God forbade the Hebrews to eat the fat of beasts: “All the fat is
the Lord’s. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations,
throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood,” Lev.
iii, 17. Some interpreters understand these words literally, and suppose
fat as well as blood to be forbidden. Josephus says Moses forbids only
the fat of oxen, goats, sheep, and their species. This agrees with Lev.
vii, 23: “Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of
goat.” This is observed by the modern Jews, who think that the fat of
other sorts of clean creatures is allowed them, even that of beasts
which have died of themselves, conformably to Lev. vii, 24: “And the fat
of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn
with beasts, may be used in any other use; but ye shall in nowise eat of
it.” Others maintain that the law which forbids the use of fat, should
be restrained to fat separated from the flesh, such as that which covers
the kidneys and the intestines; and this only in the case of its being
offered in sacrifice. This is confirmed by Lev. vii, 25: “Whosoever
eateth of the fat of the beast of which men offer an offering made by
fire unto the Lord, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from
his people.” In the Hebrew style, fat signifies not only that of beasts,
but also the richer or prime part of other things: “He should have fed
them with the finest” (in Hebrew the fat) “of the wheat.” Fat denotes
abundance of good things: “I will satiate the souls of the priests with
fatness,” Jer. xxxi, 14. “My soul shall be satisfied with marrow and
fatness,” Psalm lxiii, 5. The fat of the earth implies its fruitfulness:
“God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and
plenty of corn and wine,” Gen. xxvii, 28.
the Lord’s. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations,
throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood,” Lev.
iii, 17. Some interpreters understand these words literally, and suppose
fat as well as blood to be forbidden. Josephus says Moses forbids only
the fat of oxen, goats, sheep, and their species. This agrees with Lev.
vii, 23: “Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of
goat.” This is observed by the modern Jews, who think that the fat of
other sorts of clean creatures is allowed them, even that of beasts
which have died of themselves, conformably to Lev. vii, 24: “And the fat
of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn
with beasts, may be used in any other use; but ye shall in nowise eat of
it.” Others maintain that the law which forbids the use of fat, should
be restrained to fat separated from the flesh, such as that which covers
the kidneys and the intestines; and this only in the case of its being
offered in sacrifice. This is confirmed by Lev. vii, 25: “Whosoever
eateth of the fat of the beast of which men offer an offering made by
fire unto the Lord, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from
his people.” In the Hebrew style, fat signifies not only that of beasts,
but also the richer or prime part of other things: “He should have fed
them with the finest” (in Hebrew the fat) “of the wheat.” Fat denotes
abundance of good things: “I will satiate the souls of the priests with
fatness,” Jer. xxxi, 14. “My soul shall be satisfied with marrow and
fatness,” Psalm lxiii, 5. The fat of the earth implies its fruitfulness:
“God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and
plenty of corn and wine,” Gen. xxvii, 28.