Noah's Ark, the Dove Returns To The Ark with An Olive Branch. Woodcut From 'La Mer Des Histoires' By Pierre Le Rouge, Paris, 1488.
(ח) וַיְשַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֖ה מֵאִתּ֑וֹ לִרְאוֹת֙ הֲקַ֣לּוּ הַמַּ֔יִם מֵעַ֖ל פְּנֵ֥י הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃ (ט) וְלֹֽא־מָצְאָה֩ הַיּוֹנָ֨ה מָנ֜וֹחַ לְכַף־רַגְלָ֗הּ וַתָּ֤שׇׁב אֵלָיו֙ אֶל־הַתֵּבָ֔ה כִּי־מַ֖יִם עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כׇל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח יָדוֹ֙ וַיִּקָּחֶ֔הָ וַיָּבֵ֥א אֹתָ֛הּ אֵלָ֖יו אֶל־הַתֵּבָֽה׃ (י) וַיָּ֣חֶל ע֔וֹד שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וַיֹּ֛סֶף שַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֖ה מִן־הַתֵּבָֽה׃ (יא) וַתָּבֹ֨א אֵלָ֤יו הַיּוֹנָה֙ לְעֵ֣ת עֶ֔רֶב וְהִנֵּ֥ה עֲלֵה־זַ֖יִת טָרָ֣ף בְּפִ֑יהָ וַיֵּ֣דַע נֹ֔חַ כִּי־קַ֥לּוּ הַמַּ֖יִם מֵעַ֥ל הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (יב) וַיִּיָּ֣חֶל ע֔וֹד שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וַיְשַׁלַּח֙ אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֔ה וְלֹֽא־יָסְפָ֥ה שׁוּב־אֵלָ֖יו עֽוֹד׃
(8) Then he sent out the dove from him to see whether the waters had decreased from the surface of the ground. (9) But the dove could not find a resting place for her foot, and returned to Noah, to the ark, for there was water over all the earth. So putting out his hand, he took her into the ark with him. (10) He waited another seven days, and again sent out the dove from the ark. (11) The dove came back to him toward evening, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the waters had decreased on the earth. (12) He waited still another seven days and sent the dove forth; and she [the dove] did not return to him any more.
The dove did not return to Noah any more.
Readers: are any of you moved to tears, as I am, year after year, when I arrive at these verses?
The dove returns, and returns again, and then... the third time... she does not return again.
I've always wondered about the connection between the dove and Noah. My feeling is that there is a private sort of sympathy between the two of them.
She had been a faithful servant. Unlike the raven, she returned - first, empty-handed (so to speak - empty -beaked); then, with an olive branch in her beak; and the third time... she did not return.
The olive branch has become a widespread (if not nearly universal) symbol of peace. A dove bearing an olive branch in her beak.
Why is it important that, after her second return to Noah - this time, bearing the olive branch - he sends her forth one final time, and she does not return? What does this mean for you?
Umberto Cassuto, in his towering Commentary on the Book of Genesis, offers a lengthy exploration of the raven and the dove (Part Two, From Noah to Abraham, pages 106 - 112). He sensitively focuses on the intimate and affectionate connection between Noah and the dove.
Cassuto contextualizes the episode of Noah sending forth both the raven and the dove, explaining
"the custom of the ancient seamen who, when they were on the high seas, used to send forth birds from their ships in order to learn from their flight if there was dry land near, and in which direction it lay.... It is self-understood that only such birds can be considered for the purpose as are accustomed to fly long distances, like the raven and the dove, and also the swallow, which is added to to raven and the dove in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The use of the verb שלח in the Piel, which means to send away, and not in the Qal. which signifies sending on a mission, is suited to the context, for the intention was to let the birds go free, in order to see how they would act and to learn from their actions."
Further, Cassuto explores the attributes of the dove:
"it is the symbol of beauty and gentleness, intergrity and friendship. Time and again the maiden in the Song of osongs is called my dove or my dove, my perfect one (ii `4; v 2; vi 9); and her eyes and the eyes of the youth are compared to doves (1 15; iv1; v 12). In rabbinic literature, the comparison of Israel to a dove, is as we know, a common figure. Also as an example of birds that travel long distances, the dove is mentioned several times in the Bible...: (p. 108)
(ח) וַיְשַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֖ה מֵאִתּ֑וֹ לִרְאוֹת֙ הֲקַ֣לּוּ הַמַּ֔יִם מֵעַ֖ל פְּנֵ֥י הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃
(8) Then he sent out the dove from him to see whether the waters had decreased from the surface of the ground.
Cassuto:
" From him - In connection with the putting forth of the raven, Scripture does not say from him, but the expression is used in regard to the dove, thus indicating the friendship relationship between Noah and her." (p. 110)
Marc Chagall, The Dove of the Ark (1956)
Have you ever wondered what happens to the dove, the third time she flies away from Noah and the ark?
Cassuto:
"Although he had set her forth once more, she did not return to him again.... this showed that the dove had found a place where to rest and to place her nest and to sustain herself. Life begins to renew itself upon the earth." (p. 112)
Worthy of note as well is the fact that both the dove and the oil of the olive tree will prove to be obligatory elements in the development of the Temple rites - indicative of their sanctity. Until today, many use olive oil in their Hannakiot (Chanukah menorahs).
(ז) וָאֹמַ֗ר מִֽי־יִתֶּן־לִ֣י אֵ֭בֶר כַּיּוֹנָ֗ה אָע֥וּפָה וְאֶשְׁכֹּֽנָה׃
(7) I said, “O that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and find rest...
This season may feel like a flood of sorts; we are daily assailed by floods of anger, vengeance, powerlessness, despair. Our human capacity for alienation and cruelty often seems to know no bounds.
:The Lasting Strain on Israeli Olive Growers Six Months After Devastating Attack
https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/africa-middle-east/no-normal-life-for-israeli-olive-growers-six-months-after-attack/130853
A vandalized olive tree in the West Bank (2019).
https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-olive-groves-vandalized-amid-spate-of-settler-hate-crimes/
(יא) הָשִׁ֩יבוּ֩ נָ֨א לָהֶ֜ם כְּהַיּ֗וֹם שְׂדֹתֵיהֶ֛ם כַּרְמֵיהֶ֥ם זֵיתֵיהֶ֖ם וּבָתֵּיהֶ֑ם וּמְאַ֨ת הַכֶּ֤סֶף וְהַדָּגָן֙ הַתִּיר֣וֹשׁ וְהַיִּצְהָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַתֶּ֖ם נֹשִׁ֥ים בָּהֶֽם׃
(11) Restore at once their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their homes, and [abandon] the claims for the hundred pieces of silver, the grain, the wine, and the oil that you have been pressing against them!”
At this season, as we enter anew into our cycle of engaging with the Torah, let us cultivate our intentions for peace, kindness, fruitfulness, and the evolution and growth of peace, of shalom.
שלום.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-uprooting-of-life-in-gaza-and-the-west-bank
(10) But I am like a thriving olive tree in God’s house; I trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever.