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 42:16
42:16 One of you must go and get 8 your brother, while 9 the rest of you remain in prison. 10 In this way your words may be tested to see if 11 you are telling the truth. 12 If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”
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 Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.
9 tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.
10 tn Heb “bound.”
11 tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
12 tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”