On its second release in the Genesis flood narrative, the dove brought Noah a freshly plucked olive leaf.
Genesis 8 describes Noah sending the dove out after the Ark had rested on the mountains of Ararat. The first time, the dove returned because it found no place to rest. On the second release, it came back in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf, showing Noah that the waters had receded. On the third release, the dove did not return.
The olive leaf is a small but crucial detail in the story’s sequence. It is evidence of emerging vegetation rather than a statement that the entire earth had already dried. The episode is often shortened in retellings to “the dove brought an olive branch,” but Genesis specifically describes a freshly plucked olive leaf. The later association of the dove and olive branch with peace draws heavily on this scene, although the biblical text’s immediate function is to report the changing condition of the land.