Eating Animal Fat

Published on Updated on Diet

In ancient days, animal fats were prized. The visceral fats were burned in the temple. But the eating of animal fat as part of a meal was still permitted.

 

 

Note: Many people find it morally objectionable that a religion requires the killing of innocent animals.

 

 

OVERVIEW

 

In the Old Testament era, animal fats were prized for religious sacrifice in the temple.

For such an offering, all the visceral fat of the animal was to be extracted. And burned.

 

In the relevant texts, the Hebrew word for “fat” is חֵ֫לֶב (“chelev”). It means fat portions (i.e. “chunks”).

According to rabbinical interpretation, chelev is the type of fat that looks like a thick fibrous skin. It is seen on the digestive organs, on the kidneys and on the flanks.

The relevant biblical texts name five animal fats in particular:

  • the fat that covers the innards
  • the fat that is on the innards
  • the fat that is on the kidneys
  • the fat which is by the loins
  • the cover on the liver

Collectively, those are referred to as suet. Or organ fat. Or visceral fat.

Those are not the kind of fat that most people are accustomed to. What most people are accustomed to is muscle fat.

Muscle fat is the fat on the edges of a piece of steak. It is what makes a steak juicy. Muscle fat is not included in this list to be removed for sacrifice.

 

The prohibition was only against eating animal fat that had been sacrificed to the LORD God.

Once the animal fat had been sacrificed to the LORD God, nobody was allowed to eat it. Everybody was prohibited.

But the eating of animal fat as part of your dietary intake was permitted.

 

The scientific literature documents many ancestral peoples who ate a diet that was very high in animal fat.

For example:

  • The Inuit of the Canadian Arctic thrived on fish, seal, walrus and whale meat.
  • The Chukotka of the Russian Arctic lived on caribou meat, marine animals and fish.
  • The Masai, Samburu, and Rendille warriors of East Africa survived on diets consisting primarily of milk and meat.
  • The steppe nomads of Mongolia ate mostly meat and dairy products.
  • The Sioux of South Dakota enjoyed a diet of buffalo meat.
  • The Brazilian Gauchos nourished themselves with beef

Reference: Georgia Ede, MD

 

BIBLE VERSES

 

Exodus 29:13. You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.

Exodus 29:22. Also you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration),

Leviticus 3:3. He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,

Leviticus 3:4. and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away.

Leviticus 3:9. He shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to the LORD; its fat, the entire tail fat, he shall take away close to the backbone; and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails,

Leviticus 3:10. and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away.

Leviticus 3:14. He shall offer from it as his offering, an offering made by fire to the LORD; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,

Leviticus 3:15. and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away.

Leviticus 4:8. He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering from it: the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,

Leviticus 4:9. and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall remove,

Leviticus 7:3. He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards,

Leviticus 7:25. For whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to the LORD, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people.

Leviticus 8:16. He took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses burned it on the altar.

Leviticus 8:20. He cut the ram into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat.

Leviticus 8:25. He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh;

Leviticus 9:10. but the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Leviticus 9:19. and the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the innards, and the kidneys, and the cover of the liver;

Leviticus 16:25. The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.

Leviticus 17:6. The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the LORD’s altar at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to the LORD.

Numbers 28:2. Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, as a pleasant aroma to me, in their due season.’

Numbers 28:6. It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

Numbers 28:24. In this way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD. It shall be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

 

SEE ALSO

Eating Animal Fat. In ancient days, animal fats were prized. The visceral fats were burned in the temple. But the eating of animal fat as part of a meal was still permitted.

My Dietary Experiment in England. While I was living in England, I tried the diet of Mohandas K. Gandhi. I lived on fruit and nuts for a month.

Why Be a Vegetarian? – a Haiku poem. I wrote this Haiku poem after reading that Daniel the Prophet lived as a vegetarian.

A female animal for a sin offering. In most of the the Book of Leviticus, the sacrificial animals were to be male. But in some cases, the animal for a sin offering was to be female.

The Bible’s original diet. In the beginning, when we humans walked in the Garden of Eden, what did the LORD God command us to eat? The Bible’s answer may surprise you.

Daniel fasted from desirable foods. By 536 BC, the exiles had returned to Israel. God revealed to Daniel that a great war was coming. Daniel fasted three weeks, waiting on God in prayer. This was his second major fasting.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.