דְּבַשׁ

Genesis 43:11 דְּבַ֔שׁ honey

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

Here: Either wild bees' honey or a thick syrup boiled down from dates or grapes. Both were sweet luxuries in a land 'flowing with milk and devash'.

Exodus 3:8 וּדְבָ֑שׁ and honey

I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Here: 'And honey.' The word covers wild bees' honey and probably also thick syrup made from fruit, especially dates. Either way it means sweetness and rich food.

Exodus 3:17 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ and honey

And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

Here: Thick sweet syrup: wild bees' honey (Judg 14:8; 1 Sam 14:26) and also the syrup boiled down from dates, figs or grapes. It stands for the richest sweetness a land can give.

Exodus 13:5 וּדְבָ֑שׁ and honey

And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you shall keep this service in this month.

Here: The word covers wild bee honey and also a thick syrup made from dates, figs or grapes. Either way it stands for sweetness and plenty.

Exodus 16:31 בִּדְבָֽשׁ׃ with honey

Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

Here: 'In/with honey'. A cake made with or soaked in honey or sweet syrup. To people whose usual staples were bread, beans and onions, this was the taste of a treat.

Exodus 33:3 וּדְבָ֑שׁ and honey

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

Here: Sweet syrup, either wild bee honey or syrup made from dates or figs. Like milk, it stands for a land that is naturally rich. Even here, where the news is bad, God repeats the stock phrase for the land's abundance.

Leviticus 2:11 דְּבַ֔שׁ honey

No grain offering that you present to the LORD may be made with leaven, for you are not to burn any leaven or honey as a food offering to the LORD.

Leviticus 20:24 וּדְבָ֑שׁ and honey

But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.

Here: Any thick sweet substance: wild or kept bee honey, and very likely also syrup boiled down from dates, figs or grapes. Paired with milk, it stands for the best and sweetest food the land produces.

Numbers 13:27 וּדְבַ֛שׁ and honey

And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit!

Here: 'And honey': a thick sweet liquid. This can be wild bee honey or a syrup boiled down from dates, figs or grapes. Either way it means sweetness in abundance.

Numbers 14:8 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ and honey

If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us.

Here: Sweetness. It could be wild bees' honey or thick syrup boiled down from dates, figs or grapes. Either way it stands for the land's natural fruitfulness. The pair 'milk and honey' had become a fixed phrase for the promised land.

Numbers 16:13 וּדְבַ֔שׁ and honey

Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us?

Here: "And honey." This could be wild bees' honey or a sweet syrup from dates or grapes. Either way it stands for sweetness and plenty from the land. Applying it to Egypt is a deliberate reversal.

Numbers 16:14 וּדְבַשׁ֙ and honey

Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!”

Here: Wild bee honey, or the sweet syrup made from dates or figs. It stands for the sweetness of fruit-growing land. Milk and honey together mean plenty from both herding and farming.

Deuteronomy 6:3 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ פ and honey

Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

Here: 'And honey.' The word covers wild bee honey and also thick syrup boiled down from dates, figs or grapes. Either way it means sweetness the land gives freely.

Deuteronomy 8:8 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ and honey

a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;

Here: Honey: any thick, sweet syrup. That includes bee honey, but in a list of farm crops it most likely means here (as in early Jewish reading) syrup boiled down from dates, or possibly from grapes. It completes the seven.

Deuteronomy 11:9 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ ס and honey

and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Here: "And honey": bees' honey, and very likely also the thick syrup boiled from dates, figs or grapes. Together with milk it pictures a land rich in both flocks and fruit.

Deuteronomy 26:9 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ and honey

And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 26:15 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ ס and honey

Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You swore to our fathers—a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Here: 'And honey': bee honey, and probably also thick syrup boiled from dates, figs or grapes. It stands for the land's sweet produce. Together with milk it is a stock phrase for abundance. The ס after the verse is a scribal mark closing the section.

Deuteronomy 27:3 וּדְבַ֔שׁ and honey

Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

Deuteronomy 31:20 וּדְבַ֔שׁ and honey

When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to other gods and worship them, and they will reject Me and break My covenant.

Here: Honey, wild bee honey or (most likely often) syrup from dates, figs or grapes. With milk it forms a stock phrase for a land of plenty.

Deuteronomy 32:13 דְבַשׁ֙ honey

He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,

Here: Coming from rock, this is almost certainly wild bees' honey from hives in rock crevices (compare Ps 81:16). It is the sweetest food the land had, and it recalls the 'land flowing with milk and honey'.

Joshua 5:6 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ and honey

For the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness forty years, until all the nation’s men of war who had come out of Egypt had died, since they did not obey the LORD. So the LORD vowed never to let them see the land He had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Here: 'And honey': sweet syrup, either wild bee honey or the thick syrup made from dates, figs or grapes. With milk it pictures a land rich in what it gives naturally.

Judges 14:8 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ and honey

When Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey.

Judges 14:9 הַדְּבָֽשׁ׃ the honey

So he scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. And when he returned to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

Judges 14:18 מִדְּבַ֔שׁ more than honey

Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” So he said to them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”

1 Samuel 14:25 דְבַ֖שׁ honey

Then all the troops entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

1 Samuel 14:26 דְּבָ֑שׁ honey

And when they entered the forest and saw the flowing honey, not one of them put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.

1 Samuel 14:27 הַדְּבָ֑שׁ the honey

Jonathan, however, had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath. So he reached out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

1 Samuel 14:29 דְּבַ֥שׁ honey

“My father has brought trouble to the land,” Jonathan replied. “Just look at how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.

1 Samuel 14:43 דְּבַ֖שׁ honey

“Tell me what you have done,” Saul commanded him. So Jonathan told him, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. And now I must die?”

2 Samuel 17:29 וּדְבַ֣שׁ and honey

honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

1 Kings 14:3 דְּבַ֖שׁ honey

Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the boy.”

2 Kings 18:32 וּדְבַ֔שׁ and honey

until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’

Here: Sweet syrup: bee honey, and quite possibly fruit syrup from dates or grapes as well. With 'land', it calls up the old promise of a land 'flowing with milk and honey'.

2 Chronicles 31:5 וּדְבַ֔שׁ and honey

As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously provided the firstfruits of the grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in an abundance—a tithe of everything.

Here: A sweet substance, either bee honey or a thick syrup made from fruit, especially dates. Its presence goes beyond the usual triad and suggests that people were bringing more kinds of produce than the standard list required.

Job 20:17 דְּבַ֣שׁ honey

He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

Here: Sweet syrup: bee honey or the thick syrup boiled down from dates or grapes. It was the sweetest thing an ancient Israelite could taste, and with milk products it stood for the good land.

Psalm 19:10 מִ֝דְּבַ֗שׁ more than honey

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

Here: 'Than honey.' Before cane sugar, honey was the sweetest thing people knew. Here the word for comb that follows shows it is bees' honey, not fruit syrup.

Psalm 81:16 דְּבַ֣שׁ honey

But I would feed you the finest wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Here: Honey. Here it is most naturally wild bees' honey found in cracks in the rock. The point is that the most luxurious sweetness comes from the hardest, most barren place, where you would expect at most water.

Psalm 119:103 מִדְּבַ֥שׁ more than honey

How sweet are Your words to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth!

Here: "From honey". The prefix mi- is the Hebrew way of saying "more than". Honey, from bees or as fruit syrup, was the sweetest thing an ancient Israelite could taste, so this is the highest comparison available.

Proverbs 16:24 דְּ֭בַשׁ honey

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Here: Honey. Joined to tsuf it makes 'comb of honey', the richest and sweetest food an Israelite knew, and one also used as medicine.

Proverbs 24:13 דְבַ֣שׁ honey

Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.

Here: Honey. The word can also mean thick fruit syrup (from dates or figs), but here the parallel word nōpet points to bees' honey, a prized and fairly rare sweet.

Proverbs 25:16 דְּבַ֣שׁ honey

If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.

Here: Placed first for emphasis: 'Honey!' Since it is 'found', the picture is wild bee honey turned up in a rock crevice, a tree or a carcass. It was the sweetest thing an Israelite knew and a welcome windfall.

Proverbs 25:27 דְּבַ֣שׁ honey

It is not good to eat too much honey or to search out one’s own glory.

Here: Honey, either wild bee honey or the thick syrup boiled from dates or grapes. It was the sweetest food people knew, and in Proverbs it is also a picture of good and pleasant things, wisdom included (24:13–14).

Song of Songs 4:11 דְּבַ֤שׁ honey

Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon.

Here: The general word for honey, different from the opening word. The change adds a second sweetness in place of repeating the first, and in this setting bee honey is the likely picture, as Song 5:1 suggests by pairing it with the comb.

Song of Songs 5:1 דִּבְשִׁ֔י honey my

I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved.

Here: "My honey." Echoes 4:11, where he said "honey and milk are under your tongue": he now tastes what he praised.

Isaiah 7:15 וּדְבַ֖שׁ and honey

By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.

Here: Honey, either wild bee honey or a syrup boiled down from dates or grapes. In a countryside gone back to scrub (vv. 23–25), wild honey is the likeliest picture. Curds and honey together are food gathered from flocks and wild land, not grown in fields.

Isaiah 7:22 וּדְבַשׁ֙ and honey

and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.

Here: Honey or a sweet syrup. With the vineyards and fields gone (vv. 23–25), it most likely means honey from wild bees in scrubland, food that is gathered rather than grown.

Jeremiah 11:5 וּדְבַ֖שׁ and honey

This was in order to establish the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is to this day.” “Amen, LORD,” I answered.

Here: Sweet syrup, either wild or kept bee honey, or syrup made from dates and grapes. Together with milk it stands for a land rich in natural abundance.

Jeremiah 32:22 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ and honey

You gave them this land that You had sworn to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Here: Any thick sweet syrup: wild or kept bees' honey, and also syrup boiled down from dates, figs or grapes. It stands for the land's trees, vines and wild bounty.

Jeremiah 41:8 וּדְבָ֑שׁ and honey

But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others.

Here: A thick sweet substance. It may be bee honey or a syrup boiled down from dates, figs or grapes (see the debate below). Either way it kept for a long time and was valuable.

Ezekiel 3:3 כִּדְבַ֥שׁ like honey

“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Here: The sweetest food an Israelite knew: bee honey or thick fruit syrup (especially dates). It was the standard image for delight and abundance ('land flowing with milk and honey').

Ezekiel 16:13 וּדְבַ֛שׁ and honey

So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.

Here: A sweet food that recalls 'a land flowing with milk and honey'. In v. 19 she sets this honey before idols, even though honey was barred from the altar (Lev 2:11).

Ezekiel 16:19 וּדְבַשׁ֙ and honey

And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.

Here: Bee honey, or a syrup made from dates or grapes. It recalls 'a land flowing with milk and honey.' Israel's law kept honey out of offerings burned to YHWH (Lev 2:11), but honey was a common offering to gods elsewhere in the ancient Near East.

Ezekiel 20:6 וּדְבַ֔שׁ and honey

On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands.

Here: "And honey": a sweet, sticky food. It can mean bees' honey (wild or kept) or thick syrup boiled down from dates, figs or grapes. Either way it points to sweetness and orchards.

Ezekiel 20:15 וּדְבַ֔שׁ and honey

Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands—

Here: Wild bee honey, or very likely also thick syrup boiled from dates, figs or grapes. Either way it was the sweetest food people knew.

Ezekiel 27:17 וּדְבַ֤שׁ and honey

Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith, cakes and honey, oil and balm for your merchandise.

Here: 'Honey', meaning a thick sweet syrup. It could be bees' honey or syrup boiled down from dates or grapes. Both were produced in the land.