1 Samuel 14:25

Christian Standard Bible ®

Everyone went into the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
All the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground.

King James Version
And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.

Lexham English Bible
(Now all the people of the land used to go into the forest, for there was honey on the surface of the ground.)

English Standard Version
Now when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground.

New Century Version
Now the army went into the woods, where there was some honey on the ground.

New English Translation
Now the whole army entered the forest and there was honey on the ground.

Amplified Bible
All the people of the land came to a forest, and there was honey on the ground.

New American Standard Bible
All the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And all they of the land came to a wood, where hony lay vpon the ground.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now all the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

Contemporary English Version
The army and the people who lived nearby had gone into a forest, and they came to a place where honey was dripping on the ground. But no one ate any of it, because they were afraid of being put under the curse.

Complete Jewish Bible
Now the people came to a forest where there was a honeycomb on the ground.

Darby Translation
And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey on the ground.

Easy-to-Read Version
Because of the fighting, the people went into some woods. Then they saw a honeycomb on the ground. The Israelites went up to the honeycomb, but they didn't eat any of it. They were afraid to break the promise.

George Lamsa Translation
And they went throughout all the land and came into a forest; and, behold, there was honey in the forest on the ground.

Good News Translation
They all came into a wooded area and found honey everywhere.

Literal Translation
And all those of the land came into a forest, and there was honey on the ground.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And all the people of the londe came in to the wodd. But there laye hony vpon the felde:

American Standard Version
And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey upon the ground.

Bible in Basic English
And there was honey on the face of the field, and all the people came to the honey, the bees having gone from it;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And al they of the land came to a wood, where honie lay vpon the grounde.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey upon the ground.

King James Version (1611)
And all they of the land came to a wood, and there was honie vpon the ground.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Jaal was a wood abounding in swarms of bees on the face of the ground.

English Revised Version
And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey upon the ground.

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

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And al the puple ete not breed. And al the comyn puple of the lond cam in to a forest, in which was hony on the `face of erthe.

Young's Literal Translation
And all [they of] the land have come into a forest, and there is honey on the face of the field;

Update Bible Version
And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground.

Webster's Bible Translation
And all [they of] the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.

World English Bible
All the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground.

New King James Version
Now all the people of the land came to a forest; and there was honey on the ground.

New Living Translation
even though they had all found honeycomb on the ground in the forest.

New Life Bible
And all the people came among the trees, and there was honey on the ground.

New Revised Standard
All the troops came upon a honeycomb; and there was honey on the ground.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, all the land, had entered into the forest, - and there was honey upon the face of the ground.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And all the common people came into a forest, in which there was honey upon the ground.

Revised Standard Version
And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground.

THE MESSAGE
There were honeycombs here and there in the fields. But no one so much as put his finger in the honey to taste it, for the soldiers to a man feared the curse. But Jonathan hadn't heard his father put the army under oath. He stuck the tip of his staff into some honey and ate it. Refreshed, his eyes lit up with renewed vigor.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
All the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

Contextual Overview

²⁴and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath: “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food. ²⁵Everyone went into the forest, and there was honey on the ground. ²⁶When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it because they feared the oath. ²⁷However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb. When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy. ²⁸Then one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.” ²⁹Jonathan replied, “My father has brought trouble to the land. Just look at how I have renewed energy because I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰How much better if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.” ³¹The Israelites struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash all the way to Aijalon. Since the Israelites were completely exhausted, ³²they rushed to the plunder, took sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, slaughtered them on the ground, and ate meat with the blood still in it. ³³Some reported to Saul: “Look, the troops are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.”

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

all they: Deuteronomy 9:28, Matthew 3:5

honey: This was wild honey, which to this day abounds in Judea; and bursting from the comb, runs down the hollow trees, rocks, etc. Exodus 3:8, Numbers 13:27, Matthew 3:4

Reciprocal: Judges 14:9 - General Psalms 81:16 - honey Proverbs 25:16 - Hast

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And all they of the land came to a wood,.... Which lay between Bethaven and Aijalon; by whom are meant not all the inhabitants of the land of Israel, but all that came with Saul and Jonathan, and that joined them in the pursuit:

and there was honey upon the ground; which dropped upon it, as in the following verse, or where it was produced by bees; for Aristotle r reports, that bees in some places make their combs upon the ground; this was wild honey, which Diodorus Siculus s speaks of as common in Arabia, and which perhaps John the Baptist ate of, Matthew 3:4. Jarchi says, this was the honey of canes, or sugar canes, which grew in the land of Israel; and affirms from Nathan an Ishmaelite, that in the Ishmaelitish or Arabic language they call honey, sugar; but neither of these can be proved.

r Hist. Animal. l. 5. c. 22. s Bibliothec. l. 19. p. 731.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

All they of the land - literally, all the land, probably meaning all those named in 1 Samuel 14:21-22, who now flocked to the wood as a rendezvous.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 14:25. There was honey upon the ground — There were many wild bees in that country, and Judea is expressly said to be a land flowing with milk and honey.