Genesis 8:1-22

8:1 But God remembered ¹  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ²  the earth and the waters receded. 8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, ³  and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 8:3 The waters kept receding steadily ⁴  from the earth, so that they ⁵  had gone down ⁶  by the end of the 150 days. 8:4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. ⁷  8:5 The waters kept on receding ⁸  until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. ⁹ 

8:6 At the end of forty days, ¹⁰  Noah opened the window he had made in the ark ¹¹  8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying ¹²  back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

8:8 Then Noah ¹³  sent out a dove ¹⁴  to see if the waters had receded ¹⁵  from the surface of the ground. 8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered ¹⁶  the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah ¹⁷  in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, ¹⁸  and brought it back into the ark. ¹⁹  8:10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 8:11 When ²⁰  the dove returned to him in the evening, there was ²¹  a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 8:12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, ²²  but it did not return to him this time. ²³ 

8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, ²⁴  in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that ²⁵  the surface of the ground was dry. 8:14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth ²⁶  was dry.

8:15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out ²⁷  every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase ²⁸  and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” ²⁹ 

8:18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 8:19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.

8:20 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. ³⁰  8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ³¹  and said ³²  to himself, ³³  “I will never again curse ³⁴  the ground because of humankind, even though ³⁵  the inclination of their minds ³⁶  is evil from childhood on. ³⁷  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, ³⁸ 

planting time ³⁹  and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

and day and night will not cease.”

Genesis 18:16

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

18:16 When the men got up to leave, ⁴⁰  they looked out over ⁴¹  Sodom. (Now ⁴²  Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) ⁴³ 

Genesis 21:14

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ⁴⁴  some food ⁴⁵  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ⁴⁶  and sent her away. So she went wandering ⁴⁷  aimlessly through the wilderness ⁴⁸  of Beer Sheba.

Exodus 23:8

23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ⁴⁹  and subverts the words of the righteous.

Deuteronomy 16:19

16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort ⁵⁰  the words of the righteous. ⁵¹ 

Deuteronomy 16:1

The Passover-Unleavened Bread Festival

16:1 Observe the month Abib ⁵²  and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month ⁵³  he ⁵⁴  brought you out of Egypt by night.

Deuteronomy 8:3

8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. ⁵⁵  He did this to teach you ⁵⁶  that humankind ⁵⁷  cannot live by bread ⁵⁸  alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. ⁵⁹ 

Deuteronomy 12:3

12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, ⁶⁰  burn up their sacred Asherah poles, ⁶¹  and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place.

Isaiah 1:23

1:23 Your officials are rebels, ⁶² 

they associate with ⁶³  thieves.

All of them love bribery,

and look for ⁶⁴  payoffs. ⁶⁵ 

They do not take up the cause of the orphan, ⁶⁶ 

or defend the rights of the widow. ⁶⁷ 

Ezekiel 22:12

22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ⁶⁸  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ⁶⁹  declares the sovereign Lord. ⁷⁰ 

Micah 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ⁷¹ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ⁷² 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ⁷³ 

Mark 14:10-11

The Plan to Betray Jesus

14:10 Then ⁷⁴  Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus into their hands. ⁷⁵  14:11 When they heard this, they were delighted ⁷⁶  and promised to give him money. ⁷⁷  So ⁷⁸  Judas ⁷⁹  began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

[8:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).

[8:1]  ² tn Heb “to pass over.”

[8:2]  ³ tn Some (e.g., NIV) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.

[8:3]  ⁴ tn The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned…going and returning.”

[8:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:3]  ⁶ tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.

[8:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “on the mountains of Ararat.” Obviously a boat (even one as large as the ark) cannot rest on multiple mountains. Perhaps (1) the preposition should be translated “among,” or (2) the plural “mountains” should be understood in the sense of “mountain range” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 53). A more probable option (3) is that the plural indicates an indefinite singular, translated “one of the mountains” (see GKC 400 §124.o).

[8:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “the waters were going and lessening.” The perfect verb form הָיָה (hayah) is used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive absolute חָסוֹר (khasor, “lessening”), while the infinitive absolute הָלוֹךְ (halokh) indicates continuous action.

[8:5]  ⁹ tn Or “could be seen.”

[8:6]  ¹⁰ tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.

[8:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.

[8:7]  ¹² tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.

[8:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.

[8:9]  ¹⁶ tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”

[8:11]  ²⁰ tn The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.

[8:11]  ²¹ tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to the olive leaf. It invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the olive leaf with their own eyes.

[8:12]  ²² tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:12]  ²³ tn Heb “it did not again return to him still.” For a study of this section of the flood narrative, see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Dove with the Olive Leaf (Gen VIII 8–11),” ExpTim 18 (1906/07): 377-78.

[8:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb In the six hundred and first year.” Since this refers to the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, the word “Noah’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and saw and look.” As in v. 11, the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the dry ground with their own eyes.

[8:14]  ²⁶ tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.

[8:17]  ²⁷ tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:17]  ²⁸ tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.

[8:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

[8:20]  ³⁰ 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.

[8:21]  ³¹ 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.

[8:21]  ³² tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

[8:21]  ³³ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[8:21]  ³⁴ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

[8:21]  ³⁵ 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.

[8:21]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

[8:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from his youth.”

[8:22]  ³⁸ 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.”

[8:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.

[18:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”

[18:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “toward the face of.”

[18:16]  ⁴² tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.

[18:16]  ⁴³ tn The Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to lead out, to send out, to expel”; here it is used in the friendly sense of seeing the visitors on their way.

[21:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[23:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[16:19]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ⁵¹ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[16:1]  ⁵² sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.

[16:1]  ⁵³ tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:1]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[8:3]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).

[8:3]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.

[8:3]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).

[8:3]  ⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).

[8:3]  ⁵⁹ sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).

[12:3]  ⁶⁰ sn Sacred pillars. These are the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.

[12:3]  ⁶¹ sn Sacred Asherah poles. The Hebrew term (plural) is אֲשֵׁרִים (’asherim). See note on the word “(leafy) tree” in v. 2, and also Deut 7:5.

[1:23]  ⁶² tn Or “stubborn”; CEV “have rejected me.”

[1:23]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and companions of” (so KJV, NASB); CEV “friends of crooks.”

[1:23]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “pursue”; NIV “chase after gifts.”

[1:23]  ⁶⁵ sn Isaiah may have chosen the word for gifts (שַׁלְמוֹנִים, shalmonim; a hapax legomena here), as a sarcastic pun on what these rulers should have been doing. Instead of attending to peace and wholeness (שָׁלוֹם, shalom), they sought after payoffs (שַׁלְמוֹנִים).

[1:23]  ⁶⁶ sn See the note at v. 17.

[1:23]  ⁶⁷ sn The rich oppressors referred to in Isaiah and the other eighth century prophets were not rich capitalists in the modern sense of the word. They were members of the royal military and judicial bureaucracies in Israel and Judah. As these bureaucracies grew, they acquired more and more land and gradually commandeered the economy and legal system. At various administrative levels bribery and graft become commonplace. The common people outside the urban administrative centers were vulnerable to exploitation in such a system, especially those, like widows and orphans, who had lost their family provider through death. Through confiscatory taxation, conscription, excessive interest rates, and other oppressive governmental measures and policies, they were gradually disenfranchised and lost their landed property, and with it, their rights as citizens. The socio-economic equilibrium envisioned in the law of Moses was radically disturbed.

[22:12]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ⁶⁹ sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ⁷⁰ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[7:3]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ⁷² tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ⁷³ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.

[14:10]  ⁷⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:10]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “betray him to them”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:11]  ⁷⁶ sn The leaders were delighted when Judas contacted them about betraying Jesus, because it gave them the opportunity they had been looking for, and they could later claim that Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own disciples.

[14:11]  ⁷⁷ sn Matt 26:15 states the amount of money they gave Judas was thirty pieces of silver (see also Matt 27:3-4; Zech 11:12-13).

[14:11]  ⁷⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[14:11]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.