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 38:14
38:14 So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because 8 she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) 9
Genesis 48:19
48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude 10 of nations.”
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 tn The Hebrew text simply has “because,” connecting this sentence to what precedes. For stylistic reasons the words “she did this” are supplied in the translation and a new sentence begun.
9 tn Heb “she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she was not given to him as a wife.”
10 tn Heb “fullness.”