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# חֵלֶב

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H2459

**fat** — used 92 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

fat [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2459/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

חֵ֫לֶב: n.m. fat [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2459/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Ex 29:13 fat (NH id., fat, so Ph. חלב (prob.); Aramaic ܚܶܠܒܳܐ (also diaphragm in Lexx., v. PS1274) orig. diaphragm, midriff; Arabic خِلْبٌ, incl. midriff-fat, RSSem i. 360);—ח׳ abs. Lv 3:16 + 40 times; cstr. Gn 45:18 + 21 times; sf. חֶלְבּוֹ Lv 3:9 + 6 times; חֶלְבָּהּ Lv 4:31, 35, חֶלְבָּם Nu 18:17, חֶלְבָּ֫מוֹ ψ 17:10, חֶלְבְּהֶ֑ן Lv 8:16, 25 (read n.pl. חלביהן Sam. Di); pl. הַחֲלָבִים Lv 8:26 + 7 times; cstr. חֶלְבֵי Lv 6:5 + 4 times; sf. חֶלְבֵהֶן Gn 4:4 (חלביהן Sam. Di, cf. Lv 8:16, 25 supr.);— fat of human body Ju 3:22 (covering intestines); ח׳גִּבּוֹרִים 2 S 1:22 as smearing warrior’s shield; of grossness of wicked כִּסָּה פָּנָיו בְּחֶלְבּוֹ Jb 15:27; fat (of midriff) fig. of unreceptive heart ח׳ סָֽגְרוּ ψ 17:10, v. also 73:7 (read מֵחֵלֶב עֲוֹנָמוֹ for מחלב עֵינֵמוֹ 𝔊 𝔖 Hi Ew Ol De Che Bae al.); טָפַשׁ כַּח׳ לִבָּם ψ 119:70 i.e. their heart is as unresponsive as the midriff-fat near it. fat of beasts: as rich food (poet.) Dt 32:14 and in sim. ψ 63:6 (‖ דֶּשֶׁן); so MT Ez 34:3 (but read הֶחָלָב, v. חָלָב), 39:19 (𝔖 Co בשׂר). especially as offered in sacrifice, sg., to י׳ Ex 23:18 (JE), 1 S 2:15, 16 Ex 29:13(×2), 22(×3) Lv 3:3(×2), 4, 9(×3), 10, 14(×2), 15 + 23 times Lv, Nu 18:17 (all P), Lv 17:6 (H), 1 S 15:22 Is 1:11; 43:24 Ez 44:7, 15; v. Is 34:6(×2), 7 of fat of Edomites slaughtered by י׳’s sword (under fig. of lambs, rams, and bulls); as eaten by (strange) gods Dt 32:38; (poet.), not to be eaten by men Lv 3:17; 7:23, 24(×2), 25 (all P); also pl., fat parts or pieces Gn 4:4 (J) Lv 6:5 + 8 times Lv, 1 K 8:64(×2) 2 Ch 7:7(×2); 29:35; 35:14. choicest, best part of products of land Gn 45:18 (E), specif. of oil Nu 18:12 and wine v 12; of corn and oil v 29, 30, 32; also (poet.) ח׳ כִּלְיוֹת חִטָּה Dt 32:14 kidney-fat of wheat (i.e. the very choicest, cf. Is 34:6), ח׳ חִטָּה ψ 81:17, ח׳ חִטִּים 147:14.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 54 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (5 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (3 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: fat (60); fat(s) (8); the fat (8).

## In the verses

[Psalms 17:10](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.17.10/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.17.10/#tree)

חֶלְבָּ֥מוֹ סָּגְר֑וּ פִּ֝֗ימוֹ דִּבְּר֥וּ בְגֵאֽוּת׃

*Word for word:* fat their they.have.closed.up mouth their they.have.spoken with pride

*JPS 1917:* Their gross heart they have shut tight, with their mouth they speak proudly.

[Psalms 73:7](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.73.7/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.73.7/#tree)

יָ֭צָא מֵחֵ֣לֶב עֵינֵ֑מוֹ עָ֝בְר֗וּ מַשְׂכִּיּ֥וֹת לֵבָֽב׃

*Word for word:* it.comes.out from fat eye their they.pass.over \[the\].imaginations of.heart

*JPS 1917:* Their eyes stand forth from fatness; they are gone beyond the imaginations of their heart.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/2459.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2459/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).