At the end of forty days— i.e.. Forty days after the first day of the tenth month, when the tops of the mountains began to appear, then Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro; which going forth and returning, as the Hebrew has it, often flew from and to the ark again, finding no place of rest till the waters were dried up.
REFLECTIONS.—Noah was told when the flood should come, but not when it should abate. He begins now, therefore, to open the window after forty days; perhaps he feared to expose himself sooner to the waters: he felt himself safe where he was. It is folly to expose ourselves to needless danger.