Add parallel Print Page Options

13 Eat honey,[a] my child, for it is good,
and honey from the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
14 Likewise, know[b] that wisdom is sweet[c] to your soul;
if you have found it,[d] you have a future,[e]
and your hope will not be cut off.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:13 sn The twenty-sixth saying teaches that one should develop wisdom because it has a profitable future. The saying draws on the image of honey; its health-giving properties make a good analogy to wisdom.
  2. Proverbs 24:14 tn D. W. Thomas argues for a meaning of “seek” in place of “know” (“Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 38 [1937]: 400-403).
  3. Proverbs 24:14 tn The phrase “is sweet” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.
  4. Proverbs 24:14 tn The term “it” is supplied in the translation.
  5. Proverbs 24:14 tn Heb “there will be an אַחֲרִית (ʾakharit), which means “end, result, following period.” It suggests a future, which may imply posterity. It is sometimes connected with hope (Jer 29:11: 31:17; Prov 23:18).

13 My ·child [L son], eat honey because it is good.
    Honey from the honeycomb ·tastes sweet [L is sweet on your palate].
14 In the same way, wisdom is pleasing to ·you [your soul].
    If you find it, you have ·hope for the [L a] future,
and your ·wishes [hope] will ·come true [L not be cut off].

Read full chapter