Does the Christian God have a sense of smell?
A couple of months ago, a friend at a bible study asked very plainly "Does God have a sense of smell?". I thought I had the perfect response! "I'm not sure, but I know he has a sense of humor!". My friend and I both shared a chuckle and then moved on. The question, for some strange reason, has stuck with me.
Throughout the Old and New Testament there are some fascinating references to smells that reach the Lord.
Sometimes these references come up in the context of offerings:
8 And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; 9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
-Leviticus 1:8-9
Later in the same passage:
but the entrails and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
-Leviticus 1:13
At first glace, it makes sense (HA!) that senses would be used to describe a sacrificial offering. It would be hard to not include the smell that would come from these burnt offerings as pleasing. I mean no irreverence when I say that. Today, a fair share enjoy the smell of cooked meat of a wide variety. Some enjoy meat on the barbecue, some enjoy fried meat, others enjoy baked meat. Regardless of our individual taste pallets, it's not difficult to understand how smell would be mentioned in passages about burning meat used as offerings in worship. It's important to note the object who is pleased by this smell; the Lord himself!
But a few mentions of smell in the midst of a very potent ceremony is hardly enough to say that God himself has a sense of smell. Further study reveals that this sense of smell isn't limited to the book of Leviticus.
The word used in Leviticus that gets translated as "pleasing aroma" in Hebrew is רֵיחַ Reyach. This word appears nearly 60 times between Genesis and Jeremiah. It's pretty amazing just how often the word is used to describe a smell that is pleasing to the Lord. This isn't simply a generic term used when you walk into a restaurant and something smells good. This is a specific term that most often is used in connection with the Lord's response to an offering.
Genesis 8:21 the Lord smells the pleasing aroma of Noah's offering after the flood.
Genesis 27:27 Isaac is old and blind, so Jacob puts on goat skins to smell like Esau. Isaac remarks "See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed".
Exodus 5:21 Moses has just begun to represent God and his people before Pharaoh and the Israelites grumble noting that Moses has "made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants".
Later in Exodus 29:18 and 29:25 and 29:41 we again see Reyach used in all three instances describing the Lord's response to a sacrificial burnt offering.
In Leviticus we've already seen in chapter one the connection between smell and burnt offerings. But this connection between a pleasing aroma (with the object of the aroma being the Lord) occurs 17 times throughout Leviticus. 16 of those 17 occurrences are positive statements. The only statement regarding smell (Reyach) that isn't an acceptable sacrifice from the Lord is found in Leviticus 26:31 in the midst of warnings regarding disobedience and rebellion against the Lord. In this case, the text reverses what has been a positive, reinforced theme throughout the entire book (for 16 previous instances). In Leviticus 26:31 instead of the Lord receiving an offering as a pleasing aroma, the Lord will "not smell your pleasing aromas" should the people chase after false gods.
A complete word study of Reyach in the Old Testament would detail a few distinctions in how Job and Song of Songs uses Reyach. Certainly it's worth noting that while there are unique uses of Reyach that are NOT connected to offerings, sacrifice, or worship, the vast majority of uses are in the Pentateuch, and Prophets.
In the New Testament the idea of this word is carried forward, but in Greek rather than Hebrew. In Greek the word εὐωδία (euōdia) occurs three times.
For we are the aroma [εὐωδία (euōdia)] of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
-2 Corinthians 2:15
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant [εὐωδία (euōdia)] offering and sacrifice to God.
-Ephesians 5:2
I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant [εὐωδία (euōdia)] offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
-Philippians 4:18
In each of these cases, εὐωδία is used in connection with God being the object who is pleased with the scent. As with the Old Testament use of Reyach, εὐωδία seems closely connected to sacrifice offered to God in two out of the three occurrences.
To what extent this is a condescension from God to us, to communicate on our level, with terms we are familiar with, or something that is reflective of God's own enjoyment of human sensations is not something I can definitively say based on this study. However, both the Old and New Testaments do make very clear that offerings made to God are pleasing in a sensory way. Based on these texts, I think it's safe to say, yes, God does have a sense of smell.
Throughout the Old and New Testament there are some fascinating references to smells that reach the Lord.
Sometimes these references come up in the context of offerings:
8 And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; 9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
-Leviticus 1:8-9
Later in the same passage:
but the entrails and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
-Leviticus 1:13
At first glace, it makes sense (HA!) that senses would be used to describe a sacrificial offering. It would be hard to not include the smell that would come from these burnt offerings as pleasing. I mean no irreverence when I say that. Today, a fair share enjoy the smell of cooked meat of a wide variety. Some enjoy meat on the barbecue, some enjoy fried meat, others enjoy baked meat. Regardless of our individual taste pallets, it's not difficult to understand how smell would be mentioned in passages about burning meat used as offerings in worship. It's important to note the object who is pleased by this smell; the Lord himself!
But a few mentions of smell in the midst of a very potent ceremony is hardly enough to say that God himself has a sense of smell. Further study reveals that this sense of smell isn't limited to the book of Leviticus.
The word used in Leviticus that gets translated as "pleasing aroma" in Hebrew is רֵיחַ Reyach. This word appears nearly 60 times between Genesis and Jeremiah. It's pretty amazing just how often the word is used to describe a smell that is pleasing to the Lord. This isn't simply a generic term used when you walk into a restaurant and something smells good. This is a specific term that most often is used in connection with the Lord's response to an offering.
Genesis 8:21 the Lord smells the pleasing aroma of Noah's offering after the flood.
Genesis 27:27 Isaac is old and blind, so Jacob puts on goat skins to smell like Esau. Isaac remarks "See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed".
Exodus 5:21 Moses has just begun to represent God and his people before Pharaoh and the Israelites grumble noting that Moses has "made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants".
Later in Exodus 29:18 and 29:25 and 29:41 we again see Reyach used in all three instances describing the Lord's response to a sacrificial burnt offering.
In Leviticus we've already seen in chapter one the connection between smell and burnt offerings. But this connection between a pleasing aroma (with the object of the aroma being the Lord) occurs 17 times throughout Leviticus. 16 of those 17 occurrences are positive statements. The only statement regarding smell (Reyach) that isn't an acceptable sacrifice from the Lord is found in Leviticus 26:31 in the midst of warnings regarding disobedience and rebellion against the Lord. In this case, the text reverses what has been a positive, reinforced theme throughout the entire book (for 16 previous instances). In Leviticus 26:31 instead of the Lord receiving an offering as a pleasing aroma, the Lord will "not smell your pleasing aromas" should the people chase after false gods.
A complete word study of Reyach in the Old Testament would detail a few distinctions in how Job and Song of Songs uses Reyach. Certainly it's worth noting that while there are unique uses of Reyach that are NOT connected to offerings, sacrifice, or worship, the vast majority of uses are in the Pentateuch, and Prophets.
In the New Testament the idea of this word is carried forward, but in Greek rather than Hebrew. In Greek the word εὐωδία (euōdia) occurs three times.
For we are the aroma [εὐωδία (euōdia)] of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
-2 Corinthians 2:15
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant [εὐωδία (euōdia)] offering and sacrifice to God.
-Ephesians 5:2
I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant [εὐωδία (euōdia)] offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
-Philippians 4:18
In each of these cases, εὐωδία is used in connection with God being the object who is pleased with the scent. As with the Old Testament use of Reyach, εὐωδία seems closely connected to sacrifice offered to God in two out of the three occurrences.
To what extent this is a condescension from God to us, to communicate on our level, with terms we are familiar with, or something that is reflective of God's own enjoyment of human sensations is not something I can definitively say based on this study. However, both the Old and New Testaments do make very clear that offerings made to God are pleasing in a sensory way. Based on these texts, I think it's safe to say, yes, God does have a sense of smell.
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