تكوين ٨:٢١

In the close of the foregoing chapter we left the world in ruins and the church in straits; but in this chapter we have the repair of the one and the enlargement of the other. Now the scene alters, and another face of things begins to be presented to us, and the brighter side of that cloud which there appeared so black and dark; for, though God contend long, he will not contend for ever, nor be always wrath. We have here, I. The earth made anew, by the recess of the waters, and the appearing of the dry land, now a second time, and both gradual. 1. The increase of the waters is stayed (Gen 8:1, Gen 8:2). 2. They begin sensibly to abate (Gen 8:3). 3. After sixteen days' ebbing, the ark rests (Gen 8:4). 4. After sixty days' ebbing, the tops of the mountains appeared above water (Gen 8:5). 5. After forty days' ebbing, and twenty days before the mountains appeared, Noah began to send out his spies, a raven and a dove, to gain intelligence (Gen 8:6-12). 6. Two months after the appearing of the tops of the mountains, the waters had gone, and the face of the earth was dry (Gen 8:13), though not dried so as to be fit for man till almost two months after (Gen 8:14). II. Man placed anew upon the earth, in which, 1. Noah's discharge and departure out of the ark (Gen 8:15-19). 2. His sacrifice of praise, which he offered to God upon his enlargement (Gen 8:20). 3. God's acceptance of his sacrifice, and the promise he made thereupon not to drown the world again (Gen 8:21, Gen 8:22). And thus, at length, mercy rejoices against judgment.

8:21 pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice (literally smelled the sweet aroma): The narrator uses anthropomorphic language (i.e., he describes God’s activity in human terms) to show God’s acceptance of Noah’s offering (see also Exod 29:18; Lev 1:9; Num 15:3). The common ancient Near Eastern notion that the gods ate the sacrifices offered to them is notably absent. • to himself (literally in his heart): The phrase echoes “broke his heart” (6:6), just as think or imagine echoes “everything they thought or imagined” (6:5). God’s commitment to a new order replaced his grief over the old. • I will never again curse . . . destroy: The old curse was not lifted (5:29), but God promised not to add to it, thus establishing new limits for life in a disordered world (cp. Isa 54:9). The flood was to stop violence, not to reform the human heart (Gen 6:5). Humankind’s bent toward evil would be contained to some degree through accountability to a new law (9:5-6).