body
fat
At a glance
In short
Cheilev is fat, and in halachic contexts specifically the forbidden fat: the hard visceral globs offered on the mizbeach and barred from eating. Shuman is post-biblical and names the permitted fat, the soft fat attached to the meat. Pader is contested: most of the grammarians read it as simply fat, a synonym of cheilev; Ramban narrows it to the thin fatty membrane dividing the innards; and a group of grammarians drops the fat sense altogether for the organ cluster of trachea, lungs, heart, and liver. Tarba is the usual Aramaic for cheilev. Cheilev is also sometimes borrowed for the choicest part of things other than animals, with no reference to animal fat at all.
Distinctions
Cheilev (חלב)
About ninety occurrences in Tanach, the largest share of them in the opening chapters of Vayikra. It is fat in the plain sense, of animals and of people, as when Ehud ben Gera's blade disappeared into Eglon's belly (Shoftim 3:22; see also Tehillim 73:7). Rashi (Bereishis 45:18; Tehillim 147:14): the word is sometimes borrowed for whatever is choicest and richest, even where no animal fat is involved. So Pharaoh's promise that Yosef's brothers would eat the cheilev of the land (Bereishis 45:18), and the Levi'im separating terumas maaser from the cheilev of the produce (Bamidbar 18:29-32). One of David's warriors was named Cheilev (Shmuel II 23:29), though elsewhere his name is given as Cheiled (Divrei HaYamim I 11:30) or Cheldai (Divrei HaYamim I 27:15).
Cheilev also covers parts of a korban that are not technically fat but share its law. The tail of a sheep holds no visceral fat, yet the Torah speaks of its fat (Vayikra 3:9) because it goes on the mizbeach with the cheilev proper (Ramban and Rabbeinu Bachya there; Rambam, Hilchos Maachalos Assuros 7:5). Likewise chelvei hatamid in the version of Shekalim 8:8 cited at Sukkah 54b: since the tamid is an olah, every limb is burned, and Rashi explains that they are all called cheilev because they share cheilev's law, burned on the mizbeach and forbidden to eat (see Tosafos there and the standard text of the Mishnah).
The fats are called eimurim because they are the parts of the animal amurim, said in the Torah, to be burnt on the Mizbeach (Tosafos Yom Tov, after the Rambam's introduction to Seder Kodashim: "these are called eimurim, meaning the things He commanded to burn").
Sefer Aruch (s.v. מר): the fats are called eimurim because they are lords, morim, over all the limbs, and they go up on the Mizbeach as the portion of the Lord of the world.
The root ches-lamed-beis also gives chalav, milk, which appears close to fifty times in Tanach by Even Shoshan's concordance.
- Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim (Cheshek Shlomo): cheilev is from chalav because it accrues in hard globs that are typically white, like milk.
- Rabbi Klein adds an alternative of his own: perhaps cheilev relates to chalav because unskimmed milk itself contains fatty acids, milkfats.
- Rav Hirsch (Bereishis 45:18) joins cheilev, chalav, and chalaf, removed from its place or reused for a different purpose: milk is the nourishment separated out of the mother's body to sustain another, and cheilev is the energy the body stores aside for future use rather than present need.
- Rabbi Eliyahu Benamozegh (Eim LaMikra to Bamidbar 18:17): Assyrian tahlubti, a covering or garment, is a cognate of cheilev, the fatty membrane that covers certain organs.
Shuman (שומן)
Not in Tanach at all; it enters with the Mishnah (Kerisus 4:1).
- Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer ties it to the biblical root shin-mem-nun, oily, familiar from shemen.
- Rashi (Chullin 45b): cheilev is the general Hebrew word covering both forbidden and permitted fats, and shuman was coined by Chazal for the permitted fats specifically, so that the two could be told apart. Mammals do in fact carry two kinds of fat: visceral fats, usually large independent pieces of blubber, denser and harder from fascia compression, and intermuscular fats, attached to the meat and softer.
- Ramban and Rabbeinu Bachya (Vayikra 3:9) expand on this: cheilev is the visceral fat, the globs not attached to muscle, which the Torah forbids, while shuman is the intermuscular fat, the strips one meets in a kosher cut, which is permitted.
- Pappenheim: shuman is from shemen because it is the more pourable, oil-like fat.
Tarba (תרבא)
Targumic Aramaic for cheilev (Onkelos to Shemos 23:18, 29:13; Vayikra 3:3, 7:24, 8:26), with the exception of Hevel's korban, where Onkelos renders it with a form of shuman / shemen (Bereishis 4:4; so too Targum to Tehillim 73:7).
- Rashi often defines the Gemara's tarba as cheilev (Shabbos 133b, 136b; Avodah Zarah 28b; Chullin 93a; Bechoros 30a), though at Bava Metzia 83b he defines it as shuman.
- Chizkuni (Vayikra 3:3) and Tirgem Avraham: tarba is from the Aramaic rav, big or growing, since the more a person or animal eats the more fat accrues. That Aramaic term is in turn probably related to the Hebrew reish-beis-(hei) of multiplying.
Pader (פדר)
A word that seemingly means "fat," vocalized pader or perhaps peder. Three occurrences, all in Vayikra and all in korbanos lists beside limbs such as the head (Vayikra 1:8, 1:12, 8:20). Onkelos always renders it tarba, which points to identity with cheilev, and Menachem Ibn Saruk (Machberes Menachem), Radak (Sefer HaShorashim), Rashi (Tamid 31a), Ibn Ezra and Rashbam (Vayikra 1:8) all simply define pader as cheilev. Rabbi Shlomo of Urbino (Ohel Moed) makes the argument explicit from Onkelos rendering both words the same way. Chullin 27b explains the pairing with the head: since the place of slaughter would ooze blood unbecomingly on the mizbeach, it was covered with the pader; the Mainz commentary attributed to Rabbeinu Gershom takes this as the internal fats, again equating pader with cheilev.
- Against this, Ramban (Vayikra 1:8): pader is not a general word for fat but one specific fat, the thin membrane separating the internal organs from one another, and the word comes by metathesis from peh-reish-dalet, to separate.
- Rav Hirsch (Vayikra 1:8; Shemos 13:2) builds a family on peh-dalet-reish with peh-tes-reish (peter, opening) and peh-tav-reish (pisaron, the interpretation of a dream), the three linked by the interchangeability of tav, tes and dalet, and all of them revealing, removing, or separating: peter rechem (Shemos 13:2, 13:12, 13:13, 13:15, 34:19; Bamidbar 3:12, 18:15; Yechezkel 20:26) is the firstborn opening the womb and so revealing the mother's potential motherhood actualized; an interpreter separates a dream's true meaning from the rest; and pader is fat removed from the body for the korban, lying over the entrails like a headdress. He also suggests linking peh-dalet-reish to beis-tav-reish, cutting or disconnecting, peh and beis being interchangeable as dalet and tav are.
- Rabbi David Chaim Chelouche takes the core as peh-dalet, the final reish a radical, equivalent to beis-dalet, alone or apart, peh and beis being interchangeable.
- Rabbi Shaul Goldman speculates that peh-dalet-reish may actually be related to peh-zayin-reish, to spread, diffuse or disperse, dalet and zayin often being taken as interchangeable in the Semitic languages and especially in the shift from Hebrew to Aramaic; and he notes that Onkelos does not in fact render pader by tarba word for word but by prisusa d'tarba, a spread of fat, which would mean that pader implies fat that spreads over and covers, not a generic word for fat perfectly synonymous with cheilev.
Other grammarians drop the fat sense entirely: Rabbi Saadia Gaon (Vayikra 1:8), Ibn Janach (Sefer HaShorashim), Ibn Parchon (Machberes HeAruch), and Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur (Nimukim to Radak's Sefer HaShorashim) take pader as the attached structure of trachea, lungs, heart, and liver.
Also discussed in
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ח-ל-ב
Milk, חָלָב; and חֵלֶב, fat, which by way of borrowing names the choicest of anything; also חֶלְבְּנָה, a spice whose smell is foul.
Milk
וּבְלוֹא מְחִיר יַיִן וְחָלָֽב (Yeshayahu 55:1), and without price wine and milk; לֹֽא־תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּֽחֲלֵב אִמּֽוֹ (Shemos 34:26), you shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk; וְהֵמָּה יִשְׁתּוּ חֲלָבֵֽךְ (Yechezkel 25:4), and they shall drink your milk. The word, he says, is known.
Chelev, the fat
וְחֵלֶב נְבֵלָה וְחֵלֶב טְרֵפָה (Vayikra 7:24), the fat of a carcass and the fat of a torn beast, and in the plural עַל אִשֵּׁי הַֽחֲלָבִים (Vayikra 10:15), upon the fire offerings of the fats. It is right, he says, that וּמֵֽחֶלְבֵהֶן (Bereishis 4:4), and of the fat ones among them, be a describing noun, as the Targum renders it וּמִשַּׁמִּנְהוֹן, and of their fat ones; what is fat is called חֵלֶב, on the pattern of מֶלֶךְ, a king, and עֶבֶד, a servant, which are describing nouns.
The choicest of a thing
By way of borrowing, as the fat is the choicest of the flesh, the choicest of anything came to be called חֵלֶב: כֹּל חֵלֶב יִצְהָר וְכָל־ חֵלֶב תִּירוֹשׁ וְדָגָן (Bamidbar 18:12), all the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and the grain, and וְאִכְלוּ אֶת־ חֵלֶב הָאָֽרֶץ (Bereishis 45:18), and eat the best of the land.
Chelbenah and wine of Chelbon
וּשְׁחֵלֶת וְחֶלְבְּנָה (Shemos 30:34), onycha and galbanum: he describes it as a spice whose smell is foul, the resin of a tree found in the cities of Greece, like a black honey, and in Arabic מיעה. And בְּיֵין חֶלְבּוֹן (Yechezkel 27:18), with wine of Chelbon, which Targum Yonasan renders בַּחֲמַר חֵילַת מְבַשֵׁל, with cooked wine of Cheilas.
וּבְלוֹא מְחִיר יַיִן וְחָלָֽב (ישעיה נה, א), וּֽלְבֶן־שִׁנַּיִם מֵֽחָלָֽב (בראשית מט, יב), לֹֽא־תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּֽחֲלֵב אִמּֽוֹ (שמות לד, כו), וְהֵמָּה יִשְׁתּוּ חֲלָבֵֽךְ (יחזקאל כה, ד). וְיָֽנַקְתְּ חֲלֵב גּוֹיִם (ישעיה ט, טז), ידוע. כָּל־חֵלֶב וְכָל־דָּם (ויקרא ג, יז), וְחֵלֶב נְבֵלָה וְחֵלֶב טְרֵפָה (ויקרא ז, כד), בחמש נקודות. והקבוץ עַל אִשֵּׁי הַֽחֲלָבִים (ויקרא י, טו). ונכון הוא שיהיה מִבְּכֹרוֹת צֹאנוֹ וּמֵֽחֶלְבֵהֶן (בראשית ד, ד), שם תאר כתרגומו וּמִשַּׁמִּנְהוֹן. ויאמר לשמן חֵלֶב בפלס מֶלֶךְ, עֶבֶד שהם שמות תאר ידוע. ועל דרך ההשאלה כמו שהחלב מבחר הבשר קראו למבחר כל דבר חלב, כֹּל חֵלֶב יִצְהָר וְכָל־חֵלֶב תִּירוֹשׁ וְדָגָן (במדבר יח, יב), וְאִכְלוּ אֶת־חֵלֶב הָאָֽרֶץ (בראשית מה, יח), עִם־חֵלֶב כִּלְיוֹת חִטָּה (דברים לב, יד). וּשְׁחֵלֶת וְחֶלְבְּנָה (שמות ל, לד), סם שריחו רע והוא שרף אילן הנמצא בערי יון והוא כמו דבש שחור ובערבי מיעה. בְּיֵין חֶלְבּוֹן (יחזקאל כז, יח), תרגם יונתן בַּחֲמַר חֵילַת מְבַשֵׁל.
פ-ד-ר
הַפָּדֶר, which he glosses as fat, as the Targum renders it.
Fat, and Chazal on it
וְאֶת־הַפָּדֶר (Vayikra 1:8), and the fat, and וְאֶת־רֹאשׁוֹ וְאֶת־פִּדְרוֹ (Vayikra 1:12), and its head and its fat: the meaning is fat, and so the Targum renders it, וְיָת תַּרְבֵּיהּ, and its fat. Chazal say (Chullin 26b) that this teaches that the place of the slaughter was covered with the fat and so brought up, and that this is the way of honour due to the One above.
וְאֶת־הַפָּדֶר (ויקרא א, ח), וְאֶת־רֹאשׁוֹ וְאֶת־פִּדְרוֹ (ויקרא א, יב), פירוש חלב וכן אמר התרגום וְיָת תַּרְבֵּיהּ. ואמרו רבותינו ז"ל (חולין כו, ע"ב) מלמד שהיה חופה הפדר אח בית השחיטה ומעלהו וזהו דרך כבוד של מעלה.
ר-ב-ה
To be many, to increase, with הַרְבֵּה, much; a second sense close to it, rearing; a third, the archer; and the locust may be named for being a numerous kind.
Growing many
וְחָיִיתָ וְרָבִיתָ (Devarim 30:16), and you shall live and multiply; אֶסְפְּרֵם מֵחוֹל יִרְבּוּן (Tehillim 139:18), were I to count them they would be more than the sand; פְּרֵה וּרְבֵה (Bereishis 35:11), be fruitful and multiply. In the heavy form, הִרְבָּה אַשְׁמָֽה (Divrei HaYamim II 33:23), he multiplied guilt, עַד כָּל־ מַרְבֵּה רַגְלַיִם (Vayikra 11:42), every many-footed creature, and וְלֹא יַרְבֶּה־לּוֹ נָשִׁים (Devarim 17:17), he shall not take many wives.
Much, as an amount
הֶֽרֶב כַּבְּסֵנִי (Tehillim 51:4), wash me thoroughly, is an imperative with a letter missing, or else a noun; and so הַרְבֵּה: אֵשׁ וְעֵצִים הַרְבֵּה (Yeshayahu 30:33), fire and wood in plenty; וְלִבִּי רָאָה הַרְבֵּה חָכְמָה וָדָֽעַת (Koheles 1:16), my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge; וְהַרְבֵּה עִמּוֹ פְדֽוּת (Tehillim 130:7), and with Him is much redemption. Other patterns are לְמַרְבֵּה הַמִּשְׂרָה (Yeshayahu 9:6), for the increase of the dominion, which takes a tzeirei because it leans on the word after it, and כִּי מַרְבִּית הָעָם (Divrei HaYamim II 30:18), for the multitude of the people.
Increase on a loan
Rabbi Yehudah set וְלֹא־רִבִּיתָ בִּמְחִירֵיהֶֽם (Tehillim 44:13), and You did not raise their price, with וּבְמַרְבִּית לֹֽא־תִתֵּן אָכְלֶֽךָ (Vayikra 25:37), you shall not give your food at increase, and וְתַרְבִּית לֹא יִקָּח (Yechezkel 18:8), he takes no increase, in a sense of its own. Radak holds there is no need for that, and that they belong to this same sense, as they plainly sound.
Rearing up
A second sense, close to the first, is bringing up: רִבְּתָה גוּרֶֽיהָ (Yechezkel 19:2), she reared her cubs, and אֲשֶׁר־טִפַּחְתִּי וְרִבִּיתִי (Eichah 2:22), those I nursed and reared. The nouns are תַּרְבּוּת אֲנָשִׁים חַטָּאִים (Bamidbar 32:14), a brood of sinful men, and וְכָל־ מַרְבִּית בֵּֽיתְךָ (Shmuel I 2:33), all those reared in your house, the sense being the raising of them.
The archer, and the locust
A third sense is רֹבֶה קַשָּֽׁת (Bereishis 21:20), one who shoots arrows with a bow. Some take it instead from the Targum of נַּעַר (Bereishis 21:12), רַבְיָא, a lad. It may be that אֶת־הָֽאַרְבֶּה לְמִינוֹ (Vayikra 11:22), the locust after its kind, is from this root, called so because it is a numerous kind.
וְחָיִיתָ וְרָבִיתָ (דברים ל, טז), יִרְבּוּ עַצְּבוֹתָם (תהלים טז, ד), וְכִֽי־יִרְבֶּה מִמְּךָ (דברים יד, כד), אֶסְפְּרֵם מֵחוֹל יִרְבּוּן (תהלים קלט, יח). ובהראות למ"ד הפעל וּבְקָֽרְךָ וְצֹֽאנְךָ יִרְבְּיֻן (דברים ח, יג), פְּרֵה וּרְבֵה (בראשית לה, יא), לְמַעַן רְבוֹת מֽוֹפְתַי (שמות יא, ט). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] הִרְבָּה אַשְׁמָֽה (דברי הימים ב' לג, כג), עַד כָּל־מַרְבֵּה רַגְלַיִם (ויקרא יא, מב), וְלֹא יַרְבֶּה־לּוֹ נָשִׁים (דברים יז, יז), וַיֶּרֶב בְּבַת־יְהוּדָה (איכה ב, ה), הַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה (בראשית ג, טז), וְהַרְבֵּה הַמִּכְשֹׁלִים (יחזקאל כא, כ), הַרְבּוֹת גַּנּֽוֹתֵיכֶם (עמוס ד, ט), מֵֽהַרְבַּית [מֵֽהַרְבַּת] גֹּאֵל הַדָּם (שמואל ב' יד, יא). הֶרֶבה [הֶֽרֶב] כַּבְּסֵנִי (תהלים נא, ד), צווי חסר או הוא שם. וכן הֶרֶב לְהַעֲלוֹתָם מַשְׂאַת הֶעָשָׁן מִן־הָעִֽיר (שופטים כ, לח), מְדֻרָתָהּ אֵשׁ וְעֵצִים הַרְבֵּה (ישעיה ל, לג), וְלִבִּי רָאָה הַרְבֵּה חָכְמָה וָדָֽעַת (קהלת א, טז), כִּֽי־הַרְבֵּה יִֽהְיוּ (קהלת יא, ח), וְהַרְבֵּה עִמּוֹ פְדֽוּת (תהלים קל, ז) ומשקל אחר לְםַרְבֵּה [לְמַרְבֵּה] הַמִּשְׂרָה (ישעיה ט, ו), בצרי מפני הסמיכות. אָז חֻלַּק עַד־שָׁלָל מַרְבֶּה (ישעיה לג, כג). ומשקל אחר כִּי מַרְבִּית הָעָם (דברי הימים ב' ל, יח). ומשקל אחר מִרְבָּה לְהָכִֽיל (יחזקאל כג, לב), והוא תאר לכוס. וכבד אחר [פִּעֵל] רַבֶּה צְבָֽאֲךָ וָצֵֽאָה (שופטים ט, כט). ויתכן להיות רַבּוּ אֽוֹכְלֶיהָ (קהלת ה, י), מזה והוא צווי או הוא עבר משרש רָבַב. ורבי יהודה כתב בענין אחר וְלֹא־רִבִּיתָ בִּמְחִירֵיהֶֽם (תהלים מד, יג), וּבְמַרְבִּית לֹֽא־תִתֵּן אָכְלֶֽךָ (ויקרא כה, לז), וְתַרְבִּית לֹא יִקָּח (יחזקאל יח, ח). ואין צורך רק הם מענין זה כמשמעם. וענין שני והוא קרוב לראשון רִבְּתָה גוּרֶֽיהָ (יחזקאל יט, ב), אֲשֶׁר־טִפַּחְתִּי וְרִבִּיתִי (איכה ב, כב). והשם תַּרְבּוּת אֲנָשִׁים חַטָּאִים (במדבר לב, יד). ומשקל אחר וְכָל־מַרְבִּית בֵּֽיתְךָ (שמואל א' ב, לג), ענין הגדול. וענין שלישי רֹבֶה קַשָּֽׁת (בראשית כא, כ), והוא מורה החצים בקשת. ויש מפרשים אותו מתרגום נַּעַר (בראשית כא, יב) רַבְיָא. ויתכן להיות מן השרש הזה אֶת־הָֽאַרְבֶּה לְמִינוֹ (ויקרא יא, כב), ונקרא כן לפי שהוא מין רב.
ש-מ-ן
Oil, and close to it, growing fat; שָׁמֵן, fat, and of land, rich. Another sense is eight, שְׁמֹנֶה.
Oil
שֶׁמֶן זַיִת (Shemos 27:20), olive oil; כַּשֶּׁמֶן הַטּוֹב עַל־הָרֹאשׁ (Tehillim 133:2), like the good oil upon the head. וְלֹא רֻכְּכָה בַּשָּֽׁמֶן (Yeshayahu 1:6), nor softened with oil, means the salve fit for a wound, called so because oil is put in it. שֶׁמֶן תּוּרַק שְׁמֶךָ (Shir HaShirim 1:3), your name is oil poured out, is oil poured from vessel to vessel so that its scent spreads; perfumer's oil is meant, and it is spoken of in the feminine. It may be that תּוּרַק is an adjective on the pattern of תּוֹשָׁב, the one with a cholam and the other with a shuruk being all one.
Growing fat
Close to this is growing fat: שָׁמַנְתָּ עָבִיתָ כָּשִׂיתָ (Devarim 32:15), you grew fat and thick and gorged; וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן (Devarim 32:15), Yeshurun grew fat; and וַיִּשְׂבְּעוּ וַיַּשְׁמִינוּ (Nechemiah 9:25), they were sated and grew fat, which he calls intransitive. The transitive is הַשְׁמֵן לֵֽב־הָעָם הַזֶּה (Yeshayahu 6:10), fattening the heart of this people, which his father takes as an infinitive, מקור; Radak spells out the meaning, that they themselves made their heart fat and their ear heavy and shut their eyes, so as not to see and not to understand.
Fat and rich
The adjective: וְהָיָה דָשֵׁן וְשָׁמֵן (Yeshayahu 30:23), and it shall be rich and fat; מִרְעֶה שָׁמֵן וָטוֹב (Divrei HaYamim I 4:40), fat and good pasture; שְׁמֵנָה לַחְמוֹ (Bereishis 49:20), his bread shall be fat, meaning his land that brings out his bread; and וַֽאֲדָמָה שְׁמֵנָה (Nechemiah 9:25), and fat soil. His father writes that in אוֹצָר נֶחְמָד וָשֶׁמֶן בִּנְוֵה חָכָם (Mishlei 21:20), a treasure desirable and rich in the dwelling of the wise, וָשֶׁמֶן is an adjective like שָׁמֵן. By way of borrowing, כָּל־ שָׁמֵן וְכָל־אִישׁ חָיִל (Shoftim 3:29), every שָׁמֵן and every man of valour, means sound and strong, and Targum Yonasan renders כָּל אֵימְתָן, every formidable one.
The fat hill, and the yoke broken
בְּקֶרֶן בֶּן־ שָֽׁמֶן (Yeshayahu 5:1), on a horn, a son of fatness: the place is called a horn because it was high ground, and בן שמן, a son of fatness, because it was fat and rich; his father writes that Yerushalayim is called so because an anointed king and an anointed kohen were there, by the horn of the oil of anointing. וְחֻבַּל עֹל מִפְּנֵי־ שָֽׁמֶן (Yeshayahu 10:27), and the yoke shall be broken because of fatness, Radak reads as: through the fatness and strength of Chizkiyahu the yoke of Sancheriv will be broken; some explain the same words of the oil, of Chizkiyahu who was anointed with the oil of anointing. The plural is מִשְׁתֵּה שְׁמָנִים (Yeshayahu 25:6), a feast of fat things; or this plural may be from the sense of olive oil.
The oily tree
Said from this are עֲצֵי־ שָׁמֶן (Melachim I 6:31), wood of the oil tree, and וַֽעֲלֵי־עֵץ שֶׁמֶן (Nechemiah 8:15), and leaves of the oil tree: the tree called in the vernacular pine, because it is oily. Targum Yonasan renders אֲעֵי זֵיתָא, olive trees.
Eight, and a word for the graves
Another sense: וּשְׁמֹנָה נְסִיכֵי אָדָֽם (Michah 5:4), and eight princes of men; שְׁמֹנֶה שָׁנִֽים (Shoftim 12:14), eight years; and וּשְׁמֹנִים שָׁנָה (Bereishis 5:28), and eighty years; which is known. בָּֽאַשְׁמַנִּים כַּמֵּתִֽים (Yeshayahu 59:10), in graves like the dead, as Radak explains it by its place, has an added alef; one can also say it is a four-letter word. His father writes that the alef is of the root and the nun added, and its sense is from תֶּאְשַׁם שֹֽׁמְרוֹן (Hoshea 14:1), Shomron shall be desolate, a word of desolation, a place with no settlement, which is the graves.
שֶׁמֶן זַיִת (שמות כז, כ), בשש נקודות. כַּשֶּׁמֶן הַטּוֹב עַל־הָרֹאשׁ (תהלים קלג, ב), וְנַֽהֲרוֹתָם כַּשֶּׁמֶן אוֹלִיךְ (יחזקאל לב, יד). וְלֹא רֻכְּכָה בַּשָּֽׁמֶן (ישעיה א, ו), רצונו לומר במשיחה הראויה למכה. ולפי שמשימין בה שמן נקראת כן. שֶׁמֶן תּוּרַק שְׁמֶךָ (שיר השירים א, ג), כלומר שהורק מכלי אל כלי וריחו נודף. ורוצה בו שמן רוקח וכנהו בלשון נקבה. ויתכן לומר שמלת תּוּרַק תאר בפלס תּוֹשָׁב, ואם זה בחולם וזה בשורק הכל אחד. ויש מפרשים מזה וְחֻבַּל עֹל מִפְּנֵי־שָֽׁמֶן (ישעיה י, כז), רצונו לומר מפני חזקיה שהוא משוח בשמן המשחה. וְשֶׁמֶן יְמִינוֹ יִקְרָֽא (משלי כז, טז), פירשתי הפסוק בשרש צָפַן. וקרוב לזה שָׁמַנְתָּ עָבִיתָ כָּשִׂיתָ (דברים לב, טו), שָֽׁמְנוּ עָֽשְׁתוּ (ירמיה ה, כח), וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן (דברים לב, טו). והפעל הנוסף [הִפְעִיל] וַיִּשְׂבְּעוּ וַיַּשְׁמִינוּ (נחמיה ט, כה), זהו עומד. ואשר הוא יוצא הַשְׁמֵן לֵֽב־הָעָם הַזֶּה (ישעיה ו, י), ופירשו אדוני אבי ז"ל מקור, רצונו לומר כי הם השמינו את לבם והכבידו אזנם והשעו עיניהם שלא יראו ושלא יבינו. והתאר וְהָיָה דָשֵׁן וְשָׁמֵן (ישעיה ל, כג), וַיִּמְצְאוּ מִרְעֶה שָׁמֵן וָטוֹב (דברי הימים א' ד, מ). וכתב אדוני אבי ז"ל אוֹצָר נֶחְמָד וָשֶׁמֶן בִּנְוֵה חָכָם (משלי כא, כ), תאר כמו שָׁמֵן ובא בפלס מֶלֶך, עֶבֶד שהם שמות תאר. שְׁמֵנָה לַחְמוֹ (בראשית מט, כ), ארצו המוציאה לחמו. וַֽאֲדָמָה שְׁמֵנָה (נחמיה ט, כה). ועל דרך ההשאלה כָּל־שָׁמֵן וְכָל־אִישׁ חָיִל (שופטים ג, כט), רוצה לומר בריא וחזק. ויונתן תרגם כָּל אֵימְתָן. והתאר עוד בְּמִשְׁמַנָּיו רָזוֹן (ישעיה י, טז), וַֽיַּֽהֲרֹג בְּמִשְׁמַנֵּיהֶם (תהלים עח, לא), בחרק המ"ם הראשונה. והשם וּמִשְׁמַן בְּשָׂרוֹ יֵרָזֶֽה (ישעיה יז, ד), הִנֵּה מִשְׁמַנֵּי הָאָרֶץ (בראשית כז, לט), גם כן בחרק. ובפתח גם המ"ם הראשונה לְכוּ אִכְלוּ מַשְׁמַנִּים (נחמיה ח, י). ומשקל אחר וּבְשָׂרִי כָּחַשׁ מִשָּֽׁמֶן (תהלים קט, כד), בְּקֶרֶן בֶּן־שָֽׁמֶן (ישעיה ה, א), וכנה המקום בקרן שהיה מקום גבוה, ובן שמן שהיה שמן ודשן. ואדוני אבי ז"ל כתב כי נקראת כן ירושלם לפי שהיה שם מלך משוח וכהן משוח בקרן שמן המשחה. וְחֻבַּל עֹל מִפְּנֵי־שָֽׁמֶן (ישעיה י, כז), מפני שמנינות וחוזק חזקיהו יחובל עול סנחריב. והקבוץ מִשְׁתֵּה שְׁמָנִים מִשְׁתֵּה שְׁמָרִים שְׁמָנִים מְמֻחָיִם שְׁמָרִים מְזֻקָּקִֽים (ישעיה כה, ו). או יהיה זה הקבוץ מענין שֶׁמֶן זַיִת. ונאמר מזה עֲצֵי־שָׁמֶן (מלכים א' ו, לא), וַֽעֲלֵי־עֵץ שֶׁמֶן (נחמיה ח, טו), והוא העץ הנקרא בלע"ז פי"ן כי הוא שמן. ויונתן תרגם אֲעֵי זֵיתָא. וענין אחר וּשְׁמֹנָה נְסִיכֵי אָדָֽם (מיכה ה, ד), שְׁמֹנֶה שָׁנִֽים (שופטים יב, יד), וּשְׁמֹנִים שָׁנָה (בראשית ה, כח), ידוע. בָּֽאַשְׁמַנִּים כַּמֵּתִֽים (ישעיה נט, י), האל"ף נוספת ופירושו לפי מקומו בקברים. ויש לומר שהוא בן ארבע אותיות. ואדוני אבי ז"ל כתב שהאל"ף שרש והנו"ן נוספת וענינו מן תֶּאְשַׁם שֹֽׁמְרוֹן (הושע יד, א), וְהָֽאֲדָמָה לֹא תֵשָֽׁם (בראשית מז, יט), לשון שממה מקום שאין שם יישוב והם הקברים.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Tzav: Good Fat, Bad Fat," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 30 March 2024.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Good Fat, Bad Fat," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 4:4, 45:18; Shemos 13:2, 13:12, 13:13, 13:15, 23:18, 29:13, 34:19; Vayikra 1:8, 1:12, 3:3, 3:9, 7:24, 8:20, 8:26; Bamidbar 3:12, 18:15, 18:29-32; Shoftim 3:22; Shmuel II 23:29; Divrei HaYamim I 11:30, 27:15; Tehillim 73:7, 147:14; Yechezkel 20:26; Chullin 27b, 45b, 93a; Sukkah 54b with Tosafos; Shekalim 8:8; Kerisus 4:1; Tamid 31a; Shabbos 133b, 136b; Avodah Zarah 28b; Bava Metzia 83b; Bechoros 30a; Rashi; Ramban; Rabbeinu Bachya; Chizkuni; Ibn Ezra; Rashbam; Rav Hirsch; the Mainz commentary attributed to Rabbeinu Gershom; Rabbi Saadia Gaon; Rambam, Hilchos Maachalos Assuros 7:5; Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo; Rabbi Shlomo of Urbino, Ohel Moed; Machberes Menachem; Radak and Ibn Janach, Sifrei HaShorashim; Ibn Parchon, Machberes HeAruch; Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur, Nimukim; Tirgem Avraham to Shemos 29:13; Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer; Rabbi David Chaim Chelouche, Ohr Chadash (ויקרא לוח היסודות והשרשים עמ' יד); Rabbi Shaul Goldman; Even Shoshan's concordance; Tosafos Yom Tov; Rambam, introduction to Seder Kodashim; Sefer HeAruch s.v. מר; Benamozegh, Eim LaMikra to Bamidbar 18:17.