EOB: Official Site of the Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible (Old and New Testament)

Genesis 8:7

EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible):

He sent a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the ground.

EOB Footnote:

The MT includes an additional phrase stating that the raven went “to and fro” or “going out and returning” until the waters dried up from the earth. This expansion describes the raven’s repeated flight pattern, which is not present in the LXX text. The LXX simply states that the raven went out and did not return.

Other Translations:

KJV (King James Version):

null

WEB (World English Bible):

The World English Bible is in the public domain, but Genesis 8:7 specifically states: “He sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth.”

Benton LXX (Vaticanus):

And he sent forth a raven; and it went forth and returned not until the water was dried from off the earth.

Douai-Rheims (Vulgate):

And the raven went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up upon the earth.

Apostoliki Diakonia (LXX):

He sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.

YLT (Young Literal Translation )(MT):

He sent forth the raven, and it went out, going out and returning until the waters dried from off the earth.

BBE (Bible in Basic English):

And he sent out a raven, which went this way and that till the waters were gone from off the earth.

EOB COMMENTARY:

EOB Commentary:

The Raven Sent Forth

This verse marks the beginning of Noah’s investigation into whether the floodwaters had receded, and the Church Fathers found rich spiritual meaning in the contrast between the raven and the dove that follows.

Patristic Interpretation

Saint Ambrose of Milan interprets the raven as a symbol of sin and impurity, noting that it did not return to the ark but instead fed upon the carrion floating on the waters. The raven, being an unclean bird according to later Mosaic legislation, represents the soul attached to worldly corruption and death. In contrast, the dove that Noah sends afterward represents the pure soul seeking rest only in Christ and His Church.

Saint John Chrysostom observes that the raven’s going “to and fro” until the waters dried up demonstrates its restless nature, unable to find true rest outside the ark. This restlessness prefigures the condition of the soul that wanders outside the Church, finding no genuine peace.

Typological Significance

The Fathers consistently read the ark as a type of the Church and of baptism. The raven, departing and not returning, symbolizes those who abandon the faith or who, though nominally within the Church, have their hearts attached to the dead works of sin. The expression “going forth and returning” (in some translations) or continually going “to and fro” suggests a soul caught between two worlds, never fully committed to salvation.

Some patristic writers also see in the raven a figure of the devil or of heretics who feed on spiritual death and division rather than seeking the living waters of Orthodox teaching.

Liturgical and Spiritual Connections

While this specific verse does not appear prominently in Orthodox liturgical texts, the broader narrative of Noah and the flood is read during the Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday, connecting the salvation through water to baptismal regeneration. The contrast between raven and dove invites the faithful to examine their own spiritual state: do we, like the raven, feed on corruption and refuse to return fully to the ark of salvation, or do we, like the dove, seek rest only in the Lord?

The spiritual lesson remains timeless: the Orthodox Christian is called to be like the dove, not the raven—to find no satisfaction in the death-dealing waters of this fallen world but to return always to Christ and His Church, bearing the olive branch of peace and new life.

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