Genesis 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.

Genesis 17:17

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ⁸  as he said to himself, ⁹  “Can ¹⁰  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ¹¹  Can Sarah ¹²  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ¹³ 

Genesis 26:7

26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” ¹⁴  He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, ¹⁵  “The men of this place will kill me to get ¹⁶  Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”

Genesis 30:40

30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face ¹⁷  the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks.

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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.

² tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

³ tn Heb “in his heart.”

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

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.

⁶ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

⁷ tn Heb “from his youth.”

⁸ sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.

⁹ tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

¹⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

¹¹ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

¹² sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).

¹³ tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

¹⁴ sn Rebekah, unlike Sarah, was not actually her husband’s sister.

¹⁵ tn Heb “lest.” The words “for he thought to himself” are supplied because the next clause is written with a first person pronoun, showing that Isaac was saying or thinking this.

¹⁶ tn Heb “kill me on account of.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”