Genesis 8:17

Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:13-19 God consults our benefit, rather than our desires; he knows what is good for us better than we do for ourselves, and how long it is fit our restraints should continue, and desired mercies should be delayed. We would go out of the ark before the ground is dried; and perhaps, if the door, is shut, are ready to thrust off the covering, and to climb up some other way; but God's time of showing mercy is the best time. As Noah had a command to go into the ark, so, how tedious soever his confinement there was, he would wait for a command to go out of it again. We must in all our ways acknowledge God, and set him before us in all our removals. Those only go under God's protection, who follow God's direction, and submit to him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- XXVII. The Ark Was Evacuated

19. משׁפחה mı̂shpāchah, "kind, clan, family." שׁפחה shı̂pchâh, "maid-servant; related: spread."

20. מזבח mı̂zbēach, "altar; related: slay animals, sacrifice."

21. עלה 'olâh, "whole burnt-offering." That which goes up. "Step; related: go up."

Genesis 8:15-19

The command to leave the ark is given and obeyed. As Noah did not enter, so neither does he leave the ark, without divine direction. "The fowl, the cattle, and the creeper." Here, again, these three classes are specified under the general head of every living tiring. They are again to multiply on the earth. "Every living thing." This evidently takes the place of the cattle mentioned before. "After their families." This word denotes their tribes. It is usually applied to families or clans.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Ge 8:15-22. Departure from the Ark.

15, 16. And God spake … Go forth—They went forth in the most orderly manner—the human occupants first, then each species "after their kinds" [Ge 8:19], literally, "according to their families," implying that there had been an increase in the ark.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Quest. How could these creatures which came out of the ark in Asia get thence to America, or to the islands remote from the continent?

Answ. 1. As for America, it is thought by divers learned men, that it is either joined to this continent, or separated from it only by a narrow sea, which divers living creatures could easily swim over.

2. Many living creatures are, and always were, transported by men in their vessels, either for their supply, or profit, or diversion, or other ends, and thence might easily be propagated there.

3. The same God who made all these creatures, and caused them to come first to Adam, and afterwards to Noah, could afterwards both incline and empower them to go whither he pleased, without the advice of these vain men, who will believe nothing of God which themselves either do not see or cannot do.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee,.... There is a various reading of the word for "bring forth"; according to the margin, as Jarchi observes, the sense is, order them to come forth; and according to the Scripture, if they will not, oblige them to come:

of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; for of each of these there were some that went with him into the ark, and continued there:

that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth, for which end they were preserved in the ark. Jarchi observes, it is said "on the earth", not in the ark, which shows he thinks that birds and beasts were not allowed to couple, and that they did not breed there. It is a question with some, how the creatures, which were only in Asia at their coming out of the ark, could spread themselves all over the earth; particularly how they could get into islands, and especially into America: to which it may be answered, that this might be done by many of them, by swimming over narrow seas, for some wild creatures will swim whole days and nights together, when they are forced to it; and by men's carrying others in vessels to distant and different parts, on one account or another, either for profit or pleasure; and especially, what is it the power and providence of God cannot do, who could not be at a loss for ways and means to replenish a world in all the parts of it he had made desolate, when it was his pleasure?(Most creationists think the earth entered an ice age after the flood. This would make the sea level lower than it is today. If the average sea level was lowered by only six hundred feet, all the major continents would be connected by land bridges. Animals could easily migrate to any continent. Ed.)

Geneva Study Bible

Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

17. that they may breed abundantly] The same word as in Genesis 1:20, “let the waters bring forth abundantly” (see note). Cf. Genesis 9:7.

be fruitful, and multiply] as in Genesis 1:22; Genesis 1:24-28. The repetition of the Creation command marks the beginning of a new era in the history of the world. The fuller blessing, according to P, is given in chap. 9 (Genesis 8:1-7). For the detailed enumeration in Genesis 8:18-19, cf. Genesis 7:13-14 P.

Genesis 8:17

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

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 (Genesis 8:17 cf. Genesis 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 of the 601st year, it lasted a year and ten days; but whether a solar year of 360 of 365 days, or a lunar year of 352, is doubtful. The former is the more probable, as the first five months are said to have consisted of 150 days, which suits the solar year better than the lunar. The question cannot be decided with certainty, because we neither know the number of days between the 17th of the seventh month and the 1st of the tenth month, nor the interval between the sending out of the dove and the 1st day of the first month of the 601st year.