Gen 8:21 | NETfull | STEP | And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Genesis 8:21

21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ^{▼▼ 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.} and said ^{▼▼ Heb “and the Lord said.”} to himself, ^{▼▼ Heb “in his heart.”} “I will never again curse ^{▼▼ Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.} the ground because of humankind, even though ^{▼▼ 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.} the inclination of their minds ^{▼▼ Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”} is evil from childhood on. ^{▼▼ Heb “from his youth.”} I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.