Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 8:13

"And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dried." — Genesis 8:13 (ASV)

The first day of the month. — It will be plain to anyone studying the following table that this was exactly one month after the day on which Noah, for the third time, sent out the dove (Genesis 8:12):

The flood commenced in the second month, called Marchesvan, on day 17.

The waters prevailed for 150 days — to month 7, day 17.

Mountain-tops were seen on month 10, day 1, that is, after 73 days.

Noah sent out the raven at the end of 40 days.

The dove was sent out three times at 7-day intervals = 21 days.

Total: 134 days.

But from the 17th day of the 7th month to the 1st day of the 1st month of the following year, there are:

• 13 days of the 7th month
• Five months of 30 days each = 150 days
• 1 day of the new year

Total: 164 days.

The covering of the ark. —The word is elsewhere used of the covering of skins for the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:14; Numbers 4:25), and it probably has a similar meaning here. To have removed the solid framework of the roof would have been a very laborious task, and still more so to have broken up the roof itself. But as the asphalt employed for filling up the interstices between the beams in the hulk of the ark would have been difficult to manage for the roof, it was apparently protected from the rain by a covering, probably of skins sewn together.

No one can read the narrative without noticing that Noah is not only described as shut up within the ark, but as having very slight means of observing what was going on around. Had there been a deck, Noah would have known exactly the state of the flood, whereas, peeping only through the zohar, he seems to have been able to see very little, possibly because his sight was obstructed by the overhanging eaves of the roof. Thus the freshly-plucked olive-leaf was like a revelation to him. But when these skins were taken off, there were numerous apertures through which he could obtain an uninterrupted view, and he looked, and, behold, the face of the adâmâh was dry.