“Then Noah sent forth a dove.”
The word for dove in Hebrew is jonah. We see from this, that just as Noah first sent forth a raven which went to and fro on the earth, God sent His Spirit to the Ninevites to prepare for the visit of Jonah, in order to open their hearts to His message. And just as the dove, when first sent, could find no place to set her foot, Jonah the prophet first went a direction opposite to that where God had sent him. He ultimately found no earth on which to set his foot, but only water, after he was thrown overboard. And as the dove, on its second venture found an olive branch, so did Jonah, when he went to Nineveh, find an earnest desire for peace and repentance, the sprigs of righteousness, even in a heathen land.