And the LORD smelled a sweet savor; 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.
21. smelled the sweet savour ] A very strong anthropomorphism which only occurs here. “Sweet savour” is a technical expression in the language of Levitical sacrifice. Cf. Lev 1:9; Lev 1:13; Lev 1:17. Literally, it meant “the smell of complacence” or “satisfaction,” with the idea of restfulness and calm produced. “Sweet savour” is, therefore, somewhat of a paraphrase based on the LXX , Lat. odor suavitatis.
The technical term is employed to express that the offering is acceptable to God. The heart of the offerer is acceptable (the converse of Gen 4:5). See the use made of the phrase “sweet savour” by St Paul in 2Co 2:15-16.
The Babylonian version describes how “the gods smelt the goodly savour of the sacrifice, and swarmed like flies over the sacrifice.”
in his heart ] Lit. “to his heart” = “to himself,” an anthropomorphism similar to that in Gen 6:6. LXX, in order to avoid the term, renders by ; Targum of Onkelos, “by his word.”
curse ] i.e. do injury to by a sentence, or decree, of evil.
for man’s sake, for that ] Better, as R. V. marg., sake; for the. The difference of the two renderings is obvious: ( a) that of the text gives the reason for which God’s curse had been inflicted upon the ground, i.e. man’s sinfulness: ( b) that of the margin gives the reason why God will not again curse the ground, i.e. man is essentially sinful; he must not be expected to be otherwise. Perhaps the rendering of the margin which emphasizes the element of mercy is in better harmony with the context. The sentence already pronounced upon the earth in Gen 3:17 (cf. Gen 4:11-12) had rendered life arduous and distressing.
the imagination of man’s heart ] Cf. Gen 6:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 8:21
The Lord smelled a sweet savour
The sweet savour
How important is it, that this truth shall be as a sun without a speck before us! Hence the Spirit records that, when Noah shed the blood which represented Christ, The Lord smelled a sweet savour.
Thus the curtains of Gods pavilion are thrown back; and each attribute appears rejoicing in redemption. The Lamb is offered, and there is fragrance throughout heaven. First, let Justice speak. Its claim strikes terror. It has a right to one unbroken series of uninterrupted obedience through all lifes term. Each straying of a thought from perfect love incurs a countless debt. Here Jesus pays down a death, the worth of which no tongue can reckon. Justice holds scales, which groan indeed under mountains upon mountains of iniquity: but this one sacrifice more than outweighs the pile. Thus Justice rejoices, because it is infinitely honoured. Next, there is a sweet savour here to the Truth of God. If Justice is unyielding, so too is Truth. Its yea is yea; its nay is nay. It speaks, and the word must be. Heaven and earth may pass away, but it cannot recede. Now its voice is gone forth, denouncing eternal wrath on every sin. Thus it bars heavens gates with bars of adamant. In vain are tears, and penitence, and prayers. Truth becomes untrue, if sin escapes. But Jesus comes to drink the cup of vengeance. Every threat falls on His head. Truth needs no more. It claps the wings of rapturous delight, and speeds to heaven to tell that not one word has failed. Need I add that Jesus is a sweet savour to the holiness of God. Sweet too is the savour which mercy here inhales. Mercy weeps over misery. In all afflictions it is afflicted. Is tastes the bitterest drop in each cup of woe. But when anguish is averted, the guilty spared, the perishing rescued, and all tears wiped from the eyes of the redeemed, then is its holiest triumph. (Dean Law.)
What does God see in the sacrifice of His Son to please Him?
1. The reflection of His own love.
2. The vindication of His righteousness. God prescribes the sacrifice in order that He may be just when He justifies (Rom 3:25-26).
3. The willingness of the self-devotion.
4. The prospect of pure service. Human nature, in Christs obedience and death, is purified and restored. Noahs sacrifice might be compared to a morning prayer at the dawn of a new epoch in human history. It was a dedication of restored humanity to the service of God, the Deliverer. The hope of the human race consists in possessing acceptable access unto God. This we have in Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18; Eph 3:12; Heb 10:19-22). (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
The imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth
Mans tendency to go wrong
I. These words were said by our Maker more than four thousand years ago, and they have been true ever since down to this very hour. There is so much more bad than good in us that we should certainly go wrong if left to ourselves, and the bias of our nature to evil is so strong that it can only be corrected by changing the very nature itself; or, in the words of Scripture, by being born again of the Spirit. Everything is properly called good or evil according as it answers or defeats the purpose for which it was made. We were made for our Makers glory, after His own image, that we should make His will the rule of our lives, and His love and anger the great objects of our hope and fear; that we should live in Him, and for Him, and to Him, as our constant Guide and Master and Father. If we answer these ends, then we are good creatures; if we do not, we are bad creatures. Nor does it matter how many good or amiable qualities we may possess; like the blossoms or leaves of a barren fruit tree, we are bad of our kind if we do not bring forth fruit.
II. Now, instead of living to God, we by nature care nothing about God; we live as if we had made ourselves, not as if God had made us. This is the corruption of our nature, which makes us evil in the sight of God. Christ alone can make us sound from head to foot. He alone can give us a new and healthy nature; He alone can teach us so to live as to make this world a school for heaven. All that is wanted is that we should see our need of Him, and fly to Him for aid. (T. Arnold, D. D.)
Human depravity and Divine mercy
I. A MOST PAINFUL FACT. Mans nature is incurable. The statement of Scripture is corroborated by–
1. The confessions of Gods people.
2. Our own observation.
II. GODS EXTRAORDINARY REASONING. Good reasoning, but most extraordinary. He says, I will not again curse the ground any more for mans sake; for the imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth. Strange logic! In the sixth chapter, He said man was evil, and therefore He destroyed him. In the eighth chapter, He says man is evil from his youth, and therefore He will not destroy him. Strange reasoning! to be accounted for by the little circumstance in the beginning of the verse, The Lord smelled a sweet savour. There was a sacrifice there; that makes all the difference. When God looks on sin apart from sacrifice, Justice says, Smite! Smite! Curse! Destroy! But when there is a sacrifice God looks on us with eyes of mercy, and though Justice says, Smite! He says, No, I have smitten My dear Son; I have smitten Him, and will spare the sinner. Rightly upon the terms of Justice, there is no conceivable reason why He should have mercy upon us, but grace makes and invents a reason.
III. INFERENCES. If the heart be so evil, then it is impossible for us to enter heaven as we are. Another step; then it is quite clear that if I am to enter heaven no outward reform will ever do it, for if I wash my face, that does not change my heart. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Mans natural imaginations
I. OF MANS NATURAL THOUGHTS CONCERNING GOD.
1. Of this thought there is no God.
2. That the word of God is foolishness.
3. I will not obey Gods word.
4. It is a vain thing to worship God.
5. Of mans thought of distrust–God will not regard, or be merciful to me.
II. OF MANS NATURAL THOUGHTS AGAINST HIS NEIGHBOUR
1. Thoughts of dishonour.
2. Thoughts of murder.
3. Thoughts of adultery.
III. OF MANS NATURAL THOUGHTS CONCERNING HIMSELF.
1. Mans proud thoughts of his own excellency.
2. Mans proud thoughts of his own righteousness.
3. Mans thought of security in the day of peace.
IV. OF THE WANT OF GOOD THOUGHTS IN EVERY MAN NATURALLY.
1. Good thoughts about temporal things are much wanting.
2. In spiritual things they are much wanting.
3. The fruits of this want of good thoughts.
4. The timely preventing of evil thoughts by good parents and teachers.
5. The repentance of evil thoughts.
V. RULES FOR THE REFORMATION OF EVIL THOUGHTS.
1. They must be brought into obedience to God.
2. The guarding of our hearts.
3. The consideration of Gods presence.
4. The consideration of Gods judgments. (W. Perkins.)
Punishment not reformative
The first thing we learn after this solemn declaration is that there is to be no more smiting of every living thing, plainly showing that mere destruction is a failure. I do not say that destruction is undeserved or unrighteous, but that it is, as a reformative arrangement, a failure as regards the salvation of survivors. We can see men slain for doing wrong, and can in a day or two after the event do the very things which cost them their lives! It might be thought that one such flood as this would have kept the world in order forever, whereas men now doubt whether there ever was such a flood, and repeat all the sins of which the age of Noah was guilty. You would think that to see a man hanged would put an end to ruffianism forever; whereas, history goes to show that within the very shadow of the gallows men hatch the most detestable and alarming crimes. Set it down as a fact that punishment, though necessary even in its severest forms, can never regenerate the heart of man. From this point, then, we have to deal with a history the fundamental fact of which is that all the actors are as bad as they can possibly be. There is none righteous, no not one. There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The end answered by the deluge
It must have been a day of intense solemnity; and if ever men could be struck with awe, if ever men could feel their spirits bowed down and overwhelmed by the tremendousness of God–those who now presented that sacrifice, the lonely wreck of anunnumbered population, must have crouched, and trembled, and been full of the most earnest humility. And possibly they might have thought that, since the wicked were removed, a moral renovation would pass over mankind, and that themselves and their posterity would differ altogether from the ungodly race which had perished in the waters. It could not have seemed improbable that, after removing the multitude which had provoked Him by their impieties, God would raise up a people who should love Him and honour Him, seeing that, if there was to be the same provocation of wickedness, there was nothing to be looked for but a recurrence of the deluge; and if this earth were to be again and again the theatre of the same provocations and the same vengeance, it would be hard to say why God spared a remnant, or why He allowed the rebellious race to be continued and multiplied. Yet, however natural it might have been for Noah and his sons to calculate on a moral improvement in the species, it is certain that after the flood, men were just the same fallen creatures that they had been before the flood. There had been effected no change whatever on human nature, neither had God destroyed the wicked, expecting the new tenantry would be more obedient and more righteous than the old. And it is every way remarkable, that the reason which is given why God sent one deluge is given as the reason why God sent not a second deluge. He sent one flood because the imagination of mans thoughts was only evil continually; and He resolved that He would not send another flood because–or, at least, though–this evil imagination remained unsubdued. Now, it is scarcely necessary for us to remark that wickedness must at all times be equal in Gods sight; and that however various the modes by which He sees fit to oppose it, He is alike earnest in punishing it. Why, then, did He not follow the same plan throughout? Or why did He administer once that punishment which He thought fit not to repeat? Such questions, you observe, are not merely speculative. If God Himself had not given the same reason for sparing as for smiting, we might have thought that the flood had made a change in the moral circumstances of our race, and there was not again the same intense provocation; but when we hear from the lips of Jehovah Himself, that there was precisely as much after the deluge as before, yea, that He refrained from cursing in the face of that very wickedness, we are only endeavouring to be wise up to what is written in searching out the reason for the change in Gods conduct.
I. SINCE A FLOOD WAS AS MUCH CALLED FOR TWICE AS ONCE, WHY SHOULD IT HAVE BEEN SENT ONCE, THE PROVOCATION BEING JUST THE SAME, AND YET THE DEALING MOST DIFFERENT? WAS ANY END ANSWERED BY THE DELUGE? Now, our first thought on finding that there was just the same reason for destroying the world twice as for destroying it once is, that no end was answered by the deluge which might not have been answered without a deluge. But though it is most certain that there was as much provocation after as before the deluge, it is a most unwarranted conclusion that no great ends were answered by the deluge. The deluge was Gods sermon against sin, whose echoes will be heard until the consummation of all things. We give no harbourage for a moment–we know there could be nothing more false than the opinion–that the antediluvians must have been more wicked than ourselves because visited with signal and unequivocal punishment: but if you infer from this that the flood was unnecessary, that the antediluvians might as well have been spared as their successors, we at once deny the conclusion. Had there never been a flood, we should have wanted our most striking attestation to the truth of the Bible. We are prepared to contend that, in bringing water upon the earth, God was wondrously providing for the faith of every coming generation, and was writing in characters which no time can efface, and no ingenuity prove to be forgeries, that He hates sin with perfect hatred, and will punish it with rigid punishment. But it is important to bear in mind that, when God visibly interferes for the punishment of wickedness, there are some ends of His moral government to be answered, over and above that of the chastisement of the unrighteous. Ordinarily God delays taking vengeance till the last day of account; and we judge erroneously if we judge from Gods dealings with man on this side eternity. When there is a direct interposition, such as the deluge, we may be sure it answers other designs besides that of punishing unrighteousness: and before, therefore, we can show that there was the same reason for a second deluge as for one, we must not only show there was the same amount of wickedness, and the same evil in the imagination of the heart–we must show there was the same end of moral government to be answered, over and above that of the punishment of the rebellious. And here it is you will feel established in the belief that a great lesson was recorded as to Gods hatred of sin, and His determination to destroy, sooner or later, the impenitent. And God furnished this lesson, so that ages have obliterated no letter of the record, by bringing a flood on the earth, and burying in the womb of waters the unnumbered tribes that crowded its continents. But the lesson required not to be repeated; it was sufficient that it should be given once–sufficient, seeing that it is still so powerful and persuasive that it leaves inexcusable all who persist in rejecting it.
II. We propose to seek an answer to the inquiry, WHETHER LONG SUFFERING CAN PRODUCE THE SAME RESULTS AS PUNISHING. And this, after all, is the question most forcibly presented in our text. Whether God smites, or whether He spares, we know He must have the same objects in view–the promotion of His own glory and the well-being of the universe. But how comes it, then, to pass that it was best at one time to smite, and at another time to spare? We have given a reason for one deluge, which could not be given for a second. The lesson of the deluge was to be spread over the whole surface of time; and thus the one act of punishment was to have its effect throughout the season of long suffering. Punishment was a necessary preliminary to long suffering, to prevent the abuse of long suffering. God is only taking consecutive steps in one and the same design; and if we are right in saying that punishment was necessarily preliminary to long suffering, than even a child can perceive that God was only acting out the same arrangement when He said, I will not spare, and when He said, I will spare, for the imagination of mans heart is evil. It is as though He said, I might send flood after flood, and leave again only an insignificant fraction of the population; but the evil lies deep in the heart, and would not be swept away by the immensity of waters. I might deal with succeeding generations as I have with this very one; and as soon as the earth sent up new harvests of wickedness, I might come forth, and put in the scythe of My vengeance; but after all there would be no renovation, and evil would still be predominant in this section of the creation. Therefore I will be long suffering; nothing but longsuffering can affect My purpose, for nothing but an atonement can reconcile the fallen; and long suffering is nothing but the atonement anticipated. I will not, then, again curse the ground, for mans imaginations are evil. I will not curse–the evil will not be grappled with by the curse–the evil would not go away before the curse. If the evil were not in the very heart, it might be eradicated by judgment; if it were not engraven into the very bone and sinew and spirit, it might be washed out by the torrent; and I would again curse. But it is an evil for which there must be expiation; it is an evil which can only be done away by sacrifice, it is an evil which can only be exterminated by the entering in of Deity into that nature. It is thus that, so far as we can judge, without overstraining the passage, the corruption of human nature will furnish a reason why there was no repetition of the deluge. Gods object was not to destroy, but to reconcile the world: and the reconciliation could not be effected by judgments; the machinery must be made up of mercies. Judgments might make way for mercies, but they could not do the work of mercies. Punishment was preliminary to sparing, but punishment continued would not have effected the object of the Almighty. So that long suffering was the only engine by which the machinery could be mastered. The whole of Christs work was gathered, so to speak, into long suffering.
III. But who can give himself to an inquiry which has to do with the cause or reason of the deluge, and not feel his attention drawn to the TYPICAL CHARACTER of that tremendous event? The history of the world before the flood is nothing but the epitome of the history of the world up to that grand consummation, the second coming of the Lord. And if we wanted additional reasons why one deluge should be sent and not a second, we might find it in the fact that all the affairs of time shall be wound up by a single visitation. The antediluvian world had been dealt with by the machinery of the most extensive loving kindness: the Almighty had long borne with the wickedness of the earth; and it was not till every overture had been despised that He allowed Himself to strike. Shall it not be thus with the world of the unrighteous? Wonderful has been the long suffering of the Almighty: and as there has gone on the building of the ark–as the Church of Christ has been gathered and cemented and enlarged, the voice and entreaties of ministers and missionaries have circulated through Christianity; and the despiser has been continually told, sternly, and reproachfully, and affectionately, that a day will yet burst upon the creation, when all who are not included in the ark shall be tossed on the surges and buried in the depths of a fiery sea. But as the time of the end draws near, the warning will grow louder, and the entreaty more urgent, that all men put away their wickedness, and prepare themselves for meeting their Judge. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. The Lord smelled a sweet savour] That is, he was well pleased with this religious act, performed in obedience to his own appointment, and in faith of the promised Saviour. That this sacrifice prefigured that which was offered by our blessed Redeemer in behalf of the world, is sufficiently evident from the words of St. Paul, Eph 5:2: Christ hath loved us, and given himself for its an offering and a sacrifice to God for a SWEET-SMELLING SAVOUR; where the words of the apostle are the very words used by the Septuagint in this place.
I will not again curse the ground] lo osiph, I will not add to curse the ground- there shall not be another deluge to destroy the whole earth: for the imagination of man’s heart, ki, ALTHOUGH the imagination of man’s heart should be evil, i.e. should they become afterwards as evil as they have been before, I will not destroy the earth by a FLOOD. God has other means of destruction; and the next time he visits by a general judgment, FIRE is to be the agent. 2Pe 3:7.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord smelled a sweet savour, i.e. graciously accepted the person and faith and praise offering of Noah, and was as well pleased therewith as men use to be with a sweet smell;
and the Lord said in his heart, i.e. determined within himself, and expressed so much to Noah. The Hebrew preposition el sometimes signifies in, as Gen 21:6; 1Sa 27:1. Others, said to his heart, i.e. spoke to the heart of Noah, who is mentioned, Gen 8:20.
To speak to the heart, in Scripture use, signifies to comfort.
Will not again curse the ground, i.e. the whole earth, with this kind of curse, with another deluge. Otherwise God doth not hereby tie his hands, that he may not either destroy a particular land by a deluge, which hath been done since, or destroy the world by fire when he sees fit, as he hath declared he will do.
For the imagination of mans heart is evil. The reason contained in these words is this: Since all mens hearts are naturally corrupt, and from that filthy spring wicked actions will be continually flowing forth into the world; and consequently, if I should be severe to punish men according to their sins, I should do nothing but send one deluge after another. Or these words may be joined with the former, and the sense may be this: I will not again destroy the earth with a deluge
for mans sake, or for mans sin, or because of the imagination, & c., i.e. because his heart is corrupt, and his actions are agreeable to it, which was the cause of the last deluge. Or the particle chi may be rendered although, as it is frequently taken, as Exo 5:11; 13:17; 34:9; Jos 17:13; Psa 25:11; 41:5; and so the sense is plain, I will not again destroy the earth, although the imagination, & c., i.e. although I have just cause to do so. Or, from his very childhood and infancy, as the Chaldee and Greek interpreters translate it.
Neither will I again smite, i.e. kill or destroy, as the word smiting is taken, Exo 21:18; Num 14:12; 35:16; Deu 28:22; 28:27; Amos 4:9.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. And the Lord smelled a sweetsavourThe sacrifice offered by a righteous man like Noah infaith was acceptable as the most fragrant incense.
Lord said in his heartsameas “I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go overthe earth” (Isa 54:9).
forthat is, “thoughthe imagination is evil”; instead of inflicting anotherdestructive flood, I shall spare themto enjoy the blessings ofgrace, through a Saviour.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour,…. Or a “savour of rest” e; he was delighted and well pleased with his sacrifice, which was offered up in the faith of the sacrifice of Christ; the apostle says, “is for a sweetsmelling savour”, Eph 5:2 referring to this passage; that being a satisfaction to the justice of God, an appeasing of his wrath, and a propitiation for the sins of men:
and the Lord said in his heart; within himself; it was awhile a secret there, but Noah being a prophet, as Aben Ezra observes, he revealed it to him, or “to his heart” f, that is, to the heart of Noah, as some interpret it, he spoke comfortably to him, as follows, when the Jewish writers g say he stretched out his right hand and swore, agreeably to Isa 54:9
I will not again curse the ground for man’s sake, or drown it for the sin of man, as he had cursed it for the sin of Adam, and which continued till this time; but now was taken off, and it became more fruitful, and very probably by means of the waters which had been so long upon it, and had left a fructifying virtue in it, as the waters of the Nile do in Egypt. Some interpret the phrase, “for man’s sake”, for the man Christ’s sake, for the sake of his sacrifice, of which Noah’s was a type, and the sense be, that God would no more curse the earth; for by his sacrifice the curse of the law is removed, with respect to his people; they are redeemed from it, and shall inherit that new earth, of which this earth, renewed after the flood, was a type, in which there will be no more curse, Re 21:1 which sense, though evangelical, cannot be admitted, because of the reason following, unless the first word be rendered “though”, as it may:
for the imagination of man’s heart [is] evil from his youth; his nature is depraved, his heart is corrupt, the thoughts of it evil, yea, the imagination of it, and of them, is sinful, and that originally, even from his birth; from the time he is shook out of his mother’s womb, as Jarchi interprets the phrase: man is conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity, and is a transgressor from the womb, and so a child of wrath, and deserving of the curse of the law upon himself, and all that belong to him; and yet this is given as a reason why God will not any more curse the ground for his sake: that which was a reason for destroying the earth, is now one against it, see Ge 6:5 which may be reconciled thus, God for this reason destroyed the earth once, for an example, and to display his justice; but such is his clemency and mercy, that he will do it no more to the end of the world; considering that man has brought himself into such a condition, that he cannot but sin, it is natural to him from his birth; his nature is tainted with it, his heart is full of it, and all his thoughts and imaginations are wicked and sinful, from whence continually flow a train of actual sins and transgressions; so that if God was to curse and drown the world as often as man sins, he must be continually doing it; for the words may be rendered, “though the imagination of man’s heart is evil”, c. h yet I will not do it; and so they are expressive of the super abounding grace of God over abounding sin:
neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done; this hinders not but that there might be, as has been since, partial calamities, or particular judgments on individual persons, towns, and cities, as those of Sodom and Gomorrah, or partial inundations, but not a general deluge, or an universal destruction of the world and creatures in it, at least not by water, as has been, but by fire, as will be; for that the earth will have an end, at least as to its present nature, form, and use, may be concluded from the following words.
e “odorem quietis”, Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, c. f “ad cor suum”, Montanus, Tigurine version “prophetae suo”, Arab. g Jarchi in loc. Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. h “quamvis”, Piscator; so Ainsworth.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor (282) Moses calls that by which God was appeased, an odour of rest; as if he had said, the sacrifice had been rightly offered. Yet nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that God should have been appeased by the filthy smoke of entrails, and of flesh. But Moses here, according to his manner, invests God with a human character for the purpose of accommodating himself to the capacity of an ignorant people. For it is not even to be supposed, that the rite of sacrifice, in itself, was grateful to God as a meritorious act; but we must regard the end of the work, and not confine ourselves to the external form. For what else did Noah propose to himself than to acknowledge that he had received his own life, and that of the animals, as the gift of God’s mercy alone? This piety breathed a good and sweet odour before God; as it is said, (Psa 116:12,)
“
What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits? I will take the cup of salvation, and will call upon the name of the Lord.”
And the Lord said in his heart. The meaning of the passage is, God had decreed that he would not hereafter curse the earth. And this form of expression has great weight: for although God never retracts what he has openly spoken with his mouth, yet we are more deeply affected when we hear, that he has fixed upon something in his own mind; because an inward decree of this kind in no way depends upon creatures. To sum up the whole, God certainly determined that he would never more destroy the world by a deluge. Yet the expression, ‘I will not curse,’ is to be but generally understood; because we know how much the earth has lost of its fertility since it has been corrupted by man’s sin, and we daily feel that it is cursed in various ways. And he explains himself a little afterwards, saying, ‘I will not smite anymore every thing living.’ For in these words he does not allude to every kind of vengeance, but only to that which should destroy the world, and bring ruin both on mankind and the rest of animals: as if he would say, that he restored the earth with this stipulation, that it should not afterwards perish by a deluge. So when the Lord declares, (Isa 54:9,) that he will be contented with one captivity of his people, he compares it with the waters of Noah, by which he had resolved that the world should only once be overwhelmed. (283)
For the imagination of man’s heart. This reasoning seems incongruous: for if the wickedness of man is so great that it does not cease to provoke the anger of God, it must necessarily bring down destruction upon the world. Nay, God seems to contradict himself by having previously declared that the world must be destroyed, because its iniquity was desperate. But here it behaves us more deeply to consider his design; for it was the will of God that there should be some society of men to inhabit the earth. If, however, they were to be dealt with according to their deserts, there would be a necessity for a daily deluge. Wherefore, he declares, that in inflicting punishment upon the second world, he will so do it, as yet to preserve the external appearance of the earth, and not again to sweep away the creatures with which he has adorned it. Indeed, we ourselves may perceive such moderation to have been used, both in the public and special judgments of God, that the world yet stands in its completeness, and nature yet retains its course. Moreover, since God here declares what would be the character of men even to the end of the world, it is evident that the whole human race is under sentence of condemnation, on account of its depravity and wickedness. Nor does the sentence refer only to corrupt morals; but their iniquity is said to be an innate iniquity, from which nothing but evils can spring forth. I wonder, however, whence that false version of this passage has crept in, that the thought is prone to evil; (284) except, as is probable, that the place was thus corrupted, by those who dispute too philosophically concerning the corruption of human nature. It seemed to them hard, that man should be subjected, as a slave of the devil to sin. Therefore, by way of mitigation, they have said that he had a propensity to vices. But when the celestial Judge thunders from heaven, that his thoughts themselves are evil, what avails it to soften down that which, nevertheless, remains unalterable? Let men therefore acknowledge, that inasmuch as they are born of Adam, they are depraved creatures, and therefore can conceive only sinful thoughts, until they become the new workmanship of Christ, and are formed by his Spirit to a new life. And it is not to be doubted, that the Lord declares the very mind of man to be depraved, and altogether infected with sin; so that all the thoughts which proceed thence are evil. If such be the defect in the fountain itself, it follows, that all man’s affections are evil, and his works covered with the same pollution, since of necessity they must savor of their original. For God does not merely say that men sometimes think evil; but the language is unlimited, comprising the tree with its fruits. Nor is it any proof to the contrary, that carnal and profane men often excel in generosity of disposition, undertake designs apparently honorable, and put forth certain evidences of virtue. For since their mind is corrupted with contempt of God, with pride, self-love, ambitious hypocrisy, and fraud; it cannot be but that all their thoughts are contaminated with the same vices. Again, they cannot tend towards a right end: whence it happens that they are judged to be what they really are, crooked and perverse. For all things in such men, which release us under the color of virtue, are like wine spoiled by the odour of the cask. For, (as was before said,) the very affections of nature, which in themselves are laudable, are yet vitiated by original sin, and on account of their irregularity have degenerated from their proper nature; such are the mutual love of married persons, the love of parents towards their children, and the like. And the clause which is added, “from youth,” more fully declares that men are born evil; in order to show that, as soon as they are of an age to begin to form thoughts, they have radical corruption of mind. Philosophers, by transferring to habit, what God here ascribes to nature, betray their own ignorance. And to wonder; for we please and flatter ourselves to such an extent, that we do not perceive how fatal is the contagion of sin, and what depravity pervades all our senses. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the judgment of God, which pronounces man to be so enslaved by sin that he can bring forth nothing sound and sincere. Yet, at the same time, we must remember, that no blame is to be cast upon God for that which has its origin in the defection of the first man, whereby the order of the creation was subverted. And furthers it must be noted, that men are not exempted from guilt and condemnation, by the pretext of this bondage: because, although all rush to evil, yet they are not impelled by any extrinsic force, but by the direct inclination of their own hearts; and, lastly, they sin not otherwise than voluntarily.
(282) “ Odorem quietis.” “A savor of rest.” — Margin of English Version.
(283) “For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.”
(284) “ Sensus enim, et cogitatio humani cordis in malum prona sunt.” — Vulgate.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) A sweet savour.Heb., a smell of satisfaction. The idea is not so much that the sacrifice gave God pleasure as that it caused Him to regard man with complacency. The anger at sin which had caused the flood was now over, and there was peace between heaven and earth.
Said in his heart.Heb., to his heart: that is, Jehovah determined with himself, came to the settled purpose. (Comp. Gen. 17:17.)
For the imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth.See Gen. 6:5. There seems at first sight to be an inconsistency between the two passages, and the Jehovist is accused of here contradicting the Elohist. For in the former place mans inborn sinfulness is described as an aggravation of his offence, while here it is used as a reason for mercy. But it is a characteristic of the Bible that it states the two sides of every principle with abrupt simplicity, and most heresies have arisen from seizing upon one side only, and omitting the other from view. Man is one whose every imagination of the heart is only evil continually. (Comp. Mat. 15:19.) In the antediluvian world, with death indefinitely postponed, these imaginations had been unrestrained, and had therefore led to habitual and inveterate sin; and so justice at last had smitten it. But when man strives against them, and sin is the result of infirmity. then mercy heals and grace strengthens the penitent. When man, therefore, began his renewed life by hallowing it with religion, God saw therein the pledge of a struggle on his part after holiness, and the proof that the world would never again become totally corrupt. In this changed state of things human weakness was a reason only for mercy, and God gave the promise that so long as the world shall last, so total a destruction of man and his works upon it shall never again take place by the same agency.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. A sweet savour Or, an odour of rest . Septuagint, , the Levitical phrase often used of acceptable sacrifices, (comp . Lev 1:9; Lev 13:17; Lev 2:9, etc . ,) and is quoted by Paul (Eph 5:2) in reference to the great Antitype, who was at once Priest and Victim: “as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savour.” Noah, as the priest of the new humanity, offers every clean bird and beast on his solitary altar, and consecrates the renewed earth to God. The whole earth is the altar on which the Infinite Victim is offered up as a spotless offering in behalf of all mankind; and in his dying cry are gathered the prayers of universal humanity, which some up before God as a savour of sweet smell. No other figure of speech could so perfectly and beautifully express God’s delight in genuine prayer that offering in which the soul’s very essence ascends to him.
The Lord said in his heart A divine soliloquy inspired by infinite tenderness and mercy. God smells the sweet savour of prayer that rises, and is to rise, from earth, especially that of the Great High Priest, and covenants with man not to smite the earth again.
Imagination of man’s heart The things imaged in his heart.
Evil from his youth From the very dawn of his consciousness. The reason here given for the divine promise seems strange at first, as if the magnitude and hopelessness of man’s sins were grounds of mercy, yet this is in perfect harmony with the whole plan of salvation. Man’s innate sinfulness is to the merciful God a reason why he is not to be treated as a being under law, and hence in fatherly mercy he makes with him a covenant of grace. This is the rich and tender purpose of the divine heart in regard to the child that is lost, and because he is so hopelessly lost. Interpretation should not strive to soften away the bold, strong language of texts like this. Let it be noted, that it is while Jehovah smells the sweet odour of sacrifice it is while man’s confession, consecration, and prayer rise before him that this soliloquy of mercy is spoken to his heart.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 8:21. The Lord smelled a sweet savour Heb. a savour of rest, or cessation from anger. This is a phrase accommodated to our conceptions, which implies not any actual smelling, but only that this sacrifice of Noah’s arose as acceptable to God, as sweet odours are to us. See Lev 26:31. And how it can be possible that the sacrifice and death of animals could be pleasing to God upon any other consideration than as his own appointment, and as sacrificed with a view to the great atonement, I have no conception.
REFLECTIONS.The first concern of a gracious soul is to praise God for his mercies. Noah’s first building is an altar, and his employment a sacrifice of thanksgiving. His flock of clean beasts and fowl was small, and one out of seven might be thought much; but Noah knew they would never be diminished by such a use of them. No man was ever the poorer for what he employed in God’s service, nor the richer by what he defrauded it of.
The Lord said in his heart Resolved within himself no more to curse the ground for man’s sake; that is, as the last verse shews, no more to curse it in that manner, with a deluge. The sense of the passage, I conceive, runs thus: “I will no more destroy the ground (after this manner) on account of man [or, as a punishment for his iniquity]; I will not again punish the human race by a deluge, though the imagination of man’s heart be (or should be hereafter) evil even from his youth: I will not smite every thing living as I have done. So long as the earth remains, its regular seasons shall not cease; or be interrupted, as they have been during this last melancholy year of darkness, rain, and desolation.”
Observe here, a grateful heart is that sacrifice wherewith God is ever well pleased. The Lord accepts Noah’s service, and blesses him abundantly in return.
1. The smell of the sacrifice is a sweet savour; it was the figure of that in which God hath since declared he is well pleased. It is for Christ’s sake alone that any of our services are offerings of a sweet smell.
2. God’s gracious promise, I will no more curse the ground, &c. Though man will be still a sinner, these floods shall not return.
Such is the history which the scripture gives us of this extraordinary event, “the general deluge, from which the family of Noah, and some of all living creatures, were preserved in a vessel, prepared by the immediate direction of God, to repeople and replenish the earth; when all that had breath beside perished.”
REFLECTIONS on the Deluge.
The grand cause of the corruption which brought on the deluge, was the intermarriage of the children of God with the iniquitous and idolatrous children of men. For it happened, in that mixture, (what has always fallen out in following ages when a holy people mingled with a profane,) that the holy adopted the wicked manners of the profane, while the profane never imitated the manners of the holy. This remark, I am persuaded, will hold universally good in respect to communities, however a few instances may be produced to the contrary in respect to individuals. We learn hence the danger of an intercourse with the wicked and ungodly; and particularly in so close an union as the marriage-state.
Who can fail admiring the goodness and patience of God towards the inhabitants of the first world, in giving them such warning, and so long time to repent? Happy they, who, in every period, duly improve this long-suffering of God towards themselves! For God is ever bountiful to them that fear him: He will not suffer the just Noah to perish; He regards those who honour him: He will ever regard those who, after the example of the faith of that patriarch, walk in righteousness, and duly improve all the notices both of the judgments and mercies of the Lord.
His judgments have been abroad in the earth, and nothing affords a more signal example of them than this fearful deluge: for if God spared not the old world, how can presumptuous sinners of this expect to escape his vengeance? Learn hence, O man! that thy God is just, as well as merciful; that his threatenings are not in vain; that he will not always be provoked, and that no number or rank of sinners can defend thee or others from the punishment denounced against obstinate offenders. Follow not therefore a multitude to do evil. Consider only eight persons were saved from the general destruction by water!
The imagination cannot be struck with a more dreadful spectacle, than that of the whole earth, and all mankind, buried under the waters: a spectacle, which presents to the mind ideas still more affecting, when it stands before the tribunal of conscience and religion. In those ordinary corrections wherewith God visits man, the reflections upon our bodily toils and sufferings are softened by the spiritual advantages they procure us: but here there was no room for any hopes: the plague of the deluge was inflicted by a justly-incensed God: it was the effect of a general depravation. What then, did all the souls perish that were swept away by it? God forbid, that we should presume to think of determining a point like this! They are in the hands of their God. Let us only improve the solemn admonition; and take heed, lest by presumptuous guilt we draw down the just vengeance of a merciful God upon us.
Whatever was the fate of their souls, it is certain that the lives of all who were out of the ark were lost: and as certainly, those, to whom the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, who neglect to embrace that proffered salvation, and to enter by faith into that everlasting covenant, will perish. This is what Christ warns us of in the Gospel, when he tells us, that it will be at the day of his coming as in the days of Noah, when the inhabitants of the world lived in security, and thought nothing of the flood till it came upon them, and destroyed them all. And, alas! how many live in this sad state of inconsideration at present, utterly neglectful of God, utterly regardless of futurity. By these, every call to repentance is treated with as much scorn and ridicule, as Noah’s preparation of the ark and preaching were treated by the unthinking of his day! Oh, that they were wise! Awaken them, Lord, from their sleep of death, that they may not be surprised, when the dreadful moment of thy coming approaches!
In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy: not only saving Noah and his family, but by that means renewing the race of mankind, as well as restoring the earth to its present beautiful state and order: the comforts of which while we daily enjoy, let us daily raise our hearts in gratitude to the Sovereign Benefactor. Noah sets us a pattern: his first care, after his deliverance, was to return thanks to his Deliverer. If ever the sense of gratitude and filial fear have produced a sincere homage, it was doubtless upon this occasion: for what other could he render to God, while he was in the midst of so many objects, so lively representing the divine vengeance and mercy? Here, the ruins of a world; there, his family preserved from the universal catastrophe, by a concurrence of many and continual miracles!Thus too let us learn, for every deliverance, for every fresh mercy granted, to follow the amiable example of this great patriarch, and to present the best sacrifices of our hearts to the Sovereign Preserver! Attentive to his will, Noah comes not out of the ark, till he commands. He had, indeed, sent forth the raven and the dove from the ark to bring him intelligence of the state of the earth: the raven returned not,emblem of those who forsake God’s church, and embrace the present world; rather choosing to feed on foul and sensual pleasures, than to be confined within the bounds of holiness and obedience. The dove, like a true citizen of the ark, returns, and brings faithful notices with her: and oh! how worthy are those messengers to be welcomed, who, with dove-like innocence in their lives, bring glad tidings of peace and salvation in their mouths!
It is a gracious declaration, that the earth we inhabit shall no more be destroyed by a flood; a truth, which the experience of ages hath now attested. But reflect, O my soul! that a day is coming, in which this earth shall be destroyed by a more consummate destruction, when all its works shall be burnt up, and the final fate of all men be fixed! an event, which is sufficient to alarm all thy thoughts, and to withdraw thy affections from so transitory, so perishing a scene, and to fix them on that new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness; and where those, who have walked with God here below, shall ever live in bliss with Him, who is seated on the throne, round which the token of grace, the rainbow, shineth like an emerald; and before which they continually cry, (O may we too join the everlasting song!) “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created!” Revelation 4.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite anymore everything living, as I have done.
As this offering was in faith, the apostle explains what the sweet smelling savour was. Eph 5:2 . The promise in this verse is a gracious promise, and, confirmed in Christ Jesus, is, like all others, yea and amen. 2Pe 3:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 8:21 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.
Ver. 21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour. ] Heb., A savour of rest a Greek, ; which the apostle followeth, saying that Christ gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a smell of sweet savour. Eph 5:2 All our sacrifices are accepted for this of Christ, which otherwise would be turned off with, “who required these things at your hands?” Isa 1:12 The sacrifice of the wicked is, abomination to the Lord; b yea, though he should bring “thousands of rams, and ten thousand rivers of oil,” with those miscreants in Micah. Mic 6:7 that by their munificence would fain have purchased a dispensation to sin: whereas Noah with his ox, ram, he-goat, turtle, and young pigeon, laid in for him by God himself for this same purpose, is highly accepted in that beloved One, as Christ is called Eph 1:6 c
The Lord said in his heart.
I will not again curse the ground, &c., for the imagination of man’s heart. As who should say, Man doth but his kind now, in committing evil before me. He hath by his fall brought upon himself a miserable necessity of sinning, so that he cannot but “do wickedly with both hands earnestly”; Mic 7:3 which though it be no excuse, but an aggravation rather of his actual sin (that he doth it out of the pravity of his nature), yet I will not take advantages to deal with him after his deserts; for then there would be no end of making worlds, and unmaking them again. “I will not curse, I will not smite any more.” Where note, that God’s smiting his creature is a fruit of sin, and a piece of the curse. And unless men “return to him that smiteth them,” Isa 9:13 all that they suffer here, is but a typical hell. Here the leaves only fall upon them, the trees will fall upon them hereafter.
a Minimo capitur thuris honore Deus . . Php 4:18
b Propter animalia multa vel grandia non placuit. – Perer.
c .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD = Jehovah, in covenant-relationship.
smelled a sweet savour. Hebrew “smelled a smell”. Figure of speech Polyptoton (App-6).
savour. First occurance. Hebrew. nihoah, found only in this connection = rest, acquiescence.
in His heart. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia, in condescension, and for emphasis.
for = although, as in Exo 13:17. 2Sa 23:5. Psa 49:18. Hab 3:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Lord said in heart
The Third Dispensation: Human Government. Under Conscience, as in Innocency, man utterly failed, and the judgment of the Flood marks the end of the second dispensation and the beginning of the third. The declaration of the Noahic Covenant subjects humanity to a new test. Its distinctive feature is the institution, for the first time, of human government–the government of man by man. The highest function of government is the judicial taking of life. All other governmental powers are implied in that. It follows that the third dispensation is distinctively that of human government. Man is responsible to govern the world for God. That responsibility rested upon the whole race, Jew and Gentile, until the failure of Israel under the Palestinian Covenant (Deu 28:1 to Deu 30:10) brought the judgment of the Captivities, when “the times of the Gentiles” (See); Luk 21:24; Rev 16:14 began, and the government of the world passed exclusively into Gentile hands; Dan 2:36-45; Luk 21:24; Act 15:14-17. That both Israel and the Gentiles have governed for self, not God, is sadly apparent. The judgment of the confusion of tongues ended the racial testing; that of the captivities the Jewish; while the Gentile testing will end in the smiting of the Image (Daniel 2.) and the judgment of the nations Mat 25:31-46.
See, for the other six dispensations:
INNOCENCE (See Scofield “Gen 1:28”)
CONSCIENCE (See Scofield “Gen 3:23”)
PROMISE (See Scofield “Gen 12:1”)
LAW (See Scofield “Exo 19:8”)
GRACE (See Scofield “Joh 1:17”)
KINGDOM (See Scofield “Eph 1:10”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
smelled: Lev 1:9, Lev 1:13, Lev 1:17, Lev 26:31, Son 4:10, Son 4:11, Isa 65:6, Eze 20:41, Amo 5:21, Amo 5:22, 2Co 2:15, Eph 5:2, Phi 4:18
sweet savour: Heb. savour of rest
curse: Gen 3:17, Gen 4:12, Gen 5:29, Gen 6:17
for: or, though
the imagination: Gen 6:5, Job 14:4, Job 15:14-16, Psa 51:5, Psa 58:3, Pro 20:9, Ecc 7:20, Isa 47:12, Isa 47:15, Isa 48:8, Isa 53:6, Jer 8:6, Jer 17:9, Jer 18:12, Mat 15:19, Joh 3:6, Rom 1:21, Rom 3:23, Rom 8:7, Rom 8:8, Eph 2:1-3, Jam 1:14, Jam 1:15, Jam 4:1, Jam 4:2, 1Jo 5:19
neither: Gen 9:11-15, Isa 54:9, Isa 54:10
as I: 2Pe 3:6, 2Pe 3:7
Reciprocal: Gen 9:16 – everlasting Gen 11:6 – imagined Exo 29:18 – sweet savour Lev 8:21 – a sweet savour Num 15:3 – a sweet Num 28:2 – for a sweet savour unto me Num 32:14 – an increase Deu 28:16 – in the field Deu 31:21 – I know 1Sa 26:19 – accept 1Ch 28:9 – the imaginations Ezr 6:10 – sweet savours Pro 10:20 – the heart Pro 24:9 – thought Ecc 9:3 – also Jer 3:17 – walk Jer 16:12 – evil Jer 32:30 – from Eze 14:14 – Noah Eze 16:19 – a sweet savour Eze 24:12 – her great Hos 10:9 – did Mat 7:11 – being Mar 7:21 – out Luk 1:51 – the imagination Luk 11:13 – being Rom 5:13 – until Rom 7:18 – that in me 2Co 10:5 – every thought Eph 2:3 – by Heb 3:12 – an Jam 4:5 – The spirit
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 8:21. God smelled a sweet savour In the Hebrew it is a savour of rest: that is, he accepted the person, and faith, and thank-offering of Noah, and was well pleased therewith, and with these hopeful beginnings of the new world, as men are with agreeable and fragrant smells. I will not again curse the ground Hebrews I will not add to curse the ground any more. God had cursed the ground upon the first entrance of sin, Gen 3:17; when he drowned it he added to that curse: but now he determines not to add to it any more. For the imagination of mans heart is evil The original word, rendered for, may properly be rendered although. And then the meaning will be, I will not any more destroy the earth, although I have just cause so to do. But the sense given in our translation is confirmed by the Septuagint, and is probably the true meaning of the passage. But what a surprising reason it is for Gods resolving no more to curse the earth! It seems to be the same with the reason given for its destruction, Gen 6:5. There is, however, this difference: there it is said, The imagination of mans heart is evil continually, which implies, his actual transgressions continually cry against him. Here it is said, his heart is evil from his youth, or childhood: he brought it into the world with him, he was shapen and conceived in it. Therefore I will no more take this severe method; for he is rather to be pitied than punished, and it is only what might be expected from such a degenerate race.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:21 And the LORD smelled a {k} 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.
(k) That is, by it he showed himself appeased and his anger at rest.