Fragrance of the bride

The rhyming Hebrew phrase reyach niychoach (“soothing aroma”) is used frequently in Leviticus in conjunction with ishshah (“fire offering” or “food offering”; this combination found in Leviticus 1:13, 17; 2:2, 9; 3:5, 16). reyach niychoach is found without i shshah in Leviticus 4:31; 6:8, 14.

Two things suggest that the phrase has a bridal connection. First reyach (aroma) appears repeatedly in the Song of Songs (1:3, 12; 2:13; 4:10-11; 7:8, describing the oil worn by the King and the fragrances of the bride. Second, James Jordan has suggested that ishshah is related to ishah , the woman one taken from the man ( ish ).

Applied to the sacrificial system, this suggests that the sacrifice gives off a pleasing aroma, the fragrance of the bride, which awakens the love of the Yahweh, the divine Husband.