Bible Strands
1 Samuel 14:25
Then all the troops entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Israelite troops advancing into the forest during Saul’s campaign against the Philistines, immediately following Saul’s imposition of a fasting oath that prohibited eating until evening. The soldiers move through the terrain while physically bound by this vow.
The words — דְבַשׁ (de.Vash) translates literally to "honey," and עַל־פְּנֵי (al-penei) means "on the surface of," indicating the honey lay exposed directly on the ground rather than inside hives. These terms highlight the immediate physical availability of the food source.
The thread — The phrase "honey on the ground" echoes Exodus 3:8, Numbers 13:27, and Deuteronomy 9:28, where it consistently functions as a shorthand for the agricultural richness of the promised land. The motif repeatedly ties territorial fertility to divine blessing and military conquest.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe how a human oath can override basic physical need, as the troops see available food but refuse to eat out of fear. It demands a clear-eyed evaluation of whether strict vow-keeping should supersede human survival or whether the vow itself was an error of leadership.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.
Cross-references
- Exodus 3:8 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.
- Numbers 13:27 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!
- Deuteronomy 9:28 Otherwise, those in the land from which You brought us out will say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’
- Matthew 3:4 John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.