Kejadian 8:21

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ¹  and said ²  to himself, ³  “I will never again curse ⁴  the ground because of humankind, even though ⁵  the inclination of their minds ⁶  is evil from childhood on. ⁷  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Kejadian 9:11-16

9:11 I confirm ⁸  my covenant with you: Never again will all living things ⁹  be wiped out ¹⁰  by the waters of a flood; ¹¹  never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee ¹²  of the covenant I am making ¹³  with you ¹⁴  and every living creature with you, a covenant ¹⁵  for all subsequent ¹⁶  generations: 9:13 I will place ¹⁷  my rainbow ¹⁸  in the clouds, and it will become ¹⁹  a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever ²⁰  I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you ²¹  and with all living creatures of all kinds. ²²  Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy ²³  all living things. ²⁴  9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember ²⁵  the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”

[8:21]  ¹ tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.

[8:21]  ² tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

[8:21]  ³ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[8:21]  ⁴ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

[8:21]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.

[8:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

[8:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “from his youth.”

[9:11]  ⁸ tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).

[9:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “cut off.”

[9:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”

[9:12]  ¹² tn Heb “sign.”

[9:12]  ¹³ sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.

[9:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “between me and between you.”

[9:12]  ¹⁵ tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:12]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).

[9:13]  ¹⁸ sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.

[9:13]  ¹⁹ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.

[9:14]  ²⁰ tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.

[9:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”

[9:15]  ²² tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:15]  ²³ tn Heb “to destroy.”

[9:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:16]  ²⁵ tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”