translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

text: 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).


text: Heb “to pass over.”


text: 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.


text: 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.”


text: Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: The vav ( ו ) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.


text: 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 ). sn Ararat is the Hebrew name for Urartu, the name of a mountainous region located north of Mesopotamia in modern day eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 29-32; G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:184-85; C. Westermann, Genesis , 1:443-44.


text: 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.


text: Or “could be seen.”


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


text: 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.


text: 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.


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


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


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


text: The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”


text: The clause introduced by vav ( ו ) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.


text: 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.


text: The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: 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.


text: 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.


text: 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.


text: In v. 13 the ground ( הָאֲדָמָה , ha ’ adamah ) is dry; now the earth ( הָאָרֶץ , ha ’ arets ) is dry.


text: The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: 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.


text: Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”


text: 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 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.


text: Heb “and the Lord said.”


text: Heb “in his heart.”


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


text: 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.


text: Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”


text: Heb “from his youth.”


text: 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.”


text: Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.