5. A sweet savour. Inasmuch as the fat was burned on the altar, “a sweet savour unto the Lord,” it seems inconsistent to hold, as some do, that it was a symbol of sin. Sin is an abomination to God, and nothing symbolizing it was permitted to come on the altar. It was for this reason that leaven, as a symbol of sin, was excluded ( 2:11, 12). Psalms 37:20 is sometimes quoted as proof that “fat” signifies sin. But the word translated “fat” is yaqar, and means “beauty,” “magnificence,” or “preciousness” rather than “fat.” It is the same word God uses in calling His people “precious” (Isa. 43:4). The fat was always burned on the altar; God claimed it as His (Lev. 3:16); it was a “sweet savour” unto the Lord; it was precious; it was “the food of the offering” presented to the Lord ( 16). To “eat the fat of the land” (Gen. 45:18) meant to enjoy the best it had to offer.