Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 8:8-9

"And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark." — Genesis 8:8-9 (ASV)

He sent forth a dove ... — From the nature of its food, the raven had not brought back to Noah any special information; but as the dove feeds on vegetable products, he hopes that he will learn through her what is the state of “the ground,” the low-lying adâmâh. But as this species of bird does not fly far from its home, except when assembled in vast numbers, it quickly returned, finding water all around.

This proves that the ark had not settled upon a lofty eminence; for as it had been already aground 120 days, and as within another two weeks the waters had abated from off the earth, it could only have been in some valley or plain among the mountains of Ararat that the waters were thus on the face of the whole earth, this broader term, yet which certainly does not mean here the whole world, but only a very small region in the immediate neighbourhood of the ark.

For, supposing that the raven was sent out one week before the dove, forty-seven days would have elapsed since Noah saw the glorious panorama of mountain heights all around, and seven days afterwards the dove brought him a freshly plucked olive-leaf. Yet, literally, the words are, for waters were upon the face of the whole earth. Plainly these broad terms in the language of the Bible are to be limited in their interpretation by the general tenor of its narratives. For a similar conclusive instance, compare Exodus 9:6 with Exodus 9:19-20.