H1880 — דֶּשֶׁן (deshen)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H1880
Original: דֶּשֶׁן
Transliteration: deshen
Pronunciation: deh'-shen
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: דָּשֵׁן (dashan, H1878) — primitive root; to be fat, anoint, remove ashes
Occurrences: 14 unique verses (15 tokens) in OT across 7 books
First Occurrence: Lev 1:16 — "And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H1878 (dashan); the fat; abstractly fatness, i.e. (figuratively) abundance; specifically the (fatty) ashes of sacrifices: — ashes, fatness.

The noun carries two distinct semantic poles. Concretely, it refers to the fat-saturated residue of burnt offerings — the greasy ashes left on the altar after sacrificial combustion. Abstractly, it denotes richness, abundance, or prosperity, often used figuratively for God's generous provision.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
ashes (the ashes, of the ashes, and of the ashes)	7	50.0%
fatness (and fatness, in fatness, my fatness, of fatness, with fatness, with the fatness)	7	50.0%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	4	0.47
Psalms	3	0.12
1 Kings	2	0.25
Jeremiah	2	0.15
Judges	1	0.16
Job	1	0.09
Isaiah	1	0.08

Leviticus has the highest density, reflecting the word's technical cultic usage for sacrificial ashes. Psalms and the prophets favor the figurative "fatness/abundance" sense. The 50/50 split between "ashes" and "fatness" translations mirrors the word's dual semantic range.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Sacrificial Ashes — Ritual Residue of Burnt Offerings¶

The fatty, grease-saturated ashes produced by the burning of animal sacrifices on the altar. This is the concrete, technical sense. - Lev 1:16 — "cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes (deshen)" - Lev 6:10 — "take up the ashes (deshen) which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar" - Lev 6:11 — "carry forth the ashes (deshen) without the camp unto a clean place" - Lev 4:12 — "carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes (deshen) are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt"

2. Ashes Poured Out — Sign of Judgment or Defilement¶

Ashes from an altar being spilled or dumped, functioning as a prophetic sign or geographical marker. - 1 Ki 13:3 — "Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes (deshen) that are upon it shall be poured out" - 1 Ki 13:5 — "The altar also was rent, and the ashes (deshen) poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given" - Jer 31:40 — "the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes (deshen), and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron... shall be holy unto the LORD"

3. Figurative Abundance and Richness — Divine Provision¶

The abstract sense: rich, satisfying fullness — typically describing God's generous supply or blessing. - Psa 36:8 — "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness (deshen) of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures" - Psa 63:5 — "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness (deshen); and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips" - Psa 65:11 — "Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness (deshen)" - Isa 55:2 — "eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (deshen)" - Jer 31:14 — "I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness (deshen), and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness"

4. Natural Productivity¶

The inherent richness of a fruitful tree — its oil and fat as a source of honor. - Jdg 9:9 — "But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness (deshen), wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?" - Job 36:16 — "that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness (deshen)"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbêach)	H4196	4x (29%)	altar as source or location of deshen-ashes
יְהֹוָה (Yehowah)	H3068	4x (29%)	divine provision of fatness; LORD's altar
מָקוֹם (maqowm)	H4725	3x (21%)	"the place of the ashes" — designated disposal site
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	3x (21%)	"soul satisfied with fatness" — appetite/delight idiom
אֵשׁ (esh)	H784	2x (14%)	fire consuming offerings to produce deshen
טָהוֹר (tahour)	H2889	2x (14%)	"clean place" — ritual purity of ash-disposal site
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	2x (14%)	priestly handling of sacrificial ashes

Word Family / Cognates¶

H1878 דָּשֵׁן (dashan) — root verb: to be fat, remove (fat) ashes, anoint, make fat (11 verses)
H1879 דָּשֵׁן (dashen) — adjective: fat, rich, fertile (related form)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
אֵפֶר (epher)	H665	"ashes"	epher = dry, powdery ashes (mourning, dust, worthlessness — Gen 18:27, Job 42:6, Dan 9:3); deshen = fatty, greasy ashes from burnt sacrifices specifically

The distinction is significant: deshen-ashes are a byproduct of accepted sacrifice (rich with consumed fat), while epher-ashes evoke mourning, humility, and worthlessness. They are never interchangeable in their primary contexts.

Semantic Domain¶

[001002010005] Dust — neighboring words: אָבָק (H80), אֵפֶר (H665), בֹּץ (H1206), דַּכָּא (H1793), חֹול (H2344)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
πιότης (piotes) G4096	7	10.01	Primary — "fatness, richness"
ἐκχέω (ekcheo) G1632	3	5.40	"pour out" — used for ash-pouring contexts
θυσιαστήριον (thysiastērion) G2379	4	4.38	"altar" — contextual co-occurrence, not a translation

The LXX predominantly renders the "fatness" sense with piotes (G4096, "richness"), while the "ashes" sense is handled periphrastically rather than with a single consistent Greek equivalent.