THIS MIGHT SURPRISE YOU

In the flood story, what does the dove bring back to show the waters are receding?

The answer

A freshly plucked olive leaf (Genesis 8:11). Noah also sends out a raven first, which the dove is often remembered instead of.

Why it’s interesting

The raven goes out before the dove and simply flies "to and fro" — the dove and its olive leaf became the enduring image of peace, while the raven quietly dropped out of the retellings.

Scholarly consensus

You can know the Bible.

Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.