1 Kings 14:26
And when the people came into the forest, behold the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth. For the people feared the oath.
Open 1 Kings 14:26 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Ingressus est itaque populus saltum, et apparuit fluens mel, nullusque applicuit manum ad os suum : timebat enim populus juramentum.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ὁ λαὸς εἰς τὸν μελισσῶνα, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπορεύετο λαλῶν· καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἦν ἐπιστρέφων τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐφοβήθη ὁ λαὸς τὸν ὅρκον Κυρίου.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַיָּבֹ֤א הָעָם֙ אֶל הַיַּ֔עַר וְהִנֵּ֖ה הֵ֣לֶךְ דְּבָ֑שׁ וְאֵין מַשִּׂ֤יג יָדוֹ֙ אֶל פִּ֔יו כִּֽי יָרֵ֥א הָעָ֖ם אֶת הַשְּׁבֻעָֽה
The Fathers on this verse
St John Chrysostom The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch, Homily XIV
6. And this was just what he did now in the case of Saul. Observe, however, what a snare is immediately framed for this oath: “The army passed through a wood, that contained a nest of bees, and the nest was in front of the people, and the people came upon the nest, and went along talking.” Seest thou what a pit-fall was here? A table ready spread, that the easiness of access, the sweetness of the food, and the hope of concealment, might entice them to a transgression of the oath. For hunger at once, and fatigue, and the hour, (for “all the land,” it is said, “was dining),” then urged them to the transgression. Moreover, the sight of the combs invited them from without to relax the strain on their resolution. For the sweetness, as well as the present readiness of the table, and the difficulty of detecting the stealth, were sufficient to ensnare their utmost wisdom. …