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Selected Verse: Proverbs 24:13 - Strong Concordance
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Pr 24:13 |
Strong Concordance |
My son [01121], eat [0398] thou honey [01706], because it is good [02896]; and the honeycomb [05317], which is sweet [04966] to thy taste [02441]: |
| |
King James |
My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| As delicious food whets the appetite, so should the rewards of wisdom excite us to seek it. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
| Honey entered largely into the diet of Hebrew children Isa 7:15, so that it was as natural an emblem for the purest and simplest wisdom, as the "sincere milk of the word" was to the New Testament writers. The learner hears what seems to be a rule of diet - then Pro 24:14 the parable is explained. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The proverb now following stands in no obvious relation with the preceding. But in both a commencement is made with two lines, which contain, in the former, the principal thought; in this here, its reason:
13 My son, eat honey, for it is good,
And honeycomb is sweet to thy taste.
14 So apprehend wisdom for thy soul;
When thou hast found it, there is a future,
And thy hope is not destroyed.
After its nearest fundamental thought, טוב, Arab. ṭejjib, means that which smells and tastes well; honey (דּבשׁ, from דּבשׁ, to be thick, consistent) has, besides, according to the old idea (e.g., in the Koran), healing virtue, as in general bitterness is viewed as a property of the poisonous, and sweetness that of the wholesome. נפתו is second accus. dependent on אכל־, for honey and honeycomb were then spoken of as different; נפת (from נפת, to pour, to flow out) is the purest honey (virgin-honey), flowing of itself out of the comb. With right the accentuation takes 13b as independent, the substantival clause containing the reason, "for it is good:" honeycomb is sweet to thy taste, i.e., applying itself to it with the impression of sweetness; על, as at Neh 2:5; Psa 16:6 (Hitzig).
In the כּן of 14a, it is manifest that Pro 24:13 is not spoken for its own sake. To apprehend wisdom, is elsewhere equivalent to, to receive it into the mind, Pro 1:2; Ecc 1:17 (cf. דעת בינה, Pro 4:1, and frequently), according to which Bttcher also here explains: learn to understand wisdom. But כן unfolds itself in 14bc: even as honey has for the body, so wisdom has for the soul, beneficent wholesome effects. דעה חכמה is thus not absolute, but is meant in relation to these effects. Rightly Fleischer: talem reputa; Ewald: sic (talem) scito spaientiam (esse) animae tuae, know, recognise wisdom as something advantageous to thy soul, and worthy of commendation. Incorrectly Hitzig explains אם־מצאת, "if the opportunity presents itself." Apart from this, that in such a case the words would rather have been כּי תמצא, to find wisdom is always equivalent to, to obtain it, to make it one's own, Pro 3:13; Pro 8:35; cf. Pro 2:5; Pro 8:9. דּעה
(Note: Write דּעה with Illuj after the preceding Legarmeh, like 12b, הוּא (Thorath Emeth, p. 28).)
stands for דּעה, after the form רדה; שׁבה (after Bttcher, 396, not without the influence of the following commencing sound), cf. the similar transitions of ā into ě placed together at Psa 20:4; the form דּעה is also found, but דּעה is the form in the Cod. Hilleli,
(Note: Vid., Strack's Prolegomena critica in V.T. (1872), p. 19.)
as confirmed by Moses Kimchi in Comm., and by David Kimchi, Michlol 101b. With ישׁו begins the apodosis (lxx, Jerome, Targ., Luther, Rashi, Ewald, and others). In itself, וישׁ (cf. Gen 47:6) might also continue the conditional clause; but the explanation, si inveneris (eam) et ad postremum ventum erit (Fleischer, Bertheau, Zckler), has this against it, that ישׁ אחרית does not mean: the end comes, but: there is an end, Pro 23:18; cf. Pro 19:18; here: there is an end for thee, viz., an issue that is a blessed reward. The promise is the same as at Pro 23:18. In our own language we speak of the hope of one being cut off; (Arab.) jaz'a, to be cut off, is equivalent to, to give oneself up to despair. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Eat - This is not a command, but a concession, and is only here expressed to illustrate the following verse. Honey in those parts was an usual food. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| And the honey-comb - I have often had occasion to remark how much finer the flavour of honey is in the honey-comb than it is after it has been expressed from it, and exposed to the action of the air. But it has been asserted that the honey-comb is never eaten; it must be by those who have no acquaintance with the apiary. I have seen the comb with its contained honey eaten frequently, and of it I have repeatedly partaken. And that our Lord ate it, is evident from Luk 24:42. Nor can any man who has not eaten it in this way feel the full force of the allusions to the honey-comb and its sweetness in several parts of the sacred writings. See Sa1 14:27; Psa 19:10; Pro 5:3; Pro 16:24; Pro 27:7; Sol 4:11; Sol 5:1; and the place before us. |
14 So shall the knowledge [03045] of wisdom [02451] be unto thy soul [05315]: when thou hast found [04672] it, then there shall be [03426] a reward [0319], and thy expectation [08615] shall not be cut off [03772](8735).
15 Butter [02529] and honey [01706] shall he eat [0398], that he may know [03045] to refuse [03988] the evil [07451], and choose [0977] the good [02896].
18 For surely there is [03426] an end [0319]; and thine expectation [08615] shall not be cut off [03772].
18 Chasten [03256] thy son [01121] while there is [03426] hope [08615], and let not thy soul [05315] spare [05375] for his crying [04191].
18 For surely there is [03426] an end [0319]; and thine expectation [08615] shall not be cut off [03772].
6 The land [0776] of Egypt [04714] is before thee [06440]; in the best [04315] of the land [0776] make [03427] thy father [01] and brethren [0251] to dwell [03427]; in the land [0776] of Goshen [01657] let them dwell [03427]: and if thou knowest [03045] [03426] any men [0582] of activity [02428] among them, then make them [07760] rulers [08269] over my cattle [04735].
4 Grant [05414] thee according to thine own heart [03824], and fulfil [04390] all thy counsel [06098].
9 They are all plain [05228] to him that understandeth [0995], and right [03477] to them that find [04672] knowledge [01847].
5 Then shalt thou understand [0995] the fear [03374] of the LORD [03068], and find [04672] the knowledge [01847] of God [0430].
35 For whoso findeth [04672] me findeth [04672] [04672] life [02416], and shall obtain [06329] favour [07522] of the LORD [03068].
13 Happy [0835] is the man [0120] that findeth [04672] wisdom [02451], and the man [0120] that getteth [06329] understanding [08394].
1 Hear [08085], ye children [01121], the instruction [04148] of a father [01], and attend [07181] to know [03045] understanding [0998].
17 And I gave [05414] my heart [03820] to know [03045] wisdom [02451], and to know [03045] madness [01947] and folly [05531]: I perceived [03045] that this [01571] also is vexation [07475] of spirit [07307].
2 To know [03045] wisdom [02451] and instruction [04148]; to perceive [0995] the words [0561] of understanding [0998];
13 My son [01121], eat [0398] thou honey [01706], because it is good [02896]; and the honeycomb [05317], which is sweet [04966] to thy taste [02441]:
6 The lines [02256] are fallen [05307] unto me in pleasant [05273] places; yea, I have a goodly [08231] heritage [05159].
5 And I said [0559] unto the king [04428], If it please [02895] the king [04428], and if thy servant [05650] have found favour [03190] in thy sight [06440], that thou wouldest send [07971] me unto Judah [03063], unto the city [05892] of my fathers [01]' sepulchres [06913], that I may build [01129] it.
1 I am come [0935] into my garden [01588], my sister [0269], my spouse [03618]: I have gathered [0717] my myrrh [04753] with my spice [01313]; I have eaten [0398] my honeycomb [03293] with my honey [01706]; I have drunk [08354] my wine [03196] with my milk [02461]: eat [0398], O friends [07453]; drink [08354], yea, drink abundantly [07937], O beloved [01730].
11 Thy lips [08193], O my spouse [03618], drop [05197] as the honeycomb [05317]: honey [01706] and milk [02461] are under thy tongue [03956]; and the smell [07381] of thy garments [08008] is like the smell [07381] of Lebanon [03844].
7 The full [07649] soul [05315] loatheth [0947] an honeycomb [05317]; but to the hungry [07457] soul [05315] every bitter thing [04751] is sweet [04966].
24 Pleasant [05278] words [0561] are as an honeycomb [06688] [01706], sweet [04966] to the soul [05315], and health [04832] to the bones [06106].
3 For the lips [08193] of a strange woman [02114] drop [05197] as an honeycomb [05317], and her mouth [02441] is smoother [02509] than oil [08081]:
10 More to be desired [02530] are they than gold [02091], yea, than much [07227] fine gold [06337]: sweeter [04966] also than honey [01706] and the honeycomb [05317] [06688].
27 But Jonathan [03129] heard [08085] not when his father [01] charged [07650] the people [05971] with the oath [07650]: wherefore he put forth [07971] the end [07097] of the rod [04294] that was in his hand [03027], and dipped [02881] it in an honeycomb [03295] [01706], and put [07725] his hand [03027] to his mouth [06310]; and his eyes [05869] were enlightened [0215].
42 And [1161] they gave [1929] him [846] a piece [3313] of a broiled [3702] fish [2486], and [2532] of [575] an honeycomb [3193] [2781].