Bible Strands
2 Corinthians 2:15
For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Corinthian church immediately after describing apostolic ministry and the divergent reactions to the gospel. He speaks from the position of an apostle participating in God’s ongoing work through Christ.
The words — The Greek term εὐωδία (euōdia) literally means “a sweet perfume.” The text uses it to describe how the apostles embody Christ’s presence before God.
The thread — The imagery connects to Ephesians 5:2, where Christ’s sacrifice is a fragrant offering, and Ezekiel 20:41, where God accepts His people as a sweet aroma. It directly continues the immediate context of 2 Corinthians 2:14–16, which contrasts the gospel’s divergent effects on different listeners.
Why it lands — The text states that believers function as Christ’s fragrance to God regardless of whether listeners are being saved or perishing. It requires readers to accept that their presence and message will produce opposite outcomes without expecting universal approval or uniform response.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
Cross-references
- Ephesians 5:2 and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
- 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- Ezekiel 20:41 When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations.
- Philippians 4:18 I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
- Genesis 8:21 When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
- Exodus 29:18 Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- 2 Corinthians 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
- Exodus 29:25 Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar atop the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is a food offering to the LORD.
- Isaiah 49:5 And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength—