Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 25:16 - 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
" Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it. "
Proverbs 25:16
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
14 As clouds and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of gifts deceptively.
15 By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone.
16 Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.
17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he be weary of you, and hate you.
18 A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.
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We are allowed to use the pleasures of life in a sober and moderate way. “Have you found honey?” It is not forbidden to you, as it was to Jonathan, and you may eat it with thanks to God. God made things that are pleasant to our senses, and he gives us leave to enjoy them. But we must eat only enough, and no more. Enough is as good as a feast.
We are also warned against excess. We should use every pleasure as we use honey, with a firm check on our appetite, so we do not take more than is good for us and make ourselves sick. We are in the greatest danger of overdoing the things that taste sweetest. That is why those who live in luxury every day need to watch themselves, so their hearts are not weighed down. The pleasures of the body lose their sweetness when used too much, and they can become bitter, like honey that turns sour in the stomach. So it is both our duty and our own best interest to use them with self-control.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 25:1
"These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out."
Proverbs 25:2
"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter."
Proverbs 25:3
"As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable."
Proverbs 25:4
"Take away the dross from the silver, and material comes out for the refiner."
Proverbs 25:5
"Take away the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness."
Proverbs 25:6
"Don’t exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;"
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