Καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὴν περιστερὰν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ ἰδεῖν εἰ κεκόπακεν τὸ ὕδωρ ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς
(Genesis 8:8 LXX)
וַיְשַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־הַיֹּונָ֖ה מֵאִתֹּ֑ו לִרְאֹות֙ הֲקַ֣לּוּ הַמַּ֔יִם מֵעַ֖ל פְּנֵ֥י הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃
The Mission of the Dove in Two Languages
Genesis 8:8 describes Noah’s first release of the dove to gauge the earth’s readiness after the flood. The Hebrew and Greek accounts align closely in narrative flow but diverge in subtle ways that reveal different metaphors for the retreat of the waters. Hebrew depicts the waters as being “lightened” or “diminished,” while Greek speaks of them as “ceasing” or “being stilled.” These lexical shifts reshape the imagery from the lessening of a burden to the quieting of a force.
From וַיְשַׁלַּח to ἀπέστειλεν
The Hebrew וַיְשַׁלַּח is a wayyiqtol form of the root שָׁלַח (“to send”), narrative perfective in function. The Greek uses ἀπέστειλεν, the aorist active of ἀποστέλλω (“to send away”), maintaining the sense of completed action. Both carry the sense of intentional dispatch, but the Greek prefix ἀπό intensifies the sense of sending “away from” the sender.
From מֵאִתּוֹ to ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ: Spatial or Sequential?
Hebrew מֵאִתּוֹ (“from with him”) portrays the dove as leaving Noah’s immediate presence. The LXX renders this as ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ (“behind him” or “after him”), a phrase that in biblical Greek can convey not only spatial position but also temporal or sequential nuance. In this context—coming right after the sending of the raven in Genesis 8:7—it plausibly means “after him” in the sense of “in succession.” This reading makes the LXX’s rendering a reasonable interpretive choice rather than an unusual or awkward one.
Investigative Purpose: לִרְאֹות vs. ἰδεῖν
Both the Hebrew infinitive construct לִרְאֹות and the Greek infinitive ἰδεῖν convey purpose — “to see.” The Greek’s infinitive complements the preceding verb in a clear purpose clause, maintaining the investigative intent of the mission.
Different Verbs for Water’s Recession
The Hebrew uses הֲקַלוּ, from the root קָלַל (“to be light”), here meaning “to diminish” or “to subside.” This is a perfect form (3mp), portraying the waters as having already lessened. The Greek opts for κεκόπακεν, perfect active of κοπάζω (“to cease, to abate”), in the singular to match the collective noun τὸ ὕδωρ. This shift from plural Hebrew verb to singular Greek verb reflects a common LXX phenomenon in which collective Hebrew nouns are rendered with singular verbs in Greek. The change moves the imagery from weight reduction to cessation of movement, suggesting tranquility rather than mere reduction.
Hebrew-Greek Morphological Comparison
| Hebrew Word | Greek Translation | Grammatical Notes | Translation Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְשַׁלַּח | ἀπέστειλεν | Wayyiqtol Qal 3ms → aorist active indicative 3sg | Direct equivalent with intensified prefix |
| הַיֹּונָה | τὴν περιστεράν | Definite noun → definite noun with article (fem. acc. sg.) | Lexical match |
| מֵאִתּוֹ | ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ | Preposition מִן + pronoun → preposition ὀπίσω + pronoun, with possible sequential nuance | Idiomatic/interpretive substitution |
| לִרְאֹות | ἰδεῖν | Infinitive construct → aorist infinitive | Direct equivalent |
| הֲקַלוּ הַמַּיִם | εἰ κεκόπακεν τὸ ὕδωρ | Interrogative + perfect Qal 3mp → conditional εἰ + perfect active 3sg; number shift from plural to singular due to collective noun | Lexical shift and number adjustment |
| מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה | ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς | Preposition מִן + עַל → preposition ἀπό + genitive | Literal rendering |
Echoes of the Text
The Hebrew and Greek tell the same story of Noah’s dove, but their verbs paint slightly different pictures: Hebrew’s burden-lifting waters become Greek’s stilled waters; departure “from with him” becomes sending “after him” in possible sequential sense. These subtle changes show how translation can maintain narrative faithfulness while inflecting imagery — here, from the mechanics of reduction to the serenity of rest.
