Honey in the Bible

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HoneyThere’s a whole lot of honey in the Bible! No, really, there’s quite a bit. There’s a land flowing with “milk and honey.” There’s “honey from the rock.” There’s even honeycomb–and no not the cereal kind! Honey is mentioned for its sweetness–both literal and metaphorical. I’m interested writing about honey because to me it is a fascinating thing and a wonderfully rich symbol. If you think about it a bit, honey is one of the weirdest things we eat–it’s made by bugs from yellow dust that flowers produce, after all! Also, it was one of the only truly sweet things that the ancient Israelites would have eaten. They didn’t have candy stores and Coca Cola like we do.

So where does honey show up in the Bible?

In Genesis 43:11, Jacob sends honey with his sons as a gift for the overlord of Egypt (i.e. Joseph). In Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua the text mentions “a land flowing with milk and honey” many times. Also, the manna from heaven is said to taste like cakes made with honey (Exod 16:31). Yum! Judges 14 relates a strange story about the judge Samson who eats impure honey from a beehive in a lion carcass. “Honey from the rock” is mentioned twice (Deut 32:13; Ps 81:16). What is that?

In 1 Sam 14, honey becomes a flashpoint for the life of Jonathan who eats some honey despite there being a curse spoken by his father, the king, on anyone eating before sundown. A “jar of honey” shows up in 1 Kgs 14:2. The Psalms compare God’s words to honey (Ps 19:10; 119:103). Proverbs instructs us to eat honey and wisdom (Prov 24:13), but then warns that eating too much honey will cause us to vomit (Prov 25:16) and that it is not good to do so (Prov 25:27). The lover in the Song of Songs eats honey (Song 4:11; 5:1). Honey is often associated with curds (2 Sam 17:29; Isa 7:15, 22)

In the New Testament, John the Baptist eats locusts and honey (Matt 3:4, Mark 1:6). And John eats a scroll as “sweet as honey” (Rev 10:10).

Honey is to be a symbol for sweetness. I mean, you don’t really think that an evil woman’s lips actually drip honey (Prov 5:3)! Honey also appears as a common ingredient for breads and cakes (Exod 16:31; Lev 2:11; Ezek 16:13, 19). It has a kind of raw purity attached to it and is the kind of thing you would eat if you came across it while you are out and about–an ancient Israelite snack. I want to take a look at some other ancient Near Eastern cultures that wrote about honey and compare it to the biblical passages. Hopefully, I can come to a better understanding of what biblical honey is all about.

St. Augustine on Bible Students

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St. Augustine in De Doctrina teaches:

  • Students of the Holy Scriptures are not only to be admonished that they know the kinds of expression that are used there, and that they observe vigilantly and hold by memory the manner in which things are customarily said there, but also, and this is most important, that they pray for understanding. For in these books concerning which they are studious they read that “the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge” (Prov 2:6). They have also received from Him their desire for study, if it is upheld by piety.

–St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, III, 37.56, translated by D. W. Robertson, Jr., The Library of the Liberal Arts. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997), 117.

Bernard of Clairvaux, Gilbert of Hoyland and John of Ford on the Song of Songs

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Since I could not find a similar list elsewhere, I have compiled a list of the volumes in the Cistercian Fathers series on the Song of Songs with their corresponding biblical references. As I described in a previous post, the commentary was begun by Bernard, continued by Gilbert and finished by John of Ford. This list matches each volume with the verses being commented on. It is worth noting that some verses are commented on in multiple sections and that not every single “sermon” in the collection deals directly and explicitly with the text of the Song of Songs. I hope this list may be useful to someone.

  1. Bernard, On the Song of Songs, Vol. I, Cistercian Fathers 4, Song 1:1-2.
  2. Bernard, On the Song of Songs, Vol. II, Cistercian Fathers 7, Song 1:3-16.
  3. Bernard, On the Song of Songs, Vol. III, Cistercian Fathers 31, Song 2:1-15.
  4. Bernard, On the Song of Songs, Vol. IV, Cistercian Fathers 40, Song 2:16–3:3.
  5. Gilbert, On the Song of Songs, Vol. I, Cistercian Fathers 14, Song 3:1-6.
  6. Gilbert, On the Song of Songs, Vol. II, Cistercian Fathers 20, Song 3:7–4:10.
  7. Gilbert, On the Song of Songs, Vol. III, Cistercian Fathers 26, Song 4:10–5:10.
  8. John of Ford, On the Song of Songs, Vol. I, Cistercian Fathers 29, Song 5:8-11.
  9. John of Ford, On the Song of Songs, Vol. II, Cistercian Fathers 39, Song 5:11-14.
  10. John of Ford, On the Song of Songs, Vol. III, Cistercian Fathers 43, Song 5:14–6:2.
  11. John of Ford, On the Song of Songs, Vol. IV, Cistercian Fathers 44, Song 6:3-12.
  12. John of Ford, On the Song of Songs, Vol. V, Cistercian Fathers 45, Song 6:12–7:7.
  13. John of Ford, On the Song of Songs, Vol. VI, Cistercian Fathers 46, Song 7:8–8:5.
  14. John of Ford, On the Song of Songs, Vol. VII, Cistercian Fathers 47, Song 8:5-14.

Great Site on St. Bonaventure

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I just found a fantastic site on all things Franciscan, which has an extensive collection of material by and about St. Bonaventure including Latin, English and French editions of a great number of his works publicly available for free. The site even includes a lot of original English translations released into the public domain. It is called the Franciscan Archive. Take a look!

Ancient Rabbis and Sports Talk

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When I read the ancient rabbis’ discussions of scripture, it makes me think of how we Americans talk about sports. For the rabbis, it is not so much about who in the discussion is right or rigorously scientific, but more about the conversation itself.

Sports talk is the same way. Only so many games are played. Only so many points are scored. Only one team wins it all. But the talk—it goes on forever! Sports talk radio is still going on and on about a football season that ended with the Superbowl almost two weeks ago—and no NFL team will play another game until August! It is almost as if the games and points and players and champions are not really what matters, but the conversation itself. The same issues are brought up over and over. The same players and situations are examined repeatedly looking for an explanation as to why this team did well or didn’t do well. The conversation never ends, it is an end in itself. Old stories that haven’t been talked about in years are brought up again for comparison’s sake. Sports talkers mull over player injuries, especially ones that have not been officially announced yet, and they try to use this (dis)information to gauge the team’s chances of success in its next competition. They argue points from multiple sides, taking on various views to see how they fit and to make the conversation continue. The rabbis are the same way.

The rabbis talk about a Scripture passage over and over. Yes, they have their opinions. But one rabbi is allowed to have more than one opinion. The point is not who is right, but that the Scripture should be talked about in such detail. The conversation is the point. Americans often look for what in a Scripture passage is the essential, scientifically defined “point” of the text. What in it must be obeyed? But the rabbis are not looking merely for a dictum to be obeyed. They’re simply admiring the beauty of the word by talking about all the various possibilities of meaning without really settling on only one meaning. Scripture is more than something that has rules to be obeyed. It is the Word of God and therefore infinitely beautiful. It is meant to be viewed, examined, admired, talked about and appreciated.

Listening to the rabbis’ conversations about Scripture is like overhearing two art critics discussing a painting at an exhibition. They don’t merely give a thumbs up or thumbs down, they talk through the artist’s technique, his subject matter, his choice of materials, his choice of colors, his subtlety with the brush, the influences on his style, his intentions as far as they can be worked out. They are not looking to establish a “message” for the painting, but rather, they are admiring the work of the artist by talking about what he has accomplished in all its details with a panoply of bunny-trails for the imagination to run down. Beauty is not something that can be circumscribed by a definition, but something that must be infinitely appreciated, admired, upheld, pondered and cherished. Hence the unending nature of the conversation.

Gregory of Nyssa on the Song of Songs

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Another story of a book hunt: I was using Richard Norris volume on the Song of Songs from the Church’s Bible series. It uses extensive quotations from Gregory of Nyssa’s Homilies on the Song of Songs. There’s a note in the front of the book that the quotations are from Norris’ own translation of Gregory, copyright 2003. I thought that looked promising, but turns out he did not publish it until 2006 and at the point it was published with Brill (ISBN: 9789004130616). Good luck finding a copy! It is no longer for sale from Brill, Amazon does not carry it and only 2 or 3 libraries own a copy. However, I found that it was re-published by SBL in 2011 (ISBN: 1589831055). That sounded good, but again only about three libraries own it. I called one of them and they told me the book was actually only on order, not in their possession. So, I found the book on the SBL online bookstore, but it said “forthcoming,” meaning “not yet published.” I called SBL publications and asked when the book would really be published. They told me that there’s no scheduled date. And really weird—I looked on their website today and there’s no trace of the book. The other thing I found out that probably affects what is going here is that Norris died in 2005. I would imagine that complicates the publishing of one of his books. Anyway, I’ll probably have to settle for the older translation of the homilies by Casimir McCambley from 1986.