Psalms 19:10

19:10 They are of greater value ¹  than gold,

than even a great amount of pure gold;

they bring greater delight ²  than honey,

than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.

Psalms 104:34

104:34 May my thoughts ³  be pleasing to him!

I will rejoice in the Lord.

Psalms 119:103

119:103 Your words are sweeter

in my mouth than honey! ⁴ 

Proverbs 16:24

16:24 Pleasant words are like ⁵  a honeycomb, ⁶ 

sweet to the soul and healing ⁷  to the bones.

Ezekiel 3:3

3:3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, ⁸  and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.

[19:10]  ¹ tn Heb “more desirable.”

[19:10]  ² tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).

[104:34]  ³ tn That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.

[119:103]  ⁴ 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.”

[16:24]  ⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[16:24]  ⁶ sn The metaphor of honey or the honeycomb is used elsewhere in scripture, notably Ps 19:10 [11]. Honey was used in Israel as a symbol of the delightful and healthy products of the land – “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut 6:3).

[16:24]  ⁷ sn Two predicates are added to qualify the metaphor: The pleasant words are “sweet” and “healing.” “Soul” includes in it the appetites, physical and spiritual; and so sweet to the “soul” would summarize all the ways pleasant words give pleasure. “Bones” is a metonymy of subject, the boney framework representing the whole person, body and soul. Pleasant words, like honey, will enliven and encourage the whole person. One might recall, in line with the imagery here, how Jonathan’s eyes brightened when he ate from the honeycomb (1 Sam 14:27).

[3:3]  ⁸ tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.