Job 20:17

20:17 He will not look on the streams, ¹ 

the rivers, which are the torrents ² 

of honey and butter. ³ 

Genesis 49:11

49:11 Binding his foal to the vine,

and his colt to the choicest vine,

he will wash ⁴  his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

Deuteronomy 32:13

32:13 He enabled him ⁵  to travel over the high terrain of the land,

and he ate of the produce of the fields.

He provided honey for him from the cliffs, ⁶ 

and olive oil ⁷  from the hardest of ⁸  rocks, ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 33:24

Blessing on Asher

33:24 Of Asher he said:

Asher is blessed with children,

may he be favored by his brothers

and may he dip his foot in olive oil. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 81:16

81:16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat, ¹¹ 

and would satisfy your appetite ¹²  with honey from the rocky cliffs.” ¹³ 

[20:17]  ¹ tn The word פְּלַגּוֹת (pÿlaggot) simply means “streams” or “channels.” Because the word is used elsewhere for “streams of oil” (cf. 29:6), and that makes a good parallelism here, some supply “oil” (cf. NAB, NLT). But the second colon of the verse is probably in apposition to the first. The verb “see” followed by the preposition bet, “to look on; to look over,” means “to enjoy as a possession,” an activity of the victor.

[20:17]  ² tn The construct nouns here have caused a certain amount of revision. It says “rivers of, torrents of.” The first has been emended by Klostermann to יִצְהָר (yitshar, “oil”) and connected to the first colon. Older editors argued for a נָהָר (nahar) that meant “oil” but that was not convincing. On the other hand, there is support for having more than one construct together serving as apposition (see GKC 422 §130.e). If the word “streams” in the last colon is a construct, that would mean three of them; but that one need not be construct. The reading would be “He will not see the streams, [that is] the rivers [which are] the torrents of honey and butter.” It is unusual, but workable.

[20:17]  ³ sn This word is often translated “curds.” It is curdled milk, possibly a type of butter.

[49:11]  ⁴ tn The perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, describing coming events as though they have already taken place.

[32:13]  ⁵ tn The form of the suffix on this verbal form indicates that the verb is a preterite, not an imperfect. As such it simply states the action factually. Note as well the preterites with vav (ו) consecutive that follow in the verse.

[32:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “he made him suck honey from the rock.”

[32:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “oil,” but this probably refers to olive oil; see note on the word “rock” at the end of this verse.

[32:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “flinty.”

[32:13]  ⁹ sn Olive oil from rock probably suggests olive trees growing on rocky ledges and yet doing so productively. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 415; cf. TEV “their olive trees flourished in stony ground.”

[33:24]  ¹⁰ sn Dip his foot in olive oil. This is a metaphor for prosperity, one especially apt in light of the abundance of olive groves in the area settled by Asher. The Hebrew term refers to olive oil, which symbolizes blessing in the OT. See R. Way, NIDOTTE 4:171-73.

[81:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he fed him from the best of the wheat.” The Hebrew text has a third person form of the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive attached. However, it is preferable, in light of the use of the first person in v. 14 and in the next line, to emend the verb to a first person form and understand the vav as conjunctive, continuing the apodosis of the conditional sentence of vv. 13-14. The third masculine singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in v. 6.

[81:16]  ¹² tn Heb “you.” The second person singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in vv. 7-10.

[81:16]  ¹³ sn The language in this verse, particularly the references to wheat and honey, is reminiscent of Deut 32:13-14.