13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first [month], on the first of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15 And God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 Go out of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 17 Bring forth with thee every animal which is with thee, of all flesh, fowl as well as cattle, and all the creeping things which creep on the earth, that they may swarm on the earth, and may be fruitful and multiply on the earth. 18 And Noah went out, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him. 19 All the animals, all the creeping things, and all the fowl—everything that moves on the earth, after their kinds, went out of the ark.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 8:13-19

Commentary on Genesis 8:13-19

(Read Genesis 8:13-19)

God consults our benefit, rather than our desires; he knows what is good for us better than we do for ourselves, and how long it is fit our restraints should continue, and desired mercies should be delayed. We would go out of the ark before the ground is dried; and perhaps, if the door, is shut, are ready to thrust off the covering, and to climb up some other way; but God's time of showing mercy is the best time. As Noah had a command to go into the ark, so, how tedious soever his confinement there was, he would wait for a command to go out of it again. We must in all our ways acknowledge God, and set him before us in all our removals. Those only go under God's protection, who follow God's direction, and submit to him.