Meaning
Fat (Heb. heleb) denotes the richest part of the animal, or the fattest of the flock, in the account of Abel's sacrifice (Gen 4:4). It sometimes denotes the best of any production (Gen 45:18; Num 18:12; Ps 81:16; 147:47). The fat of sacrifices was to be burned (Lev 3:9-11; 4:8; 7:3; 8:25; Num 18:17. Comp. Ex 29:13-22; Lev 3:3-5).
It is used figuratively for a dull, stupid state of mind (Ps 17:10).
In Joel 2:24 the word is equivalent to "vat," a vessel. The hebrew word here thus rendered is elsewhere rendered "wine-fat" and "press-fat" (Hag 2:16; Isa 63:2).
