Bereshis 8:20-22
Orthodox Jewish Bible
20 And Noach built a Mizbe’ach unto Hashem; and took of every behemah hatehorah, and of kol haoph hatahor, and offered olot (burnt offerings) on the Mizbe’ach.
21 And Hashem smelled a re’ach hannichoach; and Hashem said in His lev, I will not again curse the adamah any more ba’avur (because of) haAdam; for the yetzer of the lev haAdam is rah from his ne’urim (youth, childhood); neither will I again strike any more every thing living, as I have done.
22 While ha’aretz remaineth, zera (seedtime) and katzir (harvest), and kor (cold) and chom (heat), and kayitz (summer) and choref (winter), and yom and lailah shall not cease.
Read full chapter
Genesis 8:20-22
New International Version
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord(A) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean(B) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings(C) on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma(D) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground(E) because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.(F) And never again will I destroy(G) all living creatures,(H) as I have done.
Footnotes
- Genesis 8:21 Or humans, for
Genesis 8:20-22
English Standard Version
God's Covenant with Noah
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled (A)the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again (B)curse[a] the ground because of man, for (C)the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. (D)Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 (E)While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, (F)day and night, shall not cease.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 8:21 Or dishonor
Genesis 8:20-22
New King James Version
God’s Covenant with Creation
20 Then Noah built an (A)altar to the Lord, and took of (B)every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered (C)burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelled (D)a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again (E)curse the ground for man’s sake, although the (F)imagination[a] of man’s heart is evil from his youth; (G)nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
22 “While the earth (H)remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And (I)day and night
Shall not cease.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 8:21 intent or thought
Genesis 8:20-22
New English Translation
20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.[a] 21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma[b] and said[c] to himself,[d] “I will never again curse[e] the ground because of humankind, even though[f] the inclination of their minds[g] is evil from childhood on.[h] I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
22 “While the earth continues to exist,[i]
planting time[j] and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
and day and night will not cease.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 8:20 sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.
- Genesis 8:21 tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ, reakh hannikhoakh). 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.
- Genesis 8:21 tn Heb “and the Lord said.”
- Genesis 8:21 tn Heb “in his heart.”
- Genesis 8:21 tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
- Genesis 8:21 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.
- Genesis 8:21 tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
- Genesis 8:21 tn Heb “from his youth.”
- Genesis 8:22 tn Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”
- Genesis 8:22 tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.