To smell
רִיחַStrong’s H7306ruach (ru-ach)
Appears in 11 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Ruach is the Hebrew word usually translated “smelled”, “smell” and “when smells it”. It appears in 11 verses of the Old Testament.
“And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.”
Meaning
- (Hiphil) to smell, scent, perceive odour, acceptof horse · of delight (metaph)
How it's translated
- and he smelled 2
- they smell 2
- to smell 1
- i will smell 1
- when smells it 1
- may he smell 1
- it smells 1
- and delighting he 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Genesis 2
- Exodus 1
- Leviticus 1
- Deuteronomy 1
- Judges 1
- 1 Samuel 1
10 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Genesis 27:27And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
- Exodus 30:38Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.
- Leviticus 26:31And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
- Deuteronomy 4:28And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
- Judges 16:9Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
- 1 Samuel 26:19Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.
Hebrew dictionary
רִיחַ ruach · to smell
1) (Hiphil) to smell, scent, perceive odour, accept 1a) of horse 1b) of delight (metaph)
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “smell” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SMELL, verb transitive
pret and participle passive smelled, smelt. [I have not found this word in any other language.] TO perceive by the nose, or by the olfactory nerves; to have a sensation excited in certain organs of the nose by particular qualities of a body, which are transmitted in fine particles, often form a distance; as, to smell a rose; to smell perfumes.
All definitions and other forms of “smell”
SMELL, verb intransitive
- To affect the olfactory nerves; to have an odor or particualr scent; followed by of; as to smell of smoke; to smell of musk.
- To have a particular tincuture or smack or any quality; as, a report smells of calumny. [Not elegant.]
- To practice smelling. Exodus 30:38
- To exercise sagacity.
SMELL, noun
- The sense of faculty by which through the instrumentally of the olfactory nerves; or the faculty of perceiving by the organs of the nose; one of the five senses.
- Scent; odor; the quality of bodies which affects the olfactory organs; as the smell of mint; the smell of geranium.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.