Aramaic word · H5208

נִיחוֹחַ

venichochin

soothing

From the root n-w-ḥ, "to rest, settle." The word means soothing or calming. In Aramaic it appears only here and in Daniel 2:46, and it functions as a noun for offerings of this kind. BDB takes the plural as sweet-smelling offerings or incense in Daniel and as sacrifices here.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

soothing, tranquillising

Aramaic of ni.cho.ach (נִיחֹחַ "soothing" H5207)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezra 6:10

Range of meaning

From the root n-w-ḥ, "to rest, settle." The word means soothing or calming. In Aramaic it appears only here and in Daniel 2:46, and it functions as a noun for offerings of this kind. BDB takes the plural as sweet-smelling offerings or incense in Daniel and as sacrifices here.

Against the English

KJV "sweet savours" and BSB "a sweet aroma" follow the Hebrew phrase this word comes from. ESV and NIV say "pleasing," and NASB and NLT say "acceptable," which give the effect but drop the picture. Only YLT avoids adding the word "sacrifices," which the Aramaic does not contain.

How it drifted

English "sweet" points to a pleasant smell. The root points to what the smell does: it settles and brings rest. The tradition of "sweet savour" goes back through Greek and Latin renderings that focused on fragrance (Greek euōdia, "good smell").

Used elsewhere in the period

The Hebrew phrase re'ah nihoah, "soothing aroma," occurs dozens of times, mostly in the sacrificial laws of Leviticus and Numbers (Leviticus 1:9), and first in Genesis 8:21, where God smells Noah's offering after the flood and resolves not to curse the ground again. Mesopotamian flood stories have the gods drawn to the smell of a sacrifice as well (Gilgamesh XI). In Daniel 2:46 Nebuchadnezzar orders such offerings for Daniel.

Where it appears

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 6:10 נִיחוֹחִ֖ין soothing offerings

    Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.

    Here: An adjective from the idea of rest, used here as a noun: "soothing things." It is the temple's own word for offerings that God receives with favour, and it is surprising to meet it in a Persian royal order.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 2:46 וְנִ֣יחֹחִ֔ין and soothing offerings

    At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid homage to Daniel, and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.