24:13 Eat honey, 1 my child, for it is good,
and honey from the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
24:14 Likewise, know 2 that wisdom is sweet 3 to your soul;
if you find it, 4 you will have a future, 5
and your hope will not be cut off.
19:10 They are of greater value 6 than gold,
than even a great amount of pure gold;
they bring greater delight 7 than honey,
than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.
119:103 Your words are sweeter
in my mouth than honey! 8
15:16 As your words came to me I drank them in, 9
and they filled my heart with joy and happiness
because I belong to you. 10
1 sn The twenty-sixth saying teaches that one should develop wisdom because it has a profitable future. The saying draws on the image of honey; its health-giving properties make a good analogy to wisdom.
2 tn D. W. Thomas argues for a meaning of “seek” in place of “know” (“Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 38 [1937]: 400-403).
3 tn The phrase “is sweet” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.
4 tn The term “it” is supplied in the translation.
5 tn Heb “there will be an end.” The word is אַחֲרִית (’akhrit, “after-part, end”). BDB 31 s.v. b says in a passage like this it means “a future,” i.e., a happy close of life, sometimes suggesting the idea of posterity promised to the righteous, often parallel to “hope.”
6 tn Heb “more desirable.”
7 tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).
8 tn Heb “How smooth they are to my palate, your word, more than honey to my mouth.” A few medieval Hebrew
9 sn Heb “Your words were found and I ate them.” This along with Ezek 2:8–3:3 is a poetic picture of inspiration. The prophet accepted them, assimilated them, and made them such a part of himself that he spoke with complete assurance what he knew were God’s words.
10 tn Heb “Your name is called upon me.”