Savor
Savor as Taste and Flavor
The word savor in English originally meant taste or flavor, and this sense appears in Jesus's teaching about salt. In Matthew 5:13 and Luke 14:34, Jesus warns that if salt loses its savor, it becomes worthless and is cast out. The Greek word behind this expression means to become tasteless or insipid. Salt that cannot fulfill its basic function of preserving and flavoring is useless. Jesus applied this image to his disciples, warning that believers who lose their distinctive character and influence in the world have failed in their essential purpose.
The Sweet Savor of Sacrifice
The most frequent biblical use of savor refers to smell, specifically the pleasing aroma of sacrifices offered to God. The concept first appears after the flood when Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings: "The LORD smelled the sweet savor" and resolved never again to curse the ground because of humanity (Genesis 8:21). This anthropomorphic language, describing God as smelling and being pleased by sacrifice, established a pattern that runs throughout the Mosaic sacrificial system.
The phrase "a sweet savor unto the LORD" appears dozens of times in Leviticus and Numbers in connection with burnt offerings, grain offerings, and other sacrifices (Numbers 15:3; Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17). While the language is anthropomorphic, it conveys the profound truth that faithful worship is genuinely pleasing to God. The physical aroma rising from the altar symbolized the spiritual reality of an offering ascending to God and being accepted.
The Savor of Christ's Sacrifice
The New Testament transforms this sacrificial imagery by applying it to Christ. Ephesians 5:2 declares that Christ "loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." The language of sweet-smelling sacrifice, once applied to bulls and rams, finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ's self-giving love on the cross. His was the perfect sacrifice, the truly pleasing aroma that all previous offerings had merely foreshadowed.
Philippians 4:18 extends this imagery to acts of Christian generosity. Paul describes the Philippians' gift to him as "a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God." Through union with Christ, the ordinary deeds of believers take on the character of worship, becoming sacrifices whose aroma is pleasing to God.
Christians as the Aroma of Christ
Paul develops the most striking savor imagery in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16. Drawing on the image of a Roman triumphal procession, where incense accompanied the victorious general through the streets, Paul writes that God "through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere" (2 Corinthians 2:14). The apostles are described as "the aroma of Christ to God" (2 Corinthians 2:15).
Paul then introduces a sobering paradox: this aroma has opposite effects depending on the receiver. To those who are being saved, it is "a fragrance from life to life," but to those who are perishing, it is "a fragrance from death to death" (2 Corinthians 2:16). The same gospel message that brings life and hope to some brings condemnation to those who reject it. This dual effect echoes the prophetic pattern in which God's word accomplishes different purposes in different hearts.
Savor as Reputation
In one notable passage, savor takes on the figurative meaning of reputation or standing. When Moses and Aaron first confronted Pharaoh and the result was increased hardship for the Israelite slaves, the people complained: "You have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh" (Exodus 5:21). The literal Hebrew speaks of making their smell odious, using the language of bad odor to describe damaged reputation. This usage parallels the English expression "to be in bad odor" with someone.
Discerning Spiritual Things
In Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33, Jesus rebukes Peter with words translated variously as "you do not savor" or "you are not mindful of" the things of God. The underlying meaning is that Peter's thinking was oriented toward human concerns rather than divine purposes. This usage connects savor to spiritual discernment, the ability to perceive and value what God values rather than what the world prizes.
Biblical Context
The sweet savor of sacrifice appears throughout the Pentateuch, beginning with Noah's offering (Genesis 8:21) and pervading the Levitical sacrificial system (Leviticus 1:9; Numbers 15:3). The New Testament applies this imagery to Christ's sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2), Christian generosity (Philippians 4:18), and the apostolic mission (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). Salt losing its savor appears in Jesus's teaching (Matthew 5:13; Luke 14:34). The figurative use for reputation appears in Exodus 5:21.
Theological Significance
The savor imagery bridges the Old and New Testaments, showing how the entire sacrificial system pointed to Christ. God's pleasure in the aroma of sacrifice reveals that worship involves genuine divine-human relationship, not mere ritual compliance. The New Testament's application of this imagery to Christ's death, Christian generosity, and the apostolic mission demonstrates that the pleasing aroma of faithful service continues in the life of the church. The dual effect of the gospel as life-giving or death-dealing aroma underscores the decisive nature of human response to God's truth.
Historical Background
The idea that the gods enjoyed the smell of sacrifices was common throughout the ancient Near East. Mesopotamian texts describe the gods gathering like flies around the smoke of offerings. The Genesis flood narrative's description of God smelling Noah's sacrifice parallels similar language in the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Roman triumphal processions, which Paul draws upon in 2 Corinthians 2:14, involved burning incense along the parade route, with the fragrance associated with victory and life for the conquerors but death for the captives being led to execution.