Genesis 8:21-22

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.

8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, ⁸ 

planting time ⁹  and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

and day and night will not cease.”

Isaiah 54:9

54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, ¹⁰ 

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood ¹¹  would never again cover the earth.

In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

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 “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.”

⁹ tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.

¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and all the ancient versions except LXX.

¹¹ tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).