Honey

From BibleEncyclopedia.Net

hun´i (דּבשׁ, debhash; μέλι, méli):

(1) Heb. ya'ar, occurs only 1 Samuel 14:25, 1 Samuel 14:27, 1 Samuel 14:29; Song Of Songs 5:1, where it denotes the honey of bees. Properly the word signifies a forest or copse, and refers to honey found in woods.

(2) Nopheth, honey that drops (Psalm 19:10; Proverbs 5:3; Song Of Songs 4:11).

(3) Debash denotes bee-honey (Judges 14:8); but also frequently a vegetable honey distilled from trees (Genesis 43:11; Ezekiel 27:17). In these passages it may probably mean “dibs,” or syrup of grapes, i.e., the juice of ripe grapes boiled down to one-third of its bulk.

(4) Tsuph, the cells of the honey-comb full of honey (Proverbs 16:24; Psalm 19:10).

(5) “Wild honey” (Matthew 3:4) may have been the vegetable honey distilled from trees, but rather was honey stored by bees in rocks or in trees (Deuteronomy 32:13; Psalm 81:16; 1 Samuel 14:25-29).

Canaan was a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). Milk and honey were among the chief dainties in the earlier ages, as they are now among the Bedawin; and butter and honey are also mentioned among articles of food (Isaiah 7:15). The ancients used honey instead of sugar (Psalm 119:103; Proverbs 24:13); but when taken in great quantities it caused nausea, a fact referred to in Proverbs 25:16, Proverbs 25:17 to inculcate moderation in pleasures. Honey and milk also are put for sweet discourse (Song Of Songs 4:11).

One familiar with life in Palestine will recognize in debhash the Arabic dibs, which is the usual term for a sweet syrup made by boiling down the juice of grapes, raisins, carob beans, or dates. Dibs is seldom, if ever, used as a name for honey (compare Arabic 'asal), whereas in the Old Testament debhash probably had only that meaning. The honey referred to was in most cases wild honey (Deuteronomy 32:13; Judges 14:8, Judges 14:9; 1 Samuel 14:25, 1 Samuel 14:26, 1 Samuel 14:29, 1 Samuel 14:43), although the offering of honey with the first-fruits would seem to indicate that the bees were also domesticated (2 Chronicles 31:5). The bees constructed their honeycomb and deposited their honey in holes in the ground (1 Samuel 14:25); under rocks or in crevices between the rocks (Deuteronomy 32:13; Psalm 81:16). They do the same today. When domesticated they are kept in cylindrical basket hives which are plastered on the outside with mud. The Syrian bee is an especially hardy type and a good honey producer. It is carried to Europe and America for breeding purposes.

In Old Testament times, as at present, honey was rare enough to be considered a luxury (Genesis 43:11; 1 Kings 14:3). Honey was used in baking sweets (Exodus 16:31). It was forbidden to be offered with the meal offering (Leviticus 2:11), perhaps because it was fermentable, but was presented with the fruit offering (2 Chronicles 31:5). Honey was offered to David's army (2 Samuel 17:29). It was sometimes stored in the fields (Jeremiah 41:8). It was also exchanged as merchandise (Ezekiel 27:17).

In New Testament times wild honey was an article of food among the lowly (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6).

Figurative:

“A land flowing with milk and honey” suggested a land filled with abundance of good things (Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 13:27; Deuteronomy 6:3; Joshua 5:6; Jeremiah 11:5; Ezekiel 20:6, Ezekiel 20:15). “A land of olive trees and honey” had the same meaning (Deuteronomy 8:8; 2 Kings 18:32), and similarly “streams of honey and butter” (Job 20:17). Honey was a standard of sweetness (Song Of Songs 4:11; Ezekiel 3:3; Revelation 10:9, Revelation 10:10). It typified sumptuous fare (Song Of Songs 5:1; Isaiah 7:15, Isaiah 7:22; Ezekiel 16:13, Ezekiel 16:19). The ordinances of Yahweh were “sweeter than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10; Psalm 119:103). “Thou didst eat ... honey” (Ezekiel 16:13) expressed Yahweh's goodness to Jerusalem.