Jeremiah 22:21

22:21 While you were feeling secure I gave you warning.¹

But you said, “I refuse to listen to you.”

That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward.²

Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.

Genesis 8:21

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma³ and said⁴ to himself,⁵ “I will never again curse⁶ the ground because of humankind, even though⁷ the inclination of their minds⁸ is evil from childhood on.⁹ I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Ezekiel 23:3

23:3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers¹⁰ fondled their virgin nipples there.

¹tn Heb “I spoke to you in your security.” The reference is to the sending of the prophets. Compare this context with the context of 7:25. For the nuance “security” for this noun (שַׁלְוָה, shalvah) rather than “prosperity” as many translate see Pss 122:7; 30:6 and the related adjective (שָׁלֵו, shalev) in Jer 49:31; Job 16:2; 21:23.

²tn Heb “from your youth.” Compare the usage in 2:2; 3:24 and compare a similar idea in 7:25.

³tn 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.

⁴tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

⁵tn Heb “in his heart.”

⁶tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

⁷tn 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.

⁸tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

⁹tn Heb “from his youth.”

¹⁰tn In the Hebrew text the subject is left unstated and must be supplied from the context.