1 Samuel 14:26

14:24-35 Saul's severe order was very unwise; if it gained time, it lost strength for the pursuit. Such is the nature of our bodies, that daily work cannot be done without daily bread, which therefore our Father in heaven graciously gives. Saul was turning aside from God, and now he begins to build altars, being then most zealous, as many are, for the form of godliness when he was denying the power of it.

And when the people came into the wood, behold, the honey dropped,.... Either from trees, which produced it; so Diodorus Siculus (t) speaks of trees in some countries which produce honey; or from the sugar canes, as Jarchi; or rather from the honeycombs which were framed in trees by bees; so Hesiod (u) speaks of bees making their nests or combs in trees. Ben Gersom thinks that bee hives were placed here in rows by the wayside, from whence the honey flowed; or "went" (w), or there was a going of it; perhaps the combs being pressed by the Philistines as they fled: the land of Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey: but no man put his hand to his mouth; that is, took not any of the honey and ate it, though it was so near at hand, and there was plenty of it: for the people feared the oath: Saul adjured them by, or the imprecation he made on the person that should eat any food that day. (t) Bibliothec. l. 17. p. 548. (u) Hesiod, Theogon. ver. 230. Vid. Diodor. Sic. ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 17. p. 548.) (w) "ambulatio mellis", Montanus; "itio mellis", Drusius; so in Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. fab. 3.-"----jam flumina nectaris ibant".

The forefront of the one was situate northward, over against Michmash,.... The northern precipice of this rock was towards Michmash, where the Philistines lay encamped, and where was the passage of Michmash the garrison went into and possessed: and the other southward, over against Gibeah; the southern precipice faced Gibeah, and both precipices were to be got over before he could get to the garrison, these lying between the two passages; the one at one end, called the passage of Michmash, the other at the other, which might be called the passage of Gibeah.

26 . behold, the honey dropped ] Lit. behold a stream of honey. Palestine is literally “a land flowing with milk and honey” ( Exodus 3:8 ). Wild bees settle in vast numbers in the clefts of the limestone rocks and in the trees. Compare the statement of a traveller in India, where “the forests literally flow with honey, Large combs may be seen hanging in the trees as you pass along, full of honey.” Cp. Matthew 3:4 . See Tristram’s Land of Israel , p. 83. Kitto’s Bible Illustrations , p. 190.

The honey dropped. It hath been observed by many travellers and writers, that bees do ofttimes settle themselves, and make their hives and honey, in the trunks of trees, or clefts of rocks, or holes of the earth; and this in divers countries, but eminently in this of Canaan; as may be gathered from Deu 32:13 Psalm 81:16 ; whence it was called a land flowing with milk and honey .

25. all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey—The honey is described as "upon the ground," "dropping" from the trees, and in honeycombs—indicating it to be bees' honey. "Bees in the East are not, as in England, kept in hives; they are all in a wild state. The forests literally flow with honey; large combs may be seen hanging on the trees as you pass along, full of honey" [Roberts].

These were ordinary forms of earnest asseveration with the Israelites, generally used separately ( Judges 8:19 ; Ruth 3:13 ; 1 Samuel 1:26 ; 1 Samuel 14:39 ; 1 Samuel 17:55 ; 1 Samuel 19:6 ; 1 Samuel 20:21 ; 2 Samuel 4:9 ; 2 Samuel 11:11 , etc.); but on occasions of special solemnity united, as here and in 1 Samuel 20:3 ; 1 Samuel 25:26 ; 2 Kings 4:30 ). The prophet is not to be blamed for using them, since the command, "Swear not at all," had not yet been given. I will not leave thee. The resolve indicates strong attachment, deep fidelity, combined, perhaps, with a reasonable curiosity to see how the end would be brought about. So they went down to Bethel. The expression, "went down," shows that the Gilgal of ver. 1 is not that of the Jordan valley, but the mountain-city between Sichem and Bethel. 2 Kings 2:2