1 Samuel 14:25-30

14:25 Now the whole army ¹  entered the forest and there was honey on the ground. ²  14:26 When the army entered the forest, they saw ³  the honey flowing, but no one ate any of it, ⁴  for the army was afraid of the oath. 14:27 But Jonathan had not heard about the oath his father had made the army take. He extended the end of his staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb. When he ate it, ⁵  his eyes gleamed. ⁶  14:28 Then someone from the army informed him, “Your father put the army under a strict oath ⁷  saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today!’ That is why the army is tired.” 14:29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has caused trouble for the land. See how my eyes gleamed ⁸  when I tasted just a little of this honey. 14:30 Certainly if the army had eaten some of the enemies’ provisions that they came across today, would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

Proverbs 25:15

25:15 Through patience ⁹  a ruler can be persuaded, ¹⁰ 

and a soft tongue ¹¹  can break a bone. ¹² 

[14:25]  ¹ tn Heb “all the land.”

[14:25]  ² tn Heb “the surface of the field.”

[14:26]  ³ tn Heb “and the army entered the forest, and look!”

[14:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “and there was no one putting his hand to his mouth.”

[14:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he returned his hand to his mouth.”

[14:27]  ⁶ tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading “gleamed,” rather than the Kethib, “saw.”

[14:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “your father surely put the army under an oath.” The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb to emphasize the solemn nature of the oath.

[14:29]  ⁸ tc The LXX reads “saw.” See v. 27.

[25:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “long of anger” or “forbearance” (so NASB).

[25:15]  ¹⁰ tn The two imperfect verbs in this line may be nuanced as potential imperfects because what is described could happen, but does not do so as a rule.

[25:15]  ¹¹ tn The “tongue” is a metonymy of cause; and so the expression here refers to soft or gentle speech. This fits well with the parallel idea of patience (“long of anger”) – through a calm patient persuasion much can be accomplished. Some English versions relate this figure directly to the persuasion of a ruler in the previous line (cf. TEV “can even convince rulers”).

[25:15]  ¹² sn The idea of breaking a bone uses the hardest and most firm part of the body in contrast to the “softness of the tongue.” Both are figurative, forming a comparison. A gentle speech can break down any stiff opposition.