Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 8:1

"And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;" — Genesis 8:1 (ASV)

God. — Elohim. On the Jehovistic theory, one would have expected Jehovah here. (See Excursus.)

Every living thing. —See Note on Genesis 7:14.

The waters subsided. —Hebrew, became still. It is clear from this that the “strength” of the waters, described in Genesis 7:24, refers to the violent currents, which still existed until the end of the one hundred and fiftieth day, after which they ceased.

A wind (Compare to the creative wind in Genesis 1:2) began to blow as soon as the rains ceased, or even before, as must necessarily have been the case with such a vast disturbance of the atmosphere; but its special purpose of causing the waters to subside only began when the downpour was over. This wind would affect the course of the ark, but hardly as strongly as the currents of the water.