bird. However, a raven can consume carrion and would scavenge dead animals in the water. In contrast, a dove would return to its starting point if it found no land.

Noah dispatched a dove in Genesis 8:8-9: “Then he sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove found no place to rest her foot, so she returned to him in the ark, because the waters still covered the entire earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back into the ark with him.” The dove returned without finding a place to land.

A week later, in Genesis 8:10-11, Noah sent out the dove once more: “He waited another seven days and sent out the dove from the ark again. The dove returned to him in the evening, and there in her beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf. Then Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.” Life was beginning to emerge once more; the earth was becoming more livable.

Another week went by. Then, in Genesis 8:12, Noah released the dove one final time: “He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again, and this time she did not return to him.” The dove had no reason to come back to the ark, as the floodwaters had receded sufficiently.It had found a home on land. The ark could soon be emptied, and humanity could begin to establish itself again in the world.

From Genesis 7:11 to 8:14, we learn that the flood lasted a total of one year and ten days. The raven and the dove were released over a period of 21 days after the mountaintops became visible (Genesis 8:10-12). The raven served as the initial attempt to discover dry land, and the dove became Noah’s way of determining when to leave the ark.