Kommentar zu Bereschit 8:6

מקץ ארבעים יום AT THE END OF FORTY DAYS from when the tops of the mountains were seen.

ויהי מקץ ארבעים יום. It was at the end of a period of forty days. How did Noach know when the time had come to safely open the window? Was he not scared the surrounding waters would flood the ark? Perhaps G'd had told him that the deluge would not last longer than twelve months and he had prepared a food supply to last for that period of time.

ויהי מקץ ארבעים יום, these words refer to the end of forty days after the waters had begun to recede; personally, I feel that the period described dates back to the day when the ark had come to rest on Mount Ararat. How else would Noach have been able to determine that the waters had begun to recede, seeing that all around him there was only water? Once the ark had come to rest on Mount Ararat Noach could measure how much more of the mountain was becoming visible beneath the ark. Noach knew that the ark had come to rest on something solid. He then waited another 40 days to give the waters a chance to recede still further, before he saw any point in sending out a bird (raven) to determine if that bird could locate a tree which was exposed above the water.

ויהי מקץ ארבעים יום ויפתח נח את חלון התבה, “it was at the end of 40 days that Noach opened the window of the ark.” According to Rashi the meaning of the line is that this was 40 days after the tops of the mountains had become visible. If that were correct, we are hard pressed to understand why the dove did not find a resting place. Nachmanides writes concerning this that it is not the nature of the birds to seek out resting places in lofty mountains.

From when the mountain peaks appeared. We cannot count from when the ark rested, and say that “the tenth” means the tenth month from the rain’s ceasing, just as “the seventh” is the seventh month from when they ceased — and accordingly, the ark would be immersed twelve and a third amohs. [Because] if so, this verse should come earlier, rather than following: “The mountaintops became visible.” The Re’m asks: Why did the dove not find a place to rest, if it was sent forty-seven days after the mountain peaks appeared? This was only fourteen days before the water began to dry, and assumedly, all the high and low mountain peaks had appeared, as well as some tall trees, etc. It seems the answer is: Although the mountain peaks had appeared, the dove could not rest on the ground because the water had not begun to dry. And the high trees were uprooted and wiped out by the flood waters, as the Midrash implies.

את חלון התבה אשר עשה THE WINDOW OF THE ARK WHICH HE HAD MADE — for the light; it does not mean the door of the Ark intended for entry and exit.

את חלון התבה, the window of the ark which he had made before departure. The window described here as חלון is identical with what had been described by G’d as צוהר in 6,16. He sent the raven out from this widow. We may legitimately ask that if Noach knew the day on which the rains had stopped as we stated earlier, why did he not open the window of the ark immediately, seeing that no more rain was falling? We may answer that Noach was still worried that the turbulent waves surrounding the ark would come crashing through such an open window. This is why he waited another 40 days until such waves were much below the lower decks of the ark and posed no threat.

To the window. Meaning, this window was their light source.

And not the door... Rashi is answering the question: Why did it say before (6:16) “opening,” and here, “window?” He answers: “This is not the door...” Although Rashi on 6:16 brought two meanings for צוהר — “window” and “precious stone” — as he was in doubt, this verse implies it was a window. Some say that לצוהר means “for illumination,” similar to צהרים. Thus, Rashi is explaining that Noach opened the window which he had made for light, and not for entry and exit. You might ask: If so, [that the window provided light], why did he need the light of the precious stone? The answer is: It was needed for nights, and for the days when the window was closed. For it says, “Noach opened the window...” [implying that some days the window was closed]. (Kitzur Mizrachi)