In my effort to translate the Diataxis of St. Philotheos Kokkinos, I have gained a greater appreciation of the words of the prayers of the Divine Liturgy. One such prayer is the Prayer of the Incense.
Whenever the deacon censes, he first holds up the thurible to the priest and asks for his blessing. The priest blesses the incense, saying the Prayer of the Incense. The original Greek text is:
Θυμίαμά σοι προσφέρομεν, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας πνευματικῆς, ὃ προσδεξάμενος εἰς τὸ ὑπερουράνιόν σου θυσιαστήριον, ἀντικατάπεμψον ἡμῖν τὴν χάριν τοῦ παναγίου σου Πνεύματος.
The translation of the prayer in Church Slavonic is a very literal rendering of the Greek:
Кади́ло тебѣ̀ прино́симъ хрⷭ҇тѐ бж҃е на́шъ, въ воню̀ благоꙋха́нїѧ дꙋхо́внагѡ, є҆́же прїе́мъ въ пренбⷭ҇ный тво́й же́ртвенникъ, возниспослѝ на́мъ бл҃года́ть прест҃а́гѡ твоегѡ̀ дх҃а.
The translation of the prayer in English by Isabel Hapgood (1906) is:
Unto thee, O Christ our God, do we offer incense for an odour of spiritual fragrance: which do thou accept upon thy most heavenly Altar, and pour forth upon us in return the grace of thine all-holy Spirit.
The phrase «εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας πνευματικῆς» is translated above as “for an odour of spiritual fragrance.” A similar translation is found in the Jordanville Service Book. The OCA Hieratikon says “as a sweet spiritual fragrance.”
The phrase «εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας» is taken from the Pauline epistles, especially Ephesians 5:2: «καὶ περιπατεῖτε ἐν ἀγάπῃ, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ παρέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας», which is translated in the King James Bible as “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
To find the best translation, let’s look at each word:
- εἰς is a preposition that commonly means into, but in this context, it has the connotation of purpose, so arguably, the best word would be for, since as has a slightly different connotation of the incense playing the function of the spiritual fragrance, rather than it being offered for the purpose of making a spiritual fragrance.
- ὀσμὴν is the accusative form of the noun ὀσμή, which means a smell, scent, or odor. The 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary defines these three as:
- Smell: The quality of any thing or substance, or emanation therefrom, which affects the olfactory organs.
- Scent: That which, issuing from a body, affects the olfactory organs of animals.
- Odor: Any smell, whether fragrant or offensive.
All three of these words are ostensibly neutral, but in contemporary English, both smell and odor seem to have more negative connotations. “This food has an odor/smell” would not be construed positively. Of the three words, scent seems to be the most neutral, so perhaps scent is the best translation of ὀσμή if we intend to translate the word in a neutral way.
On the other hand, if we take the phrase as a whole, it is obvious that ὀσμή is meant to mean a good smell. I think the best translation is actually aroma, since an aroma is, according to the 1913 edition of Webster’s, “The quality or principle of plants or other substances which constitutes their fragrance; agreeable odor; as, the aroma of coffee.” Since we are offering incense, which is derived from plants, aroma seems to be most fitting.
Thus, the whole phrase «εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας πνευματικῆς» would literally translate to “for a scent of spiritual fragrance,” or “for an aroma of spiritual fragrance.” If the translator were not bound to a strictly literal translation, they could translate the phrase simply as “for a spiritual fragrance,” since fragrance captures the meaning of ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας.
Besides exactness in translation, however, one should also consider the provenance of other traditional translations, especially of liturgical phrases derived from the Scriptures. Although the King James Bible's translation of the original verse is not completely literal, it is still a version of the Bible that is commonly read and also forms the basis for the liturgical language in many traditional translations of liturgical texts. Thus, in consideration of the preëminence of the King James Version, I would translate the phrase as “for a sweet-smelling and spiritual savour,” adding and for the sake of euphony. Here is the final translation of the entire prayer:
Incense we offer unto thee, O Christ our God, for a sweetsmelling and spiritual savour. Having received it unto thine altar above the heavens, send down in return to us the grace of thine All-Holy Spirit.
