Savor

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

A — 1: Εὐωδία (Strong'S #2175 — Noun Feminine — euodia — yoo-o-dee'-ah )

"fragrance" (eu, "well," ozo, "to smell"), is used metaphorically (a) of those who in the testimony of the gospel are to God "a sweet savor of Christ,"  2—Corinthians 2:15; (b) of the giving up of His life by Christ for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor (osme, see No. 2) of "a sweet smell,"  Ephesians 5:2 , RV [AV, "a sweet smelling (savor)"]: (c) of material assistance sent to Paul from the church at Philippi "(an odor) of a sweet smell,"  Philippians 4:18 . In all three instances the fragrance is that which ascends to God through the person, and as a result of the sacrifice, of Christ.

A — 2: Ὀσμή (Strong'S #3744 — Noun Feminine — osme — os-may' )

"a smell, odor" (from ozo, "to smell;" Eng., "ozone"), is translated "odor" in  John 12:3; it is used elsewhere in connection with No. 1, in the three passages mentioned, as of an odor accompanying an acceptable sacrifice; in  2—Corinthians 2:14,16 (twice), of the "savor" of the knowledge of Christ through Gospel testimony, in the case of the perishing "a savor from death unto death," as of that which arises from what is dead (the spiritual condition of the unregenerate); in the case of the saved "a savor from life unto life," as from that which arises from what is instinct with life (the spiritual condition of the regenerate): in   Ephesians 5:2 , "a (sweetsmelling) savor;" in  Philippians 4:18 , "an odor (of a sweet smell);" cp. No. 1. See Odor.

B — 1: Μωραίνω (Strong'S #3471 — Verb — moraino — mo-rah'ee-no )

primarily, "to be foolish," is used of salt that has lost its "savor,"  Matthew 5:13;  Luke 14:34 . See Foolish , B, No. 1.

 Matthew 16:23 Mark 8:33

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

A. Noun.

Rêyach ( רֵיחַ , Strong'S #7381), “savor; smell; fragrance; aroma.” Of the 61 appearances of this word, 43 refer specifically to sacrifices made to God and appear in Genesis-Numbers and Ezekiel. This word refers to the “scent or smell” of a person or thing: “And he [Jacob] came near, … and he [Isaac] smelled the smell of his raiment …” (Gen. 27:27). In Song of Sol. 1:12 rêyach signifies the “fragrance” of perfume and in Song of Sol. 2:3 the “fragrance” of a flower.

This word is used of a bad “smell” in Exod. 5:21: “… Because ye have made our savor to be abhorred [have made us odious] in the eyes of Pharaoh.…” Most frequently rêyach is used of the “odor” of a sacrifice being offered up to God. The sacrifice, or the essence of the thing it represents, ascends to God as a placating “odor”: “And the Lord smelled a sweet [NASB, “soothing”] savor …” (Gen. 8:21—the first occurrence of the word).

B. Verb.

Rûach ( רוּחַ , Strong'S #7306), “to perceive, enjoy, smell.” Gen. 8:21 is the first occurrence: “And the Lord smelled a sweet savor.…” The word appears about 14 times.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) To partake of the quality or nature; to indicate the presence or influence; to smack; - with of.

(2): ( n.) To use the sense of taste.

(3): ( v. t.) To have the flavor or quality of; to indicate the presence of.

(4): ( v. t.) To perceive by the smell or the taste; hence, to perceive; to note.

(5): ( a.) Sense of smell; power to scent, or trace by scent.

(6): ( a.) Hence, specific flavor or quality; characteristic property; distinctive temper, tinge, taint, and the like.

(7): ( a.) That property of a thing which affects the organs of taste or smell; taste and odor; flavor; relish; scent; as, the savor of an orange or a rose; an ill savor.

(8): ( v. t.) To taste or smell with pleasure; to delight in; to relish; to like; to favor.

(9): ( n.) To have a particular smell or taste; - with of.

(10): ( a.) Pleasure; delight; attractiveness.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

An agreeable taste or odor, or that quality of objects which appeals to the sense of smell or of taste,  Matthew 5:13 . The sacrifice of Noah and that of Christ were acceptable to God, like the odor of a sweet incense to a man,  Genesis 8:21   Ephesians 5:2 . The chief savor of the apostles' teaching was welcome by some to their eternal life, and rejected by others to their aggravated condemnation,  2 Corinthians 2:15,16 .

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sā´vẽr ( ריח , rēaḥ  ; ὀσμή , osmḗ  ; (1) The primary meaning of the word is "taste," "flavor" (from Latin sapor , "taste"). So in   Matthew 5:13;  Luke 14:34 , "if the salt have lost its savor" (μωρανθῇ , mōranthḗ , "become tasteless," "insipid," so as to lose its characteristic preserving virtue). (2) But generally it has the meaning of "smell," "odor": ( a ) once of evil odor: "Its stench shall come up, and its ill savor shall come up" ( Joel 2:20 ); ( b ) elsewhere in the sense of pleasant smell. In the Old Testament, with the exception of  Exodus 5:21 and the King James Version   Song of Solomon 1:3 (the Revised Version (British and American) "fragrance"), it is always accompanied by the adjective "sweet." It stands for the smell of sacrifices and oblations, in agreement with the ancient anthropomorphic idea that God smells and is pleased with the fragrance of sacrifices (e.g. "Yahweh smelled the sweet savor,"   Genesis 8:21; "to make a sweet savor unto Yahweh,"  Numbers 15:3; and frequently). In the New Testament, "savor" in the sense of smell is used metaphorically : ( a ) once the metaphor is borrowed from the incense which attends the victor's triumphal procession; God is said to make manifest through His apostles "the savor of his knowledge in every place" as He "leadeth" them "in triumph in Christ" ( 2 Corinthians 2:14; see Triumph . ( b ) Elsewhere the metaphor is borrowed from the fragrant smell of the sacrifices. The apostles "are a sweet savor of Christ unto God" ( 2 Corinthians 2:15 ), i.e. they are, as it were, a sweet odor for God to smell, an odor which is pleasing to God, even though its effect upon men varies (to some it is a "savor from death unto death," i.e. such as is emitted by death and itself causes death; to others it is "a savor from life unto life,"  2 Corinthians 2:16 ). By the same sacrificial metaphor, Christ's offering of Himself to God is said to be "for a sweet smelling savor" ( Ephesians 5:2 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "for an odor of a sweet smell"; the same phrase is used in   Philippians 4:18 of acts of kindness to Paul, which were "a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God"). (3) Once it is used in the figurative sense of reputation: "Ye have made our savor to be abhorred (literally, "our smell to stink") in the eyes of Pharaoh" (  Exodus 5:21 ). Compare the English phrase, "to be in bad odor."

The verb "to savor" means: (1) intransitively, to taste or smell of, to partake of the quality of something, as in the Preface of the King James Version, "to savour more of curiosity than wisdome," or (2) transitively, to perceive by the taste or smell, to discern: "thou savourest not the things that be of God" (the King James Version  Matthew 16:23;  Mark 8:33 , the Revised Version (British and American) "mindest"; φρονεῖς , phroneı́s  ; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) sapis ). The adjective "savory" occurs only in  Genesis 27:4 ,  Genesis 27:7 ,  Genesis 27:9 ,  Genesis 27:14 ,  Genesis 27:17 ,  Genesis 27:31 ("savory food") and the Revised Version (British and American)   Isaiah 30:24 (margin "salted").

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(usually רֵיחִ , Rich, a Smell or Scent, as elsewhere rendered; Ὁσμή , elsewhere "odor;" but a perfume is Chald. נַיחוֹת ., nichoth, incense; Εὐωδία ; and a stink is Hebrews בַּאִשׁ ). Besides its literal sense, this word is used metaphorically to imply character or reputation, and also the degree of acceptance with which any person or thing is received ( 2 Corinthians 2:14, etc.). In  Matthew 16:23;  Mark 8:33, Φρονέω , to think, is rendered "savor." in the sense of being Flavored with (or, as the old Saxon use of the verb seems to warrant, in the entirely different signification of Being Mended; See Bible Educator, 4, 208). So in  Matthew 5:13, Μωραίνω , to become foolish, is applied to the loss of that sharp quality in salt by which it renders other bodies agreeable to the taste. (See Salt).