Hebrew word · H1878

דָּשֵׁן

yedushan

to prosper

To be fat or grow fat. In its causative forms: to make fat, to anoint (Ps 23:5, 'you anoint my head with oil'), to clear away fatty ashes from the altar. The related noun deshen means fatness, abundance, or fat-soaked ashes. Throughout, fat stands for richness, the best portion, vigour and plenty.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be fat, grow fat, become fat, become prosperous, anoint

1a) (Qal) of prosperity (fig.)

1b) (Piel)

1b1) to make fat, anoint

1b2) to find fat (of offering-acceptable)

1b3) to take away ashes (from altar)

1c) (Pual) to be made fat

1d) (Hothpael) to fatten oneself (of Jehovah's sword)

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 Proverbs 11:25

Range of meaning

To be fat or grow fat. In its causative forms: to make fat, to anoint (Ps 23:5, 'you anoint my head with oil'), to clear away fatty ashes from the altar. The related noun deshen means fatness, abundance, or fat-soaked ashes. Throughout, fat stands for richness, the best portion, vigour and plenty.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT keep the image: 'made fat'. BSB, NIV and NLT have 'prosper'. ESV has 'be enriched'. 'Prosper' and 'enriched' lean toward money and lose the picture of a well-fed, thriving body.

How it drifted

In modern Western culture 'fat' sounds unhealthy or insulting. In ancient Israel, where hunger was a real threat, fatness was what a blessing looked like.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 36:8 (they 'are saturated', ravah, with the 'fatness', deshen, of your house), where the same two ideas of fat and drink appear together. Ps 63:5; Isa 55:2 ('let your nefesh delight in fatness'); Prov 13:4; 15:30; 28:25. Fat was the portion offered to God in sacrifice (Lev 3:16).

From the study of Psalm 23:5

Range of meaning

The root means fat, rich or abundant. In the qal, to be or grow fat. In the piel (used here), to make fat, enrich or refresh (Prov 15:30, 'good news makes the bones fat'), and, in a ritual sense, to clear away the fat-soaked ashes from the altar (Exod 27:3). The related noun deshen means fatness or richness (Ps 36:8; 63:5, 'as with fat and richness my soul is satisfied').

Against the English

English 'anoint' brings to mind consecrating kings and priests or, in church language, being 'anointed' with the Spirit for power. Hebrew normally uses mashach for that (the root behind 'messiah'). Dishanta is a different word: 'you have made my head rich with oil', a picture of luxury, festivity and honor.

How it drifted

English Bibles since Coverdale and the KJV have used the one word 'anoint' for both mashach (to consecrate) and dashen/sukh (to oil the body). In later Christian usage 'anointing' came to mean mainly spiritual empowerment, which colors how this line is heard.

Used elsewhere in the period

Oiling a guest's head was a normal courtesy of honor and joy: Ps 45:7 ('oil of gladness'), Ps 104:15 ('oil to make the face shine'), Eccl 9:8 ('let oil not be lacking on your head'), Amos 6:6, and much later Luke 7:46 ('you did not anoint my head with oil'). The Septuagint has ἐλίπανας, 'you made fat/glossy', and the Vulgate impinguasti, 'you fattened', both keeping the sense of richness.

From the study of Proverbs 13:4

Range of meaning

To be fat, grow fat; in the passive and causative forms, to be made fat, to be richly fed, to flourish. Related nouns: deshen ('fatness', and the fat-soaked ashes from the altar, Lev 1:16; 6:10–11) and dashen ('fat, rich, juicy', of land, food, people and trees: Ps 92:14, the righteous 'full of sap and green').

Against the English

KJV and YLT keep the image: 'made fat'. BSB and WEB ('fully satisfied'), ESV ('richly supplied') and NLT ('prosper') translate the image into its meaning, but they lose the bodily picture that answers the hungry throat of the first half.

How it drifted

For modern readers 'fat' is mostly a health or appearance problem. In ancient Israel, where most people lived close to hunger, fatness meant health, blessing and abundance. Modern versions avoid 'fat' because readers now hear it negatively.

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 11:25: 'the generous nefesh will be made fat' (the same phrase, nefesh + this exact verb form). Prov 28:25: 'whoever trusts in YHWH will be made fat'. Prov 15:30: 'good news fattens the bones'. Ps 23:5: 'you fatten/anoint my head with oil'. Deut 31:20 and 32:15 show the other side: Israel 'grew fat' and forgot God.

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 27:3 לְדַשְּׁנ֔וֹ to take away ashes its

    Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots for removing ashes, its shovels, its sprinkling bowls, its meat forks, and its firepans.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 4:13 וְדִשְּׁנ֖וּ and they will take away [the] ashes from

    Then they shall remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it,

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 31:20 וְדָשֵׁ֑ן and it will grow fat

    When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to other gods and worship them, and they will reject Me and break My covenant.

    Here: 'And he will grow fat.' In a world of scarcity, fatness meant health and wealth. In itself it is a picture of blessing. The danger lies in what comes next.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 20:3 יְדַשְּׁנֶ֣ה may he accept !

    May He remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Selah

  2. Psalm 23:5 דִּשַּׁ֖נְתָּ you have refreshed

    You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

    Here: 'You have made rich / fattened.' The root means fatness, richness and abundance. With oil it pictures a lavish oiling of the head, the generous grooming a host gives an honored guest at a festive meal. It is not the word for consecrating a king or priest (that is mashach). The perfect form presents it as done: my head has been oiled.

Proverbs · 4

  1. Proverbs 11:25 תְדֻשָּׁ֑ן he will be made fat

    A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

    Here: A passive, future-type form: 'will be made fat'. In Israel fatness meant richness, health and plenty: the best of the food, a thriving body, a prosperous life. Someone else does the fattening, so the reward comes to the giver rather than being earned by them.

  2. Proverbs 13:4 תְּדֻשָּֽׁן׃ it will be made fat

    The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

    Here: Passive, 'will be made fat / is fattened'. This is the image of a well-fed, thriving body in a world where fatness meant health and plenty. It answers the sluggard's 'nothing' with overflowing richness. The verb form expresses what reliably happens, not only something future.

  3. Proverbs 15:30 תְּדַשֶּׁן־ it fattens

    The light of the eyes cheers the heart, and good news nourishes the bones.

    Here: Literally 'makes fat'. In Israel's world, fat stood for richness, health and plenty: the best part of an animal, the mark of a thriving body. Good news fills a person out from the inside.

  4. Proverbs 28:25 יְדֻשָּֽׁן׃ he will be made fat

    A greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.

    Here: "He will be made fat". The verb is passive, so someone else does the fattening, and in context that is God. In a farming world fatness meant being well fed, satisfied, healthy and flourishing. It answers the greedy throat of the first line.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 34:6 הֻדַּ֣שְׁנָה it has fattened itself

    The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood. It drips with fat—with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

    Here: 'It has been greased (or fattened) with fat.' This is a very rare passive form of a verb meaning 'be fat, rich'. The blade is slick with fat, as if it had feasted on the best portions.

  2. Isaiah 34:7 יְדֻשָּֽׁן׃ it will be fattened

    And the wild oxen will fall with them, the young bulls with the strong ones. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be soaked with fat.

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