Bible Strands
Genesis 8:16
“Come out of the ark, you and your wife, along with your sons and their wives.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God commands Noah and his household to exit the ark after the floodwaters recede. This directive follows the initial instruction in Genesis 8:15 and immediately precedes the command to release the animals in Genesis 8:17.
The words — The Hebrew imperative צֵא (tze') means "go out" and governs the prepositional phrase מִן־תֵּבָה (min-tebah), literally "from the ark." The text explicitly lists the departing group: Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives.
The thread — The command mirrors the structured entry recorded in Genesis 7:13 and reflects the biblical pattern of divine oversight over human movement found in Psalm 121:8. It also parallels the theme of release from confinement seen in Zechariah 9:11.
Why it lands — The text requires immediate obedience to a specific divine boundary, marking the shift from preservation to repopulation. It asks the reader to recognize that divine rescue is directed toward a purposeful exit and renewed responsibility.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
Cross-references
- Genesis 7:13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his wife, and the three wives of his sons—
- Psalms 121:8 The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.
- Zechariah 9:11 As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
- Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
- Genesis 7:7 And Noah and his wife, with his sons and their wives, entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
- Joshua 3:17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.
- Joshua 4:10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across,
- Joshua 4:16 “Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”
- Psalms 91:11 For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
- Daniel 9:25 Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress.