What was Noah thinking when he sent a raven from the ark?

Question

In tablet 11 of the epic of Gilgamesh, after Utnapishtim's ark lodges on a rock, he releases a dove, a swallow, and a raven, in that order. The first two birds return when they fail to find a resting place. He releases the raven, witch does not return, after which Utnapishtim opens the ark.

The NASB translation of Genesis 8:7, which of the commonly available English translations appears to me to be closest to the original in this case reads:

"And he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth."

I think that the translation should "And he sent the raven, which did go out but returned to wait until the waters dried." The reasoning is that the original uses the the "heh ha'yidiah", the definite article "the" before "raven" (not "a raven", but "the raven", or possibly "the Raven" meaning the raven as a representative of it's species), and a double form of the verb to go out, "vayetse yatsu", meaning that it indeed did go out but implying a reluctance to go out. I read the clause break after "did go out" so that "v'shuv" ("then returned") applies to the "until the waters dried". The NASB reads reads the clause break after "v'shuv" so they translate "flew [went out] here and there". The NASB and similar readings are problematic in that they make it look as if the raven went out but did not come back, leaving us to ask why Noah didn't see this as a sign to open the ark.

In any event, the raven's mission is clearly a failure. The entire episode is dismissed in one verse of eleven Hebrew words.

Following the raven's mission, Noah sends the dove. The dove goes out and returns "to him", to Noah, whereas the raven just returns, but not "to him". Noah sends the dove on a second mission. Again, she returns "to him", this time with an olive twig. She is clearly a willing participant in these missions. Noah sends the dove a third time, and she does not return - she has a mission of her own now. The dove's missions take up five verses with a total of seventy-five Hebrew words.

What does the raven symbolize in the Biblical story?

It is clear that Genesis has reversed the story of birds in the flood episodes with respect to the Gilgamesh text. What is Genesis trying to tell us by this reversal?

Given that we know that in Israelite culture the raven is an "unclean" bird and the dove is a "pure" bird, what is the meaning of the failure of the raven's mission?

Finally, what was Noah thinking when he sent a raven on this mission?

Answer 1

I can't comment on the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient poem from Mesopotamia, but interestingly your observation about the Hebrew is identical to Luther's.

the carelessness of a translator has given rise to a question in connection with this passage. The Hebrew does not say that the raven did not return, as Jerome renders it. There was, therefore, no need to invent a reason why he did not return; for it is alleged that he found everything full of dead bodies and that this delightful and abundant fare kept him from returning. Moses states the opposite, namely, that the raven which had been sent out returned, although it did not allow itself to be caught and shut up in the ark again, as the dove did. Moses reveals that Noah sent out the raven in order to learn through him whether the animals could now find a footing and have food. The raven did not carry out this mission carefully; but, as though he were glad to be set free from the prison of the ark, he flew to and fro as he rejoiced in the open sky and now paid no attention to Noah. (Luther's Works, Volume 2, P109)

I think Luther has it right. Noah either sent out the raven and the dove around the same time as two witnesses regarding the status of the receding waters, winged spies as it were, or upon the poor performance of the raven only then chose the meek and cooperative dove as a replacement.

In either case, the dove proves faithful and is miraculously guided by God to deliver the hopeful message about the receding waters.

It would seem than that these two birds symbolize the kind of new creation out of the death of the flood, this will be no utopia now that the world has been cleansed from sinners, rather both ravens (impure) and doves (pure) will repopulate the world.

The raven is a predator that feeds on dead flesh and makes irritating sounds, these are like the wicked that seek no comfort in the protection of an Ark, or the hopeful faith of Noah. The dove is a likable sweet and peaceful bird representing the pure and faithful spirit.

Christians find it of no surprise that when Jesus underwent his own baptism as the Ark to save sinners, the Spirit from heaven came upon him as a 'dove'. (Matt 3:16) So we may add under the Christian view that the dove represents the heavenly guidance of the Spirit upon the salvation afforded to Noah and those in the Ark. The raven does not seem to be included in this poetic picture.

Answer 2

As noted by Luther quoted in this answer, and also rabbinic literature I've seen but can't now find, when the raven flew "to and fro" it was feeding on the bodies floating in the receding floodwaters. The raven is a carrion-eater and the flood had provided it an endless buffet. The raven therefore had no need to return to the ark.

Another interpretation of "to and fro" is offered in the midrash B'reishit Rabbah 33:5 (quoting from the Soncino translation):

AND IT WENT FORTH TO AND FRO (YAZO WA SHOB). R. Judan said in the name of R. Judah b. R. Simon: It began arguing with him: 'Of all the birds that thou hast here thou sendest none but me!’ ‘What need then has the world of thee?' he retorted; 'for food? for a sacrifice?' R. Berekiah said in R. Abba's name: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him [Noah]: ‘Take it back, because the world will need it in the future.’ 'When?' he asked. ’When the waters dry off from on the earth' He replied: ‘A righteous man will arise and dry up the world, and I will cause him to have need of them [the ravens],’ as it is written, And the ravens (‘orbim) brought him bread and flesh, etc. (I Kings XVII, 6).

This argument is also recorded in the Babylonian talmud, Sanhedrin 108b, where the raven argues that it is being picked on because there are fewer ravens (unclean) than clean birds, so sending it puts the entire species at risk should the raven die.

According to these rabbinic interpretations, "going to and fro" was a verbal back-and-forth, not necessarily a physical one. Why did Noah choose to send the raven? He was willing to risk a lower-value scout on the mission before endangering one he actually valued, a clean bird.

It's not clear to me that, if the raven did go out "to and fro", its mission failed. If even the raven couldn't find food, then sending an herbivore would clearly be premature. Sending the more-versatile scout first, before sending the one with limited options, makes sense tactically.

As for Gilgamesh, asking about the reversal presupposes that Gilgamesh (a) came first and (b) was known to the biblical author. For all we know, even if we assume human authorship, it is possible that the two stories have a common third source. This is pure speculation.

Answer 3

First, the translation on Wikisource:

And he sent the crow; and it went back and forth, until the waters dried above the land.

This is using the exact same definite article, which can be because there is only one (male) crow on the ark, or because it is a representative, both readings are allowed. The "going back and forth" is probably as Luther said, resting and eating floating corpses, but there is no implication that it came back to the ark. But there is no reason that Noah would have interpreted this as the waters abating, perhaps because the crow has plenty of food, perhaps because the author didn't think of this very minor inconsistency.

The crow is an impure bird, it is a carrion eater, while the dove is pure. So Noah is simply relying on a species of bird which is more godly in the Hebrew version of the tale. There is no need to iron out minor inconsistencies, like whether Noah knew the crow found dry land, anymore than you have to know where the hero in a western goes to the bathroom. It's just a story.

Answer 4

It's interesting that the chain of events from Adam to the flood (as with the rest of the Bible) can be easily corresponded to Israel's sevenfold festal calendar. The flood corresponds to Atonement, a black stone and a white stone drawn to see if the sacrifices have been accepted by God and the Land has been rendered clean. Here it is two birds, one clean, one unclean.