the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Genesis 8:21
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And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
And Yahweh smelled the sweet savor; and Yahweh said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite anymore everything living, as I have done.
The Lord was pleased with these sacrifices and said to himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of human beings. Their thoughts are evil even when they are young, but I will never again destroy every living thing on the earth as I did this time.
And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
And the LORD smelled a sweet savor; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart [is] evil from his youth: neither will I again smite any more every living animal as I have done.
Yahweh smelled the sweet savor. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.
And the Lord sauerede the odour of swetnesse, and seide to hym, Y schal no more curse the erthe for men, for the wit and thouyt of mannus herte ben redi in to yuel fro yong wexynge age; therfor Y schal no more smyte ech lyuynge soule as Y dide;
and Jehovah smelleth the sweet fragrance, and Jehovah saith unto His heart, `I continue not to disesteem any more the ground because of man, though the imagination of the heart of man [is] evil from his youth; and I continue not to smite any more all living, as I have done;
When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
The smell of the burning offering pleased God, and he said: Never again will I punish the earth for the sinful things its people do. All of them have evil thoughts from the time they are young, but I will never destroy everything that breathes, as I did this time.
Adonai smelled the sweet aroma, and Adonai said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, since the imaginings of a person's heart are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy all living things, as I have done.
And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.
And when the sweet smell came up to the Lord, he said in his heart, I will not again put a curse on the earth because of man, for the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his earliest days; never again will I send destruction on all living things as I have done.
And the Lorde smelled a sweete [or quiet] sauour, and the Lord sayde in his heart: I wyll not hencefoorth curse the grounde any more for mans sake, for the imagination of mans heart is euyll [euen] from his youth: neyther wyll I smyte any more euery thyng lyuyng, as I haue done.
And Jehovah smelled the sweet odour. And Jehovah said in his heart, I will no more henceforth curse the ground on account of Man, for the thought of Man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will no more smite every living thing, as I have done.
The Lord smelled these sacrifices, and it pleased him. The Lord said to himself, "I will never again curse the earth as a way to punish people. People are evil from the time they are young, but I will never again destroy every living thing on the earth as I did this time.
And the LORD smelled the sweet savour; and the LORD said in His heart: 'I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
And the LORD smelled a sweete sauour, and the LORD said in his heart, I will not againe curse the ground any more for mans sake; for the imagination of mans heart is euil from his youth: neither will I againe smite any more euery thing liuing, as I haue done.
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
Then the Lord smelled a pleasing smell. And the Lord said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of man. For the desire of man's heart is sinful from when he is young. I will never again destroy every living thing as I have done.
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.
And Yahweh smelled a satisfying odour, so Yahweh said to himself. I will not, again, curse any more the ground for man's sake, although the device of the heart of man, be wicked from his youth, - neither will I again, any more smite every living thing, as I have done.
And the Lord smelled a sauour of rest, and the Lord said in his heart, I will hencefoorth curse the ground no more for mans cause: for the imagination of mans heart is euill, euen from his youth: neither will I smite any more all things liuing, as I haue done.
And the LORD smelled the sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for mans sake; for the inclination of mans heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again destroy any more every living thing, as I have done.
The odor of the sacrifice pleased the Lord , and he said to himself, "Never again will I put the earth under a curse because of what people do; I know that from the time they are young their thoughts are evil. Never again will I destroy all living beings, as I have done this time.
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man’s heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done.
And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.
And the Lord God smelled a smell of sweetness, and the Lord God having considered, said, I will not any more curse the earth, because of the works of men, because the imagination of man is intently bent upon evil things from his youth, I will not therefore any more smite all living flesh as I have done.
And the LORD smelled the sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.
The LORD smelled the sweet savor. The LORD said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.
And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said to himself, "Never again will I curse the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind is evil from his youth. Nor will I ever again destroy all life as I have done.
And Jehovah smelled the soothing fragrance, and Jehovah said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground for the sake of man, because the imagination of the heart of man is evil from his youth. Yea, I will not again smite every living thing as I have done.
And ye LORDE smelled the swete sauor, & sayde in his hert: I wyl hence forth curse the earth nomore for mas sake, for the ymaginacion of mans hert is euell, euen from the very youth of him. Therfore from hece forth I wil nomore smyte all that lyueth, as I haue done.
The LORD smelled the soothing aroma, and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.
The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
And Yahweh smelled the soothing aroma; and Yahweh said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
smelled: Leviticus 1:9, Leviticus 1:13, Leviticus 1:17, Leviticus 26:31, Song of Solomon 4:10, Song of Solomon 4:11, Isaiah 65:6, Ezekiel 20:41, Amos 5:21, Amos 5:22, 2 Corinthians 2:15, Ephesians 5:2, Philippians 4:18
sweet savour: Heb. savour of rest
curse: Genesis 3:17, Genesis 4:12, Genesis 5:29, Genesis 6:17
for: or, though
the imagination: Genesis 6:5, Job 14:4, Job 15:14-16, Psalms 51:5, Psalms 58:3, Proverbs 20:9, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Isaiah 47:12, Isaiah 47:15, Isaiah 48:8, Isaiah 53:6, Jeremiah 8:6, Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah 18:12, Matthew 15:19, John 3:6, Romans 1:21, Romans 3:23, Romans 8:7, Romans 8:8, Ephesians 2:1-3, James 1:14, James 1:15, James 4:1, James 4:2, 1 John 5:19
neither: Genesis 9:11-15, Isaiah 54:9, Isaiah 54:10
as I: 2 Peter 3:6, 2 Peter 3:7
Reciprocal: Genesis 9:16 - everlasting Genesis 11:6 - imagined Exodus 29:18 - sweet savour Leviticus 8:21 - a sweet savour Numbers 15:3 - a sweet Numbers 28:2 - for a sweet savour unto me Numbers 32:14 - an increase Deuteronomy 28:16 - in the field Deuteronomy 31:21 - I know 1 Samuel 26:19 - accept 1 Chronicles 28:9 - the imaginations Ezra 6:10 - sweet savours Proverbs 10:20 - the heart Proverbs 24:9 - thought Ecclesiastes 9:3 - also Jeremiah 3:17 - walk Jeremiah 16:12 - evil Jeremiah 32:30 - from Ezekiel 14:14 - Noah Ezekiel 16:19 - a sweet savour Ezekiel 24:12 - her great Hosea 10:9 - did Matthew 7:11 - being Mark 7:21 - out Luke 1:51 - the imagination Luke 11:13 - being Romans 5:13 - until Romans 7:18 - that in me 2 Corinthians 10:5 - every thought Ephesians 2:3 - by Hebrews 3:12 - an James 4:5 - The spirit
Cross-References
Then to Adam the LORD God said, "Because you have listened [attentively] to the voice of your wife, and have eaten [fruit] from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it'; The ground is [now] under a curse because of you; In sorrow and toil you shall eat [the fruit] of it All the days of your life.
"When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast]."
He named him Noah, saying, "This one shall bring us rest and comfort from our work and from the [dreadful] toil of our hands because of the ground which the LORD cursed."
The LORD saw that the wickedness (depravity) of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination or intent of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually.
"For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all life under the heavens in which there is the breath and spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die.
And God remembered and thought kindly of Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters receded.
Also the fountains of the deep [subterranean waters] and the windows of the heavens were closed, the [pouring] rain from the sky was restrained,
and the waters receded steadily from the earth. At the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters had diminished.
At the end of [another] forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;
and he sent out a raven, which flew here and there until the waters were dried up from the earth.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour,.... Or a "savour of rest" e; he was delighted and well pleased with his sacrifice, which was offered up in the faith of the sacrifice of Christ; the apostle says, "is for a sweetsmelling savour", Ephesians 5:2 referring to this passage; that being a satisfaction to the justice of God, an appeasing of his wrath, and a propitiation for the sins of men:
and the Lord said in his heart; within himself; it was awhile a secret there, but Noah being a prophet, as Aben Ezra observes, he revealed it to him, or "to his heart" f, that is, to the heart of Noah, as some interpret it, he spoke comfortably to him, as follows, when the Jewish writers g say he stretched out his right hand and swore, agreeably to Isaiah 54:9
I will not again curse the ground for man's sake, or drown it for the sin of man, as he had cursed it for the sin of Adam, and which continued till this time; but now was taken off, and it became more fruitful, and very probably by means of the waters which had been so long upon it, and had left a fructifying virtue in it, as the waters of the Nile do in Egypt. Some interpret the phrase, "for man's sake", for the man Christ's sake, for the sake of his sacrifice, of which Noah's was a type, and the sense be, that God would no more curse the earth; for by his sacrifice the curse of the law is removed, with respect to his people; they are redeemed from it, and shall inherit that new earth, of which this earth, renewed after the flood, was a type, in which there will be no more curse, Revelation 21:1 which sense, though evangelical, cannot be admitted, because of the reason following, unless the first word be rendered "though", as it may:
for the imagination of man's heart [is] evil from his youth; his nature is depraved, his heart is corrupt, the thoughts of it evil, yea, the imagination of it, and of them, is sinful, and that originally, even from his birth; from the time he is shook out of his mother's womb, as Jarchi interprets the phrase: man is conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity, and is a transgressor from the womb, and so a child of wrath, and deserving of the curse of the law upon himself, and all that belong to him; and yet this is given as a reason why God will not any more curse the ground for his sake: that which was a reason for destroying the earth, is now one against it, see Genesis 6:5 which may be reconciled thus, God for this reason destroyed the earth once, for an example, and to display his justice; but such is his clemency and mercy, that he will do it no more to the end of the world; considering that man has brought himself into such a condition, that he cannot but sin, it is natural to him from his birth; his nature is tainted with it, his heart is full of it, and all his thoughts and imaginations are wicked and sinful, from whence continually flow a train of actual sins and transgressions; so that if God was to curse and drown the world as often as man sins, he must be continually doing it; for the words may be rendered, "though the imagination of man's heart is evil", c. h yet I will not do it; and so they are expressive of the super abounding grace of God over abounding sin:
neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done; this hinders not but that there might be, as has been since, partial calamities, or particular judgments on individual persons, towns, and cities, as those of Sodom and Gomorrah, or partial inundations, but not a general deluge, or an universal destruction of the world and creatures in it, at least not by water, as has been, but by fire, as will be; for that the earth will have an end, at least as to its present nature, form, and use, may be concluded from the following words.
e ר×× ×× ××× "odorem quietis", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, c. f ×× ××× "ad cor suum", Montanus, Tigurine version "prophetae suo", Arab. g Jarchi in loc. Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. h ×× "quamvis", Piscator; so Ainsworth.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- XXVII. The Ark Was Evacuated
19. ×ש×פ×× mıÌshpaÌchah, âkind, clan, family.â ש×פ×× shıÌpchaÌh, âmaid-servant; related: spread.â
20. ×××× mıÌzbeÌach, âaltar; related: slay animals, sacrifice.â
21. ×¢×× 'olaÌh, âwhole burnt-offering.â That which goes up. âStep; related: go up.â
Genesis 8:15-19
The command to leave the ark is given and obeyed. As Noah did not enter, so neither does he leave the ark, without divine direction. âThe fowl, the cattle, and the creeper.â Here, again, these three classes are specified under the general head of every living tiring. They are again to multiply on the earth. âEvery living thing.â This evidently takes the place of the cattle mentioned before. âAfter their families.â This word denotes their tribes. It is usually applied to families or clans.
Genesis 8:20-22
The offering of Noah accepted. The return to the dry land, through the special mercy of God to Noah and his house, is celebrated by an offering of thanksgiving and faith. âBuilded an altar.â This is the first mention of the altar, or structure for the purpose of sacrifice. The Lord is now on high, having swept away the garden, and withdrawn his visible presence at the same time from the earth. The altar is therefore erected to point toward his dwelling-place on high. âUnto the Lord.â The personal name of God is especially appropriate here, as he has proved himself a covenant keeper and a deliverer to Noah. âOf all clean cattle, and every clean fowl.â The mention of clean birds renders it probable that these only were taken into the ark by seven pairs Genesis 7:3. Every fit animal is included in this sacrifice, as it is expressive of thanksgiving for a complete deliverance. We have also here the first mention of the burnt-offering ×¢×× 'olaÌh; the whole victim, except the skin, being burned on the altar. Sacrifice is an act in which the transgressor slays an animal and offers it in whole, or in part as representative of the whole, to God. In this act he acknowledges his guilt, the claim of the offended law upon his life, and the mercy of the Lord in accepting a substitute to satisfy this claim for the returning penitent. He at the same time actually accepts the mercy of the Most High, and comes forward to plead it in the appointed way of reconciliation. The burnt-offering is the most perfect symbol of this substitution, and most befitting the present occasion, when life has been granted to the inmates of the ark amidst the universal death.
Genesis 8:21
The effect of this plea is here described. The Lord smelled the sweet savor. He accepted the typical substitute, and, on account of the sacrifice, the offerers, the surviving ancestors of the post-diluvian race. Thus, the re-entrance of the remnant of mankind upon the joys and tasks of life is inaugurated by an articulate confession of sin, a well-understood foreshadowing of the coming victim for human guilt, and a gracious acceptance of this act of faith. âThe Lord said in his heart.â It is the inward resolve of his will. The purpose of mercy is then expressed in a definite form, suited to the present circumstances of the delivered family. âI will not again curse the soil any more on account of man.â This seems at first sight to imply a mitigation of the hardship and toil which man was to experience in cultivating the ground Genesis 3:17. At all events, this very toil is turned into a blessing to him who returns from his sin and guilt, to accept the mercy, and live to the glory of his Maker and Saviour. But the main reference of the passage is doubtless to the curse of a deluge such as what was now past. This will not be renewed. âBecause the imagination of his heart is evil from his youth.â This is the reason for the past judgment, the curse upon the soil: not for the present promise of a respite for the future. Accordingly, it is to be taken in close connection with the cursing of the soil, of which it assigns the judicial cause. It is explanatory of the preceding phrase, on account of man. The reason for the promise of escape from the fear of a deluge for the future is the sacrifice of Noah, the priest and representative of the race, with which the Lord is well pleased. The closing sentence of this verse is a reiteration in a more explicit form of the same promise. âNeither will I again smite all living as I have done.â There will be no repetition of the deluge that had just overswept the land and destroyed the inhabitants.
Genesis 8:22
Henceforth all the days of the earth. - After these negative assurances come the positive blessings to be permanently enjoyed while the present constitution of the earth continues. These are summed up in the following terms:
| HEAT | Sowing, beginning in October |
| | Reaping, ending in June |
| COLD | Early fruit, in July |
| | Fruit harvest, ending in September |
The cold properly occupies the interval between sowing and reaping, or the months of January and February. From July to September is the period of heat. In Palestine, the seedtime began in October or November, when the wheat was sown. Barley was not generally sown until January. The grain harvest began early in May, and continued in June. The early fruits, such as grapes and figs, made their appearance in July and August; the full ingathering, in September and October. But the passage before us is not limited to the seasons of any particular country. Besides the seasons, it guarantees the continuance of the agreeable vicissitudes of day and night. It is probable that even these could not be distinguished during part of the deluge of waters. At all events, they did not present any sensible change when darkness reigned over the primeval abyss.
The term of this continuance is here defined. It is to last as long as the order of things introduced by the six daysâ creation endures. This order is not to be sempiternal. When the race of man has been filled up, it is here hinted that the present system of nature on the earth may be expected to give place to another and a higher order of things.
Here it is proper to observe the mode of Scripture in the promise of blessing. In the infancy of mankind, when the eye gazed on the present, and did not penetrate into the future, the Lord promised the immediate and the sensible blessings of life, because these alone are as yet intelligible to the childlike race, and they are, at the same time, the immediate earnest of endless blessings. As the mind developes, and the observable universe becomes more fully comprehended, these present and sensible sources of creature happiness correspondingly expand, and higher and more ethereal blessings begin to dawn upon the mind. When the prospect of death opens to the believer a new and hitherto unknown world of reality, then the temporal and corporeal give way to the eternal and spiritual. And as with the individual, so is it with the race. The present boon is the earnest in hand, fully satisfying the existing aspirations of the infantile desire. But it is soon found that the present is always the bud of the future; and as the volume of promise is unrolled, piece by piece, before the eye of the growing race, while the present and the sensible lose nothing of their intrinsic value, the opening glories of intellectual and spiritual enjoyment add an indescribable zest to the blessedness of a perpetuated life. Let not us, then, who flow in the full tide of the latter day, despise the rudiment of blessing in the first form in which it was conferred on Noah and his descendants; but rather remember that is not the whole content of the divine good-will, but only the present shape of an ever-expanding felicity, which is limited neither by time nor sense.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 8:21. The Lord smelled a sweet savour — That is, he was well pleased with this religious act, performed in obedience to his own appointment, and in faith of the promised Saviour. That this sacrifice prefigured that which was offered by our blessed Redeemer in behalf of the world, is sufficiently evident from the words of St. Paul, Ephesians 5:2: Christ hath loved us, and given himself for its an offering and a sacrifice to God for a SWEET-SMELLING SAVOUR; where the words οÏμην ÎµÏ ÏÎ´Î¹Î±Ï of the apostle are the very words used by the Septuagint in this place.
I will not again curse the ground — ×× ×סף lo osiph, I will not add to curse the ground- there shall not be another deluge to destroy the whole earth: for the imagination of man's heart, ×× ki, ALTHOUGH the imagination of man's heart should be evil, i.e. should they become afterwards as evil as they have been before, I will not destroy the earth by a FLOOD. God has other means of destruction; and the next time he visits by a general judgment, FIRE is to be the agent. 2 Peter 3:7.
