And Noah went forth,.... Being obedient to the divine command, and no doubt with great pleasure in his countenance, and with a heart full of thankfulness for so great a deliverance:

and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: in all eight persons, and no more were saved in the ark, as Peter observes, 1 Peter 3:20 and the Arabic writers say (a), Noah and his sons built a city near the place where they came out of the ark, and called it Themanin, giving this as a reason of the name, we are eight, that is, who have escaped; so Berosus says (b), that the earth being dried of the waters, there were then only eight men in Armenia, from whence all mankind sprung.

(a) Elmacleus, p. 12. Patricides, p. 10. apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 282. (b) Hist. l. 2. fol. 11. 1.

And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

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.