1 Samuel 14:25

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.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Everyone went into the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

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.

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

Contextual Overview

²⁴ Saul did something really foolish that day. He addressed the army: "A curse on the man who eats anything before evening, before I've wreaked vengeance on my enemies!" None of them ate a thing all day. ²⁵There 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. ²⁸ A soldier spoke up, "Your father has put the army under solemn oath, saying, ‘A curse on the man who eats anything before evening!' No wonder the soldiers are drooping!" ²⁹Jonathan said, "My father has imperiled the country. Just look how quickly my energy has returned since I ate a little of this honey! It would have been a lot better, believe me, if the soldiers had eaten their fill of whatever they took from the enemy. Who knows how much worse we could have whipped them!" ³¹They killed Philistines that day all the way from Micmash to Aijalon, but the soldiers ended up totally exhausted. Then they started plundering. They grabbed anything in sight—sheep, cattle, calves—and butchered it where they found it. Then they glutted themselves—meat, blood, the works. ³³Saul was told, "Do something! The soldiers are sinning against God . They're eating meat with the blood still in it!" Saul said, "You're biting the hand that feeds you! Roll a big rock over here—now!" He continued, "Disperse among the troops and tell them, ‘Bring your oxen and sheep to me and butcher them properly here. Then you can feast to your heart's content. Please don't sin against God by eating meat with the blood still in it.'" And so they did. That night each soldier, one after another, led his animal there to be butchered. ³⁵ That's the story behind Saul's building an altar to God . It's the first altar to God that he built.

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.