fat, well-fed: full-fleshed and thriving, whether an animal, a person, a body, or the grain
TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled
בָּרִיא describes something well-fed and full of flesh: a fat cow, a plump ear of grain, a robust body, a sleek animal at its best. In the Hebrew Bible fatness is not a flaw but a mark of health, plenty, and thriving, so the word almost always carries a positive or neutral shade rather than a critical one.
Across its uses it ranges over closely related shades of the same idea:
- fat, well-fed cattle and sheep, like the seven fat cows of Pharaoh's dream
- plump, full ears of grain
- a heavy, corpulent person, as with the very fat king Eglon
- a healthy, well-nourished body
- rich, sumptuous fare set on the table
The nearest Hebrew relative, שָׁמֵן, leans toward richness and oiliness, whether of food, land, or people, while בָּרִיא leans toward well-fed plumpness and vigor. A fattened beast raised for the feast or the altar is named by a separate word, מְרִיא.
Nuances
1afat, well-fed (of livestock and other animals)
TranslatabilityDirect
Gen 41:2Gen 41:4Gen 41:18Gen 41:201Ki 4:23(5:3)Ezk 34:3Zec 11:16
1bplump, full (of ears of grain)
TranslatabilityDirect
Gen 41:5Gen 41:7
1cfat, heavy (of a person)
Jdg 3:17
1dhealthy, well-nourished, robust (of the body)
TranslatabilityDirect
Psa 73:4Dan 1:15
1erich, sumptuous (of food or one's portion)
Hab 1:16