פירוש על בראשית 8:16

’אתה ואשתך וגו THOU AND THY WIFE etc. — Husband and wife are mentioned together— now He allowed them to resume family life (Genesis Rabbah 34:8).

צא מן התבה אתה ואשתך. Leave the ark, you and your wife, etc. The wording was intended to permit Noach what had been forbidden to him while he was in the ark, namely normal relations with his wife. G'd also commanded all the other species to resume multiplying. G'd made this resumption of sexual relations dependent on Noach and the other species having left the ark. Even though the deluge was over, normalcy returned only after they all left the ark. All of this is indicated again by the report in the next verse that the males and the females exited from the ark separately. There was no point in telling us this except to teach us that the ark was not a home, but only a refuge.

וידבר ...צא מן התבה אתה ואשתך, in this verse, as opposed to the phraseology used when he was bidden to enter the ark, Noach and his wife were mentioned together, i.e. an indication that henceforth the mating of man and wife was once again permitted.