He sent forth the raven and it went back and forth until the waters had dried up from upon the earth. He sent forth the dove from him to see if the waters had abated from the face of the earth.
The possuk tells us why Noach sent the dove – in order to see if the waters had abated from the face of the earth. But the Torah doesn’t tell us why he sent the orev. If he too was sent to see if the water was dry, why does the Torah not tell us this regarding the orev, only the dove?
Additionally, asks the Ohr Hachaim, why did the raven go back and forth? If the reason was that it was not dry yet, why did Noach send the dove? He knew his answer already. Why didn’t the raven return to the Teivah? Why did he fly back and forth? And why did he wait for the waters to dry up? Why didn’t Noach stretch out his hand to take it, like he did for the dove?
The Ohr Hachaim answers all of these questions based on the Gemara. The Gemara tells us that the raven had marital relations with its mate in the Teiva. When Noach found out about this, he immediately banished the raven from the Teivah. That is the meaning of this possuk – he banished the orev. Not to find out if the water had dried up, but because he deserved banishment. The raven had nowhere to go. The world was filled with water, and he was not allowed in the Teivah. He would fly back and forth, looking for somewhere to go, until the waters dried up and he could stay on earth.
The dove was sent to find out if the waters had dried up, and as soon as it could not find a place to rest, Noach invited it back inside, stretching out his hand to receive it. He belonged in the Teivah, because he kept the rules.
The Ohr Hachaim offers another explanation. Chazal tell us that the orev had a dispute with Noach. He did not want to leave the Teivah. He told Noach, “Your Master, Hashem, hates me, and you hate me. Your Master hates me, as He commanded to take from the kosher species seven and two from the non-kosher species. And you hate me, as you disregard those from the species of seven, i.e., the kosher birds, and instead dispatch one from the species of two, i.e., the non-kosher birds. If the angel of heat or the angel of cold harms me and kills me, will the world not be lacking one species of creature, (as there was only one pair of ravens)? Or perhaps you are sending me because it is my wife that you need, in order to engage in intercourse with her. He answered, “You wicked one! I am forbidden to have relations with someone who is generally permitted to me, why would I wish to have relations with someone who is always forbidden to me?”
This is why Noach had to send the dove. When Noach sent the raven, the raven went back and forth, he refused to leave the area to do his job. He was waiting for the water to dry. But Noach did not know if they had weakened or not. All he knew was that the water was there.
The dove performed his job with alacrity and he flew around to see the situation. Only the dove could do this job, not the raven who would not move from his spot.
