דָּשֵׁן

From the study of Isaiah 30:23

Range of meaning

Dashen: fat, juicy, rich, flourishing. It is used of rich food, healthy people, and green trees (Ps 92:14). The related noun deshen means fat or fatty ashes and, by extension, abundance (Ps 36:8; 63:5). Shamen: fat, rich, fertile. It is related to shemen, "oil", and is used of fertile land (Num 13:20; Neh 9:25) and rich food (Gen 49:20).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV have "fat/rich and plenteous". NIV and BSB have "rich and plentiful". "Plenteous" or "plentiful" is a reasonable translation of shamen in context, but it shifts the idea from quality (rich, oily, nourishing) toward quantity. The Hebrew pair mainly says the food will be of the best quality, and that also implies plenty.

How it drifted

In modern English "fat" is mostly negative or medical. In an agrarian world where hunger was common, fatness was the image of blessing: the fat portions were the best part, given to God on the altar (Lev 3:16).

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 49:20 "Asher's bread shall be shamen". Neh 9:25 and 35 speak of a "fat land" (ʾadamah shemenah). Isa 55:2 says "let your soul delight itself in fatness (deshen)". Deut 32:15 shows the other side: Israel "grew fat (shamen) and kicked", where fatness becomes the setting for forgetting God.

From the study of Psalm 22:29

Range of meaning

The adjective דָּשֵׁן means fat, juicy or rich. It is used of fertile land and food (Isa 30:23), and of people or trees that are well-nourished and flourishing (Ps 92:14, where the righteous are 'full of sap/fat and green' in old age). The related noun דֶּשֶׁן is 'fatness, abundance' (Ps 36:8; 63:5). In a world where most people lived near hunger, 'fat' meant blessed, strong and prosperous.

Against the English

KJV 'they that be fat upon earth' and YLT 'the fat ones of earth' are literal, but to modern ears the words sound like a joke or an insult. BSB/NIV 'the rich,' ESV/NASB 'the prosperous' get the social meaning but lose the picture of well-fed bodies, which links to the eating in the same line.

How it drifted

In English, 'fat' has gone from a sign of plenty to a mostly negative word about body weight.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has οἱ πίονες τῆς γῆς ('the fat ones of the earth'), and the Vulgate has pingues terrae. Both kept the literal image. In Deut 32:15 Israel 'grew fat (שָׁמַן) and kicked,' so fatness can also suggest complacent power. Here, though, the strong come to bow.

From the study of Psalm 92:14

Range of meaning

Fat, rich, juicy, prosperous. The root covers fatness of food (Isa 30:23, 'rich and plentiful' bread), fat ashes from sacrifices, anointing with oil (Ps 23:5, 'you anoint [lit. make fat] my head with oil'), and the prosperity of a well-fed person (Prov 11:25; 13:4, 'the soul of the diligent is made fat', i.e. richly satisfied). For a tree, 'fatness' is its oil and sap (Judg 9:9, the olive refuses to give up 'my fatness').

Against the English

KJV and YLT: 'fat'. ESV, NASB, WEB: 'full of sap'. NIV: 'fresh'. BSB: 'healthy'. NLT: 'vital'. The 'sap' renderings keep the tree picture. 'Healthy' and 'vital' keep the idea of vigour but lose the sense of richness and abundance.

How it drifted

In KJV English 'fat' was a word of plenty ('the fat of the land', Gen 45:18). Modern English hears it mostly negatively: overweight, unhealthy. In Hebrew it was wholly positive.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the ancient Near East, fat and oil were the choicest parts of food and offerings (the fat belonged to God in sacrifice, Lev 3:16). Calling something 'fat' was calling it the best and richest.