창세기 8:8의 주석

וישלח את היונה AND HE SENT FORTH A DOVE at the end of seven days, for it is written, (Genesis 8:10) “And he stayed yet other seven days” — from this statement you may infer that after the first occasion, also, he waited seven days.

וישלח את היונה, all of the seven pairs of pigeons [based on the latter ה in front of the word יונה. Ed.]

This does not refer to sending it on an errand... For שליחות is only [sending] someone with intelligence. Earlier (v. 7), [regarding the raven,] Rashi saw no need to explain this. For there it is written, “Going to and fro,” on which Rashi comments, “It flew around, circling the ark.” Clearly, this is not שליחות, therefore Rashi did not comment when Noach sent the raven. [The Kitzur Mizrachi explains differently:] Rashi did not [make this] comment regarding the raven because Rashi had the following question: Why did it not say about sending the raven, “To see if the water had subsided,” as it says about sending the dove? Apparently, because Noach did not send the raven to see if the water subsided! Rather, he drove it out to seek its own place because it [sinned and] cohabited in the ark. But Noach did not do this right after its misdeed, since the water still covered the earth, and driving it out then would make its species extinct. This also explains why Noach waited seven days before sending the dove. He should have sent it immediately, if the raven did not fulfill its errand! Perforce, Noach did not send the raven “to see” [if there still was water]. Accordingly, “He sent out the raven” is similar in meaning to, “Moshe sent his father-in-law off” (Shemos 18:27), and other verses, which do not mean sending to bring back a response. That is why Rashi did not make this comment [regarding the raven]. But with sending the dove, which Noach indeed sent “to see” [if there still was water], it appeared like a שליחות. [Thus, Rashi needed to comment.] (Kitzur Mizrachi) [Rashi knows that Noach sent the dove on its way] because it says מאתו, implying that it will no longer be “with him.” (Divrei Dovid)

וישלח, “he sent it off on a one way trip;” the dot in the letter ל is the proof that this is the correct interpretation. When someone is dispatched in order to report back, that letter never appears with such a dot.

וישלח And HE SENT FORTH — This does not mean merely “sending on an errand”, but “sending away”, “letting go” — he freed her to go where she liked, and thus he could see whether the waters abated, because if she could find a resting place she would not return to him.

לראות הקלו, if the atmosphere had improved they would build their nests in the mountains and high structures as is their custom.