Bible Encyclopedias
Fatness

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fat´nes ( דּשׁן , deshen ; πιότης , piótēs ):

1. Literal

The translation of deshen (Judges 9:9 , "But the olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness?"; Job 36:16 (of food)), "full of fatness"; of ḥēlebh , "fat," "the best part," "the marrow" (Job 15:27; Psalm 73:7; Isaiah 34:6 , Isaiah 34:7 ); of mishmān , "fatness," "fertility" (Genesis 27:28 , "the fatness of the earth"; Isaiah 17:4 , "the fatness of his flesh"); of shemen , "fatness," "oil" (Psalm 109:24 ); of piotēs , "fat," "fatness" (Romans 11:17 , "partaker ... of the root of the fatness of the olive tree").

2. Figurative

"Fatness" is used figuratively for the richness of God's goodness; as such it is the translation of deshen ("They shall be abundantly satisfied (margin "Hebrew watered") with the fatness of thy house" (Psalm 36:8 ); "Thy paths drop fatness" (Psalm 65:11; compare Isaiah 55:2; Jeremiah 31:14 ).

"With fatness" is supplied, Deuteronomy 32:15 the King James Version, "covered with fatness"; the Revised Version (British and American) has "become sleek"; for "The yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing" ( Isaiah 10:27 ) the American Standard Revised Version has "by reason of fatness," margin "Hebrew oil"; the English Revised Version as the King James Version, with margin as the American Standard Revised Version; the text is believed to be corrupt; Septuagint has "from your shoulders."