Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 24:13 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" My son, eat honey, for it is good, the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste; "
Proverbs 24:13
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
11 Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!
12 If you say, “Behold, we didn’t know this,” doesn’t he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn’t he know it? Shall he not give to every man according to his work?
13 My son, eat honey, for it is good, the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste;
14 so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul. If you have found it, then there will be a reward: Your hope will not be cut off.
15 Don’t lay in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Don’t destroy his resting place;
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We are encouraged to seek wisdom by thinking about both its pleasure and its profit. It will be very pleasant. We eat honey because it tastes sweet, and especially the first, fresh flow from the honeycomb. Canaan was described as a land flowing with milk and honey, and honey was common food there, even for children (Luke 24:41-42; Isaiah 7:15). In the same way, we should feed on wisdom and enjoy its good teaching.
Those who have tasted honey do not need further proof that it is sweet, and no argument can convince them otherwise. In the same way, those who have experienced the power of truth and godliness are fully satisfied that both are delightful. They have tasted their sweetness, and the objections of atheists with their clever arguments, or the mocking of the ungodly, cannot change that.
Wisdom is also very profitable. Honey may taste sweet and still not be healthy, but wisdom has a future reward as well as present sweetness. You may be allowed to eat honey, and its taste invites you to enjoy it. But you have much stronger reason to take in the teaching of wisdom, because when you find it, there will be a reward. You will be paid for your pleasure, while servants of sin pay dearly for what they do.
Wisdom does require work, but it also brings a reward. It raises great hopes, but those hopes will not fail. Your labor will not be wasted, and your expectation will not be cut off (Proverbs 23:18). In fact, the reward will be far greater than you expected.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 24:1
"Don’t be envious of evil men, neither desire to be with them;"
Proverbs 24:2
"for their hearts plot violence and their lips talk about mischief."
Proverbs 24:3
"Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;"
Proverbs 24:4
"by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure."
Proverbs 24:5
"A wise man has great power. A knowledgeable man increases strength,"
Proverbs 24:6
"for by wise guidance you wage your war, and victory is in many advisors."
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