The verb οζω (ozo) means to smell in the sense of exuding a scent (not in the sense of detecting one, which is covered by οσφραινομαι, osphrainomai, see further below). Our verb says nothing about whether the smell exuded is a pleasant or foul smell, and in the classics our verb is used to describe any emanation from the fragrant emissions of flowers to the rotting stench of a corpse — even the figurative scent of wisdom rising from the clothes of whoever recites the latest verse (Aristophanes.Wasps.1054).

Our verb οζω (ozo) derived from an older verb "oddo", which in turn stemmed from the same widely attested Proto-Indo-European root "hed-", to smell, that gave English its nouns "odor" and "oil" (originally a fragrant plant extract) and of course the first part of the noun "olfaction" or "sense of smell".

Several studies (Kovacs, 2004; Hoover, 2010) suggest that smell (i.e. processing and distinguishing physical molecules so as to derive a picture of the environment) was the first sense and arose when life was still entirely single-cellular. That means that olfaction is actually the ultimate ancestor of our celebrated human consciousness: the Adam of our minds

As we discuss more elaborately in our article on γαμος (gamos), marriage, one of the signs that very early humans began to be distinguished from their animal brethren was a detrimental decline in their powers of olfaction. This caused men to no longer smell the difference between sisters and potential mates, and this in turn resulted in a huge wave of inbreeding. But somehow the link was made, and marriage was invented by making a cultural differentiation between sisters and potential mates (in the Bible told in the triple cycle of the Ruler and the Compromised Couple: Genesis 12:17, 20:3 and 26:8). And thus began human civilization: in the "invention" of the wife.

The invention of the wife may even have preceded the domestication of animals. Said otherwise: the wife (δαμαρ, damar) was the first creature to be tamed and domesticated (δαμαζω, damazo). This is significant to our story, because the ultimate purpose of our human mind is to enable us to collectively form God's bride (Revelation 19:7): no longer a natural creature that reaches for its Creator by an innate instinct, but rather an enlightened collective in a state of ελευθερια (eleutheria), or freedom-by-law.

In the New Testament our verb οζω (ozo), to smell, is used in John 11:39 only. But from it derives:

The noun οσφρησις (osphresis) means smell (the sense of it, not the fragrance) and occurs in the classics also as synonym for the nose as organ of smelling. Our noun is a derivative of the verb οσφραινομαι (osphrainomai), to smell in the sense of to catch the smell of, or to make someone, or a dog, smell something (so not in the sense of "to reek" or produce a smell).

Our verb stems from the same PIE root "hed-", to smell, as the verb οζω (ozo) discussed above, and the difference appears to result from a process that is also evident in several other, comparable Greek verb-duos (or trios, rather). Here at Abarim Publications we privately suspect that our words may also have been informed by the otherwise unrelated noun φρην (phren), meaning lungs or midriff, the verb φαινω (phaino), to emit light, and perhaps even the noun οφρυς (ophrus), brow (see next).

Our verb οσφραινομαι (osphrainomai) isn't used in the New Testament and the noun οσφρησις (osphresis) occurs in 1 Corinthians 12:17 only.

The noun οφρυς (ophrus) literally refers to the human brow or eyebrow(s) but in the classics is deployed mostly to describe one's faculty of frowning disapprovingly, nodding ascent or showing a range of emotions from grief to amazement or pride (not unlike our English idea of being highbrowed). When someone knits the brow, they express gloom, and when they unknit their brow, they become cheerful again. Strikingly, not the mouth but the brow was considered the seat of one's smile and joy.

Our word was also, although not often, used to describe features in the landscape: the "brow" of hills or banks or manmade constructions. Our noun appears in the New Testament in Luke 4:29 only, precisely with that meaning, but clearly also in playful reference to the frowning brows of the men of Nazareth. The name Nazareth may also mean Diaspora, and the "brow" of the "mountain" upon which their "town" was built was obviously one understandably frowning with fear and frustration.

Our noun οφρυς (ophrus) has technically nothing to do with the above but instead stems from a hugely old and well attested PIE noun "hbruHs", meaning eyebrow (hence also, indeed, the English word "brow"). Where this PIE word itself comes from is not formally known, but it's not a stretch to propose a natural association with any of the roots "berH-", to pierce or strike (hence "bore"), or brown (hence "bear").