Genesis 8:6

Summary

Genesis 8:6 narrates that after a period of forty days had passed, Noah opened the window of the ark that he himself had built. The verse marks a narrative transition, moving from the waiting period into Noah's active response.

Key words

• Ketz ("end of", H7093) — masculine singular construct noun, linking to "forty days" to mean "the end of forty days," marking the completion of the time period.
• yiftach ("he opened", H6605A) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine, indicating a sequential action ("and then he opened") following the temporal notice.
• chalon ("window of", H2474) — masculine singular construct noun, grammatically bound to "the ark," meaning "the window of the ark."
• asher ("which", H0834A) — relative particle introducing a subordinate clause describing the ark.
• asah ("he had made", H6213H) — qal perfect verb, denoting a completed action prior to the main narrative moment, hence "had made" rather than simply "made."

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative formula va-yehi ("and it was/happened", H1961), a common device in Biblical Hebrew that signals the start of a new narrative unit. This is followed by the temporal phrase mi-ketz arba'im yom ("from the end of forty days"), where ketz (H7093) in construct state ties directly to "forty days" (H0705 and H3117G), producing the sense "at the end of forty days" rather than "during" or "after" in a vague sense — the construct form specifies a precise terminal point.

The main clause then follows with va-yiftach Noach ("and Noah opened"), using the narrative vav (H9001) attached to a qal verb, the standard construction for sequential action in Hebrew narrative prose. The object is marked by the untranslatable particle 'et (H0853), followed by chalon ha-tevah ("the window of the ark"), again a construct chain where chalon (H2474) depends grammatically on "the ark" (H8392).

The final clause, introduced by the relative particle asher (H0834A), modifies "the ark" and uses the qal perfect asah (H6213H). The perfect aspect here indicates an action completed prior to the opening of the window — the ark's construction happened earlier in the story, which the relative clause recalls without re-narrating it.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) adds dimisit corvum ("he sent out a raven"), extending the sentence to include content that in the Hebrew and LXX appears only in the following verse (Genesis 8:7). The Hebrew mi-ketz ("from the end of") is rendered in the LXX as meta ("after"), a slightly looser temporal expression than the Hebrew construct phrase, which more precisely marks the terminal boundary of the forty-day period.