Answers about…
honey in the Bible
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 Bedouins; and butter and honey are also mentioned among delicious of foods (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 25:16-17 to inculcate moderation in pleasures.
Poetic honey
“Your lips, my bride, drip honey from the comb;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. —Song of Songs 4:11
Original language words
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Hebrew: ya'ar, occurs only 1 Samuel 14:25, 27, 29; Song of Songs 5:1, where it denotes the honey of bees. Properly the word signifies a forest or a thicket of small trees or shrubs, and refers to honey found in woods.
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Hebrew: Nopheth, honey that drops (Psalm 19:10; Proverbs 5:3; Song of Songs 4:11)
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Hebrew: Debash denotes bee-honey (Judges 14:8); but also frequently a vegetable honey distilled from trees (Genesis 43:11; Ezek. 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.
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Hebrew: Tsuph, the cells of the honey-comb full of honey (Proverbs 16:24; Psalm 19:10)
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“Wild honey” (Matthew 3:4) may have been the vegetable honey distilled from trees, but more likely was honey stored by bees in rocks or in trees (Deuteronomy 32:13; Psalm 81:16; 1 Samuel 14:25-29).
Greek: μέλι —transliteration: meli —meaning: honey
Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6; Revelation 10:9-10
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