ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Genesis 8.21

Book: Genesis · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

19. every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatsoever moveth upon the earth, after their families, went forth out of the ark. 20. And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.

21. And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.

  1. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:19-22, ASV)
WEB

19. Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship. 20. Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21. Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done.

  1. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” (Genesis 8:19-22, WEB)
KJV

19. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. kinds: Heb. families 20. And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. a sweet: Heb. a savour of rest or, satisfaction for the imagination: or, through the imagination

  1. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. While: Heb. As yet all the days of the earth (Genesis 8:19-22, KJV)
YLT

19. every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl; every creeping thing on the earth, after their families, have gone out from the ark. 20. And Noah buildeth an altar to Jehovah, and taketh of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and causeth burnt-offerings to ascend on the altar;

21. and Jehovah smelleth the sweet fragrance, and Jehovah saith unto His heart, 'I continue not to disesteem any more the ground because of man, though the imagination of the heart of man [is] evil from his youth; and I continue not to smite any more all living, as I have done;

  1. during all days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, do not cease.' (Genesis 8:19-22, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the LORD, speaking in his heart
  • Audience: none; the narrative reports an inward resolve
  • Location: the earth after the flood, at Noah's altar
  • Time period: primeval history, before the patriarchal narratives

Theological reading

After the burnt offering, the LORD resolves never again to curse the ground for man's sake, nor to strike every living thing as he has done.

The reason given is startling: for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. That is the same diagnosis that preceded the flood at 6:5, offered here as the ground for not repeating it. The verse does not say humanity has improved; it says the response will change.

That reframes the whole flood narrative. The judgment is presented as unrepeatable not because the problem was solved but because God binds himself, which is the substance of the covenant formalised in the next chapter. The alternative to destruction is therefore forbearance, and the New Testament reads that forbearance as the space in which a different remedy is worked out.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.