Proverbs 24:13-14

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.

Psalms 19:10

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.

Psalms 119:103

119:103 Your words are sweeter

in my mouth than honey! ⁸ 

Jeremiah 15:16

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 

[24:13]  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.

[24:14]  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).

[24:14]  ³ tn The phrase “is sweet” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[24:14]  ⁴ tn The term “it” is supplied in the translation.

[24:14]  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.”

[19:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “more desirable.”

[19:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).

[119:103]  ⁸ tn Heb “How smooth they are to my palate, your word, more than honey to my mouth.” A few medieval Hebrew mss, as well as several other ancient witnesses, read the plural “your words,” which can then be understood as the subject of the plural verb “they are smooth.”

[15:16]  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.

[15:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Your name is called upon me.”