Proverbs 25:16
in Proverbs 25If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, Lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
KJV
Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
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This verse in Proverbs 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
If you find honey
on Proverbs 25:16-17
"If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much" turns a table proverb into a rule of moderation. "Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, lest he grow weary and hate you" applies the same principle to friendship.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The fourth need is good measure, so that a man seek not to savor beyond his means, but that he do so according to moderation. Hence, the Wise Man says: "If you find honey, eat only what you need, lest you become glutted with it …
Have you found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for you, etc. You have found the sweetness of heavenly understanding, which is ministered to you by the office of spiritual fathers, as the labor of most prudent bees. See therefore that you do not …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Hast thou found honey?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Hast thou found honey? - Make a moderate use of all thy enjoyments. “Let thy moderation be known unto all, and appear in all things.”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hast thou found honey? - Compare Jdg 14:8; 1Sa 14:27. The precept extends to the pleasure of which honey is the symbol.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דְּבַ֣שׁ | devash | honey | H1706 → | 54 times |
| מָ֭צָאתָ | matzata | you have found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| אֱכֹ֣ל | ʾekhol | eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| דַּיֶּ֑ךָּ | daiyeka | sufficiency your | H1767 → | |
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| תִּ֝שְׂבָּעֶ֗נּוּ | tisbaenu | you should be surfeited with it | H7646 → | 97 times |
| וַהֲקֵֽאתֽוֹ׃ | vahaketo | and you will vomit up it | H6958 → |
דְּבַ֣שׁhoney
devashH1706 →54 times
מָ֭צָאתָyou have found
matzataH4672 →455 times
אֱכֹ֣לeat
ʾekholH398 →810 times
דַּיֶּ֑ךָּsufficiency your
daiyekaH1767 →
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
תִּ֝שְׂבָּעֶ֗נּוּyou should be surfeited with it
tisbaenuH7646 →97 times
וַהֲקֵֽאתֽוֹ׃and you will vomit up it
vahaketoH6958 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ephesians 5:18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
it leads to
- Luke 1:15
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.
- Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Romans 13:13
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
- Galatians 5:21–25
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Acts 11:24
Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
- Luke 1:15
Through
Isaiah 7:15By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.
it leads to
- Isaiah 7:22
and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.
- Isaiah 7:22
Through
Proverbs 25:27It is not good to eat too much honey or to search out one’s own glory.
it leads to
- Proverbs 27:2
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—a stranger, and not your own lips.
- John 5:44
How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
- Proverbs 27:2
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.