Subject: Re: Psalm 20:3 "make fat your burnt sacrifices"
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 11:13:56 -0400
At 09:25 AM 6/14/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Reading this verse in the English (as I have no skill in Hebrew) I saw these
>words of blessing:
>
>"[YHWH] shall make fat your burnt sacrifices"
What translation is this?
>
>Is the psalmist saying that God will take the charred remains of our
>sacrifices and turn them back into fat, healthy livestock?
The Hebrew text of 20:4 (its verse 3 only in the english versions) says "may
he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt offerings."
The only thing I can figure is that the translation you have has rendered
<heb> weolatheka yedashshenah </heb> by the phrase "make fat your burnt
offerings". However, this is not exactly accurate, though <heb> dashan
</heb> does indeed mean to "grow fat", in this context it is a technical
term for acceptable or favorable. In other words, the psalmist is asking
God to make his offering fat- so that it will be accepted as an offering.
It does not mean that God takes some ashes and reconstitutes a cow with
them. Fat animals were prime sacrifices. The psalmist wants God to make em
acceptable (i.e., fat).
Best,
Jim
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
" The righteous man looks after his own soul, and the bodies of others,
whereas the hypocrite looks after his own body, and the souls of others"
Rabbi Lionel Blue