Genesis 8:20-22

20 Then Noah built ¹an altar to the LORD, and took of every ²clean animal and of every clean bird and offered ³burnt offerings on the altar.

21 The LORD ⁴smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never * again ⁵curse the ground on account of man, for ⁶the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; ⁷and I will never * again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

22 "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And ⁸summer and winter, And ⁹day and night Shall not cease."

Genesis 8:20-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 8

This chapter gives an account of the going off of the waters from the earth, and of the entire deliverance of Noah, and those with him in the ark, from the flood, when all the rest were destroyed: after an one hundred and fifty days a wind is sent over the earth, the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven are stopped, the waters go off gradually, and the ark rests on Mount Ararat, Ge 8:1-4 two months and thirteen days after that the tops of the mountains were seen, Ge 8:5 and forty days after the appearance of them, Noah sent forth first a raven, and then a dove, and that a second time, to know more of the abatement of the waters, Ge 8:6-12. When Noah had been in the ark ten months and thirteen days, he uncovered it, and the earth was dry, yet not so dry as to be fit for him to go out upon, until near two months after, Ge 8:13,14 when he had an order from God to go out of the ark, with all that were with him, which was accordingly obeyed, Ge 8:15-19 upon which he offered sacrifice by way of thankfulness for his great deliverance, which was accepted by the Lord; who promised him not to curse the earth any more, nor to drown it, but that it should remain, and as long as it did there would be the constant revolutions of the seasons of the year, and of day and night, Ge 8:20-22.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 12:7, 8; Genesis 13:18; Genesis 22:9
• 2. Genesis 7:2; Leviticus 11:1-47
• 3. Genesis 22:2; Exodus 10:25
• 4. Exodus 29:18, 25
• 5. Genesis 3:17; Genesis 6:7, 13, 17; Isaiah 54:9
• 6. Genesis 6:5; Psalms 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 1:21; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-3
• 7. Genesis 9:11, 15
• 8. Psalms 74:17
• 9. Jeremiah 33:20, 25

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "to His heart"
• [b]. Or "inclination"
• [c]. Lit "smite"