Psalms 19:10
in Psalms 19They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb.
KJV
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
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This verse in Psalms 19
Commentary
14 notes on this verseMore to be desired are they than gold - This is strictly true; but who believes it? By most men gold is preferred both to God and his judgments; and they will barter every heavenly portion for gold and silver! Sweeter also than honey - To those whose mental taste is rectified, who have a spiritual discernment. Honey-comb - Honey is sweet; but honey just out of the comb has a sweetness, richness and flavour, far beyond what it has after it becomes exposed to the air.
This site's exposition
more precious than gold
on Psalms 19:10-11
Gold and honey are the two measures. The law is rated above gold, even much pure gold, and above honey straight from the comb. The servant is warned by them, and the reward is in the keeping.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"Sweet is the Word that gives us light, precious above gold and gems; it is to be desired above honey and the honey-comb." For how can it be other than desirable, since it has filled with light the mind which had been buried in darkness, and given keenness to the "light-bringing eyes" of the soul? For just as, had the sun not been in existence, night would have brooded over the universe notwithstanding the other luminaries of heaven; so, had we not known the Word, and been illuminated by Him; we should have been nowise different from fowls that are being fed, fattened in darkness, and nourished for death. Let us then admit the light, that we may admit God; let us admit the light, and become disciples to the Lord.
"The judgments of the Lord are true, justified together." The judgments of Him, who "judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son," are justified in truth unchangeably. For neither in His threatenings nor His promises doth God deceive any man, nor can any withdraw either from the ungodly His punishment, or from the godly His reward. "To be desired more than gold, and much precious stone" (ver. 10). Whether it be "gold and stone itself much," or "much precious," or "much to be desired;" still, the judgments of God are to be desired more than the pomp of this world; by desire of which it is brought to pass that the judgments of God are not desired, but feared, or despised, or not believed. But if any be himself gold and precious stone, that he may not be consumed by fire, but received into the treasury of God, more than himself does he desire the judgments of God, whose will he preferreth to his own. "And sweeter than honey and the honey comb." And whether one be even now honey, who, disenthralled already from the chains of this life, is awaiting the day when he may come up to God's feast; or whether he be yet as the honey comb, wrapped about with this life as it were with wax, not mixed and become one with it, but filling it, needing some pressure of God's hand, not oppressing but expressing it, whereby from life temporal it may be strained out into life eternal: to such an one the judgments of God are sweeter than he himself is to himself, for that they are "sweeter than honey and the honey comb."
While honey and comb only taste good in the mouth, the judgments of the Lord offer a perfect sweetness for the mind.
… hear the prophet speaking concerning them, and declaring this superiority; "More to be desired are they," he saith "than gold and much precious stone; sweeter are they also than honey and the honeycomb." But to those (only) who are in health; wherefore he has added, "For thy servant keepeth them." And again in another place calling them sweet he has added, "to my throat." For he saith, "How sweet are thy words unto my throat." And again he insisteth on the superiority, saying, "Above honey and the honeycomb to my mouth." For he was in very sound health. And let not us either come nigh to these while we are sick, but when we have healed our soul, so receive the food that is offered us.
Renunciation [is] … the severance of the bonds of this material and transient life and freedom from human concerns, whereby we render ourselves more fit to set out on the road leading to God. It is the unhindered impulse toward the possession and enjoyment of inestimable goods, "more to be desired than gold and many precious stones." In short, it is the transference of the human heart to a heavenly mode of life, so that we can say, "But our conversation is in heaven."
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The commandments of God are irreproachable, because they contain nothing burdensome, but rather they are sweet. "More to be desired than gold and much precious stone, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb." But we see that to an infected palate sweet food seems bitter; …
"More to be desired." Above, the Psalmist commended the divine law as to its rectitude; here he commends it as to its sweetness and pleasantness. And concerning this he does two things. First, he sets forth its commendation. Second, he proves such a commendation, at …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
More to be desired are they than gold,....
It is well that we are under grace, and not under the law, else we were undone. He takes occasion hence to pray against sin. All the discoveries of sin made to us by the law should drive us to the throne of grace, there to pray, as David does here, (1.) For mercy to pardon.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
"More to be desired are they than fine gold, yea, than much fine gold." Bible truth is enriching to the soul in the highest degree; the metaphor is one which gathers force as it is brought out;—gold—fine gold—much fine gold; it is good, better, best, and therefore it is not only to be desired with a miser's avidity, but with more than that. As spiritual treasure is more noble than mere material wealth, so should it be desired and sought after with greater eagerness. Men speak of solid gold, but what is so solid as solid truth?
"More to be desired are they than fine gold, yea, than much fine gold." Bible truth is enriching to the soul in the highest degree; the metaphor is one which gathers force as it is brought out;—gold—fine gold—much fine gold; it is good, better, best, and therefore it is not only to be desired with a miser's avidity, but with more than that. As spiritual treasure is more noble than mere material wealth, so should it be desired and sought after with greater eagerness. Men speak of solid gold, but what is so solid as solid truth? For love of gold pleasure is forsworn, ease renounced, and life endangered; shall we not be ready to do as much for love of truth? "Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." Trapp says, "Old people are all for profit, the young for pleasure; here's gold for the one, yea, the finest gold in great quantity; here's honey for the other, yea, live honey dropping from the comb." The pleasures arising from a right understanding of the divine testimonies are of the most delightful order; earthly enjoyments are utterly contemptible, if compared with them. The sweetest joys, yea, the sweetest of the sweetest falls to his portion who has God's truth to be his heritage.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
More to be desired are they than gold - That is, his law; or, as in the preceding verse, his judgments. They are more valuable than gold; they are of such a nature that the soul should more desire to be in possession of them than to be in possession of gold, and should value them more. The psalmist here and in the following verses describes his estimate of the worth of revealed truth as he perceived it. In the previous verses he had shown its value in the abstract; he here speaks of his own feelings in regard to it, and shows that he esteems it more than he did the objects most prized and valued among men. Yea, than much fine gold - The word used here - פז pâz - means properly that which is purified or pure, and thus becomes an epithet of gold, particularly of gold that is purified. It is rendered fine gold here, as in Psa 119:127; Pro 8:19; Son 5:11, Son 5:15; Isa 13:12; Lam 4:2; and pure gold in Psa 21:3. The word does not occur elsewhere. Gold is an article of principal value among men; and the object here is to show that to a pious mind the revealed truth of God is esteemed to be the most valuable of all things - a treasure above all which men can accumulate, and all which men can prize. Every truly pious heart will respond to the sentiment expressed here. Sweeter also than honey - Honey, the sweetest of all substances, and regarded as an article of luxury, or as most grateful to the taste. It entered largely into the food of the inhabitants of Palestine, as it does now in Switzerland and in some parts of Africa. The idea is that the truth of God, as revealed, is more grateful to the heart, or affords more pleasure to the soul, than that which is esteemed as the highest luxury to the palate. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The fear of the Lord is clean: – with reference to the things a man does in secret or without their being known, like theft, or falsifying measures and weights, and such like; and these are the things about which it is said, “But thou shall fear thy God, I am the Lord” (Lev.:11,,,;:17,, 43).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַֽנֶּחֱמָדִ֗ים | hanechemadim | those desirable | H2530 → | 25 times |
| מִ֭זָּהָב | mizaho | more than gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| וּמִפַּ֣ז | umipaz | and more than pure gold | H6337 → | 9 times |
| רָ֑ב | rav | much | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וּמְתוּקִ֥ים | umetukim | and sweet | H4966 → | |
| מִ֝דְּבַ֗שׁ | midevash | more than honey | H1706 → | 54 times |
| וְנֹ֣פֶת | venofet | and [the] honey of | H5317 → | |
| צוּפִֽים׃ | tzufim | honeycombs | H6688 → |
הַֽנֶּחֱמָדִ֗יםthose desirable
hanechemadimH2530 →25 times
מִ֭זָּהָבmore than gold
mizahoH2091 →389 times
וּמִפַּ֣זand more than pure gold
umipazH6337 →9 times
רָ֑בmuch
ravH7227 →454 times
וּמְתוּקִ֥יםand sweet
umetukimH4966 →
מִ֝דְּבַ֗שׁmore than honey
midevashH1706 →54 times
וְנֹ֣פֶתand [the] honey of
venofetH5317 →
צוּפִֽים׃honeycombs
tzufimH6688 →
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
Psalms 119:103How sweet are Your words to my taste— sweeter than honey in my mouth!
it leads to
- Proverbs 8:11
For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 24:13–14
Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
- Psalms 63:5
My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
- Proverbs 8:11
Through
Psalms 119:72The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
it leads to
- Proverbs 8:10–11
Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 16:16
How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 119:127
Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, even the purest gold.
- Proverbs 8:10–11
Through
Proverbs 16:16How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
it leads to
- Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Proverbs 8:19
My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.
- Matthew 16:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 19; Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES, Q.8; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 19:11; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.