H1880 H1880
Fat ashes (from sacrificial offerings); fatness, richness, abundance (of divine blessing or fertility)
The noun דֶּשֶׁן captures two facets of fatness in ancient Israelite life. In the Levitical system, it denotes the greasy ashes left on the altar after burnt offerings are consumed — the priest must remove the דֶּשֶׁן and carry it outside the camp (Lev 1:16, 4:12, 6:10-11). This is a technical cultic term with a distinctly physical, even unpleasant, referent. But the same word also evokes richness, abundance, and luxuriant provision — the olive tree boasts of its דֶּשֶׁן (Judg 9:9), and God's house overflows with it (Ps 36:8). This duality mirrors the Hebrew worldview: fat is both a sacred residue of sacrifice and a metaphor for divine generosity.
Senses
1. fatty ashes (sacrificial) — Fatty ashes — the grease-saturated residue produced when sacrificial animals are burned on the altar. A technical priestly term appearing 8 times, exclusively in ritual contexts. Leviticus prescribes the removal of דֶּשֶׁן from the altar: the priest dons linen garments, lifts the ashes, changes clothes, and carries them outside the camp (Lev 6:10-11). It also appears in Lev 1:16 (crop of the bird offering), Lev 4:12 (bull of the sin offering), and at Bethel in 1 Kgs 13:3, 5 when the altar splits and its ashes pour out. Jer 31:40 places the 'valley of the fat ashes' in the eschatological restoration of Jerusalem. Glosses consistently read 'ceniza/cendres/Asche' — all ash-vocabulary — confirming the concrete physical sense. 8×
AR["-الرَّمَادَ", "-الرَّمَادِ", "الـ-رَّمَادُ", "وَالرَّمَادِ"]·ben["আর-ছাই-এর", "চর্বি", "ছাই", "ছাইয়ের"]·DE["[והדשן]", "der-Asche", "der-ashes"]·EN["and-the-ashes", "the-ashes"]·FR["[והדשן]", "le-ashes", "le-cendres"]·heb["ה-דשן", "ו-ה-דשן"]·HI["और-राख-की", "राख", "राख-के"]·ID["abu", "dan-abu"]·IT["e-grasso", "il-cenere", "il-ceneri"]·jav["awu", "awunipun", "lan-awu"]·KO["그-재", "그-재가", "그-재를", "그리고-그-재와"]·PT["a-cinza", "as-cinzas", "e-a-cinza"]·RU["и-пепла", "пепел", "пепла"]·ES["la-ceniza", "y-la-ceniza"]·SW["la-majivu", "majivu", "na-majivu", "pa-majivu"]·TR["-kül", "-külü", "kül", "ve-külün-o"]·urd["ال-راکھ", "اور-راکھ", "راکھ"]
2. fatness, richness, abundance — Fatness, richness, or abundance as a quality of prosperity, fertility, and divine blessing. The olive tree in Jotham's fable refuses to leave its דֶּשֶׁן, its rich oil (Judg 9:9). The psalmist declares that God's people 'feast on the abundance (דֶּשֶׁן) of your house' (Ps 36:8) and that one's soul is satisfied 'as with marrow and fatness' (Ps 63:5). God crowns the year with goodness and the wagon tracks drip with דֶּשֶׁן (Ps 65:11). In Isa 55:2, eating דֶּשֶׁן is a metaphor for spiritual nourishment. Spanish 'abundancia/grosura,' French 'graisse,' and English 'fatness/richness' all point to a sense of lavish provision distinct from the cultic ash-residue. 7×
AR["بِ-الدَّسَمِ", "دَسَماً", "دَسَمًا", "دُهْنِي", "سَمناً", "مِن-دَسَمِ", "وَ-دُسمٍ"]·ben["-সমৃদ্ধি-থেকে", "আমার-তেল", "ও-মজ্জায়", "চর্বি।", "চর্বিতে"]·DE["[בדשן]", "[דשן]", "fatness", "mein-fatness", "und-richness", "von-Überfluss-von"]·EN["and-richness", "fatness", "from-abundance-of", "in-the-fatness", "my-fatness", "of-fatness"]·FR["[בדשן]", "[דשן]", "de-graisse", "et-graisse", "graisse", "mon-fatness", "דשן"]·heb["ב-דשן", "דשן", "דשני", "ו-דשן", "מ-דשן"]·HI["और-मज्जा-से", "चर्बी-से", "बहुतायत-से", "मेरी-चिकनाई", "मोटाई-में", "से-चर्बी"]·ID["dalam-kelimpahan", "dan-sumsum", "dengan-kelimpahan", "kelimpahan", "lemak", "minyakku"]·IT["[דשן]", "[ודשן]", "[מדשן]", "di-fatness", "grasso", "mio-fatness"]·jav["gajih", "ing-panganan-ingkang-legi", "kaluberan", "lemak", "lisah-kula", "saha-kaluberan", "saking-sarem"]·KO["-기름짐-으로", "그리고-살찐", "기름-나의", "기름진-것으로-", "기름짐으로", "살찐-을"]·PT["da-gordura-de", "de-gordura.", "e-gordura", "em-gordura", "gordura", "gordura-minha"]·RU["и-жиром", "от-тука", "тук-мой", "тука", "туком"]·ES["abundancia", "con-grosura", "de-abundancia-de", "grosura", "mi-aceite", "y-tuetano"]·SW["kwa-unono", "kwa-unono-wa", "mafuta", "mafuta-yangu", "na-unono", "unono"]·TR["-bollukla", "semizlik", "ve-semizlik", "yaglilikta-", "yağ", "yağla", "yağımı"]·urd["وَ-چکنائی", "چربی", "چربی سے", "چربی-اپنی", "چربی-سے", "چکنائی-سے"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)H4325 1. water, waters (582×)H6965b 1. Qal: to rise, arise, get up (432×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)H2091 1. gold (the metal) (389×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)H0068 1. stone, rock (material/object) (267×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† דֶּ֫שֶׁן n.m. fatness, fat ashes—abs. ד׳ ψ 63:6 + 8 times, דָּ֑שֶׁן Lv 1:16 + 3 times; cstr. דֶּשֶׁן ψ 36:9; sf. דִּשְׁנִי Ju 9:9— 1. fatness, abundance, luxuriance, oil, Ju 9:9 (of olive tree); abundance, fertility ψ 63:5 (in simile ‖ חֵלֶב), 65:12, of food and drink, Jb 36:16 Je 31:14; passing over into fig. of spiritual blessing ψ 36:9 (ד׳ ביתך), Is 55:2. 2. fat ashes, i.e. ashes of victims, mixed with the fat Lv 1:16; 4:12(×2); 6:3, 4 (all P) Je 31:40 1 Ki 13:3, 5.