Genesis 34:3

34:3 Then he became very attached ¹  to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. ² 

Genesis 31:20

31:20 Jacob also deceived ³  Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was leaving. ⁴ 

Genesis 8:21

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ⁵  and said ⁶  to himself, ⁷  “I will never again curse ⁸  the ground because of humankind, even though ⁹  the inclination of their minds ¹⁰  is evil from childhood on. ¹¹  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

¹ tn Heb “his soul stuck to [or “joined with”],” meaning Shechem became very attached to Dinah emotionally.

² tn Heb “and he spoke to the heart of the young woman,” which apparently refers in this context to tender, romantic speech (Hos 2:14). Another option is to translate the expression “he reassured the young woman” (see Judg 19:3, 2 Sam 19:7; cf. NEB “comforted her”).

³ tn Heb “stole the heart of,” an expression which apparently means “to deceive.” The repetition of the verb “to steal” shows that Jacob and Rachel are kindred spirits. Any thought that Laban would have resigned himself to their departure was now out of the question.

⁴ tn Heb “fleeing,” which reflects Jacob’s viewpoint.

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

⁷ tn Heb “in his heart.”

⁸ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

¹¹ tn Heb “from his youth.”