Definition

fat, whether literally or figuratively; hence, the richest or choice part

Etymology

or חֵלֶב; from an unused root meaning to be fat;

Where the KJV renders it

• best
• fat(-ness)
• finest
• grease
• marrow

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.