DOVE AND OLIVE’S LEAF

When water of the flood stopped, after months with water covering the whole world, finally water gradually retired¹, and the Ark rested over Ararat hills.² The summit of the hills began to appear³ and Noah, his family and all of the animals had been almost a year in the Ark. Noah opened the only window and send a raven to check if water had retired from land.⁴ The raven went and returned but he found nothing but water. Seven days after, Noah tried it again, but with a dove⁵, which neither did find land. Noah waited for another seven days and sent again the dove, which was late, but returned in  the afternoon with a shoot of an olive tree in his beak⁶, so Noah understood water had retired from land. But Noah waited for another seven days and sent the dove for the third time, which no longer returned.⁷ Afterwards, when God ordered it, Noah and his family left the Ark.⁸

Perhaps since then, maybe alter, the dove became to mankind in a symbol of peace and freedom, and the shoot of the olive tree was understood as a sign of success and prosperity of renaissance of life. After the dove flew free without return, it seemed everything had reached new stability in this destroyed world.⁹ Afterwards and throughout Bible, the dove is sometimes used in a poetic, symbolic and illustrative way.¹⁰ For poor people, it was an animal of sacrifice or offering representing the Saviour the same as lambs.¹¹ When Jesus was baptised, the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical form, like a dove.¹² On the other hand, the olive tree is used to represent sacred things, as God’s Word or God’s people¹³, and olive’s oil was equally used in sacred rites and is also a sign of the Holly Spirit.¹⁴ Finally, the Mount of Olives, was a loved place by Jesus and very special symbol for Christians.¹⁵

Biblical References:

1. Genesis 8: 3
2. Genesis 8: 4
3. Genesis 8: 5
4. Genesis 8: 6, 7
5. Genesis 8: 8, 9
6. Genesis 8: 10, 11
7. Genesis 8: 12
8. Genesis 8: 15, 16
9. Genesis 8: 22
10. Psalms 55: 6; The Song of Songs 1: 15; 4: 1; 5: 12; Matthew 10: 16
11. Leviticus 5: 7; Luke 2: 24
12. Luke 3: 22
13. Revelation 11: 4; Romans 11: 17; Psalms 128: 3
14. Exodus 30: 25; Leviticus 8: 12; 1 Samuel 10: 1; Psalms 23: 5
15. Luke 22: 39