Proverbs 24:13

13 My child, eat honey, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste.

Proverbs 24:13 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 24:13

My son, eat thou honey, because [it is] good
It is good for food; there was plenty of it in Palestine, and it was eaten for food, not only by children, but grown persons; and was very nourishing, strengthening, and refreshing to them, as Samson, Jonathan, John the Baptist, and others; and is good for medicine, is healthful and salutary, and useful in many diseases: it is said F13 to conduce much to prolong life and preserve from diseases; it has been observed that those who have much used it have lived to a great age; and the honeycomb, [which is] sweet to thy taste;
because it is so, as all honey is, and especially that which is immediately squeezed or drops from the honeycomb; this is said not so much on account of honey, and the eating of that, as for what follows concerning the knowledge of wisdom, which is comparable to it for pleasure and profit; see ( Proverbs 16:24 ) ( Psalms 19:11 ) ( 119:103 ) F14.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Athenaei Deipnosophist. l. 2. c. 7. p. 46, 47. so Pierius Valerian. apud Steeb. Coelum Sephirot Heb. c. 7. s. 5. p. 132.
F14 Vid. Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 30. p. 37.

Proverbs 24:13 In-Context

11 Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death.
12 Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.
13 My child, eat honey, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste.
14 In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.
15 Don’t wait in ambush at the home of the godly, and don’t raid the house where the godly live.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew My son; also in 24:21 .
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.