In the Genesis flood account, Noah waited seven days between the dove’s recorded flights.
Genesis 8 says Noah first sent out a dove, which returned because it found no resting place. He waited another seven days before sending it again. The second flight produced the olive leaf, and Genesis says Noah waited seven more days before sending the dove out a third time.
This repeated seven-day interval is a precise part of the narrative’s chronology. It is different from the forty days and forty nights of rain and from the broader period during which the floodwaters covered the earth. Remembering those separate intervals prevents a common mix-up in summaries of the story.
The sequence also shows how Noah tested the condition of the land gradually. The first return showed that the waters still prevented the bird from settling; the olive leaf indicated vegetation; and the final non-return suggested that the dove had found a place to live outside the ark.