rich with fat or oil: so well supplied that it thrives and yields abundantly
One picture runs through every use of this word: something so well supplied with fat or oil that it brims with substance. In the Hebrew Bible fatness is a sign of plenty rather than of excess, so calling a thing rich in this way is praise. It is the word a scout reaches for when the soil looks generous, and the word a poet reaches for when a table is loaded.
The same word covers four kinds of subject:
- ground and grazing land that yield food in abundance
- meals and provisions that are rich and satisfying
- sheep that have grown sleek on good pasture
- fighting men who are well-fed and full of vigor
The text often sets it beside a partner or an opposite, which shows how far it reaches. Moses tells the scouts in Numbers 13:20 to report whether the land is rich or "lean," setting the two against each other. Isaiah pairs it with another word for richness (דָּשֵׁן) to describe grain so plentiful it satisfies, and Habakkuk pairs it with the word for a plump, well-fleshed animal (בָּרִיא) to describe a fisherman's haul.
Its family explains the image. The same root gives Hebrew its word for olive oil (שֶׁמֶן), the substance that fed people, lit their lamps, and marked out their kings. In a land where oil meant food, light, and honor, calling something oily was a natural way to call it rich.