Psalms 81:16

New Living Translation

But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He woulde haue fed them also with the finest wheate flowre: and I would haue satisfied thee with honie out of the stonie rocke.

Darby Translation
And he would have fed them with the finest of wheat; yea, with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee.

New King James Version
He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you."

Literal Translation
Yea, He would have caused them to eat from the fat of the wheat; and I would have satisfied you with honey out of the rock.

Easy-to-Read Version
I would give the best wheat to my people. I would give them the purest honey, until they were satisfied."

World English Bible
But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock."

King James Version (1611)
Hee should haue fedde them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honie out of the rocke, should I haue satisfied thee.

King James Version
He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The haters of ye LORDE shulde mysse Israel, but their tyme shulde endure for euer. He shulde fede them with the fynest wheate floure, & satisfie them with hony out of the stony rocke.

Amplified Bible
"But I would feed Israel with the finest of the wheat; And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

American Standard Version
He would feed them also with the finest of the wheat; And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.

Bible in Basic English
I would give them the best grain for food; you would be full of honey from the rock.

Update Bible Version
He would feed them also with the finest of the wheat; And with honey out of the rock I would satisfy you.

Webster's Bible Translation
He would have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock I should have satisfied thee.

New English Translation
"I would feed Israel the best wheat, and would satisfy your appetite with honey from the rocky cliffs."

Contemporary English Version
But I would feed you with the finest bread and with the best honey until you were full."

Complete Jewish Bible
Those who hate Adonai would cringe before him, while [Isra'el's] time would last forever. They would be fed with the finest wheat, and I would satisfy you with honey from the rocks."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And God would haue fedde them with the fatte of wheat, and with honie out of the rocke would I haue sufficed thee.

George Lamsa Translation
He has fed them also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock has he satisfied them.

Hebrew Names Version
But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock."

JPS Old Testament (1917)
The haters of the LORD should dwindle away before Him; and their punishment should endure for ever. They should also be fed with the fat of wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.'

New Life Bible
But I would feed you with the best of grain. And I would fill you with honey from the rock."

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he fed them with the fat of wheat; and satisfied them with honey out of the rock.

English Revised Version
He should feed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I satisfy thee.

Berean Standard Bible
But I would feed you the finest wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

New Revised Standard
I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then would he feed them from the marrow of the wheat, Yea, out of the rock - with honey, would I satisfy thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
(80-17) And he fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey out of the rock.

Lexham English Bible
But he would feed him from the choicest wheat, and I would satisfy you with honey from a rock."

English Standard Version
But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

New American Standard Bible
"But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

New Century Version
But I would give you the finest wheat and fill you with honey from the rocks."

Good News Translation
But I would feed you with the finest wheat and satisfy you with wild honey."

Christian Standard Bible®
But He would feed Israel with the best wheat. "I would satisfy you with honey from the rock."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he fedde hem of the fatnesse of whete; and he fillide hem with hony of the stoon.

Young's Literal Translation
He causeth him to eat of the fat of wheat, And [with] honey from a rock I satisfy thee!

Revised Standard Version
I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Contextual Overview

⁸ "Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me! ⁹ You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god. ¹⁰ For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things. ¹¹ "But no, my people wouldn't listen. Israel did not want me around. ¹² So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. ¹³ Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths! ¹⁴ How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes! ¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him; they would be doomed forever. ¹⁶ But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

fed: Psalms 147:14, Deuteronomy 32:13, Deuteronomy 32:14, Joel 2:24

finest of the wheat: Heb. fat of wheat

honey: Judges 14:8, Judges 14:9, Judges 14:18, 1 Samuel 14:25, 1 Samuel 14:26, Job 29:6

Reciprocal: Genesis 45:18 - the fat Deuteronomy 8:8 - wheat Job 20:17 - of honey Ezekiel 16:13 - thou didst Matthew 7:8 - General John 6:9 - barley

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat,.... Or the "fat of the wheat y"; see Deuteronomy 32:14, with the finest flour of it: the Targum is,

"with the best bread of wheat;''

with the best of wheat, and the best bread that can be made of it: Aben Ezra interprets it of the manna, which was better than the fat, or finest, of the wheat, being the corn of heaven, and angels' food,

Psalms 78:24, but it rather respects what the Israelites would have been continued to be fed with in the land of Canaan, which was a land of wheat, Deuteronomy 8:8, and such who hearken to the Lord, and walk in his ways, are fed by him with the Gospel, which is comparable to wheat, and the finest of it, for its choiceness and excellency, for its solidity and substantiality, for its purity and cleanness, and for its being of a nourishing and strengthening nature, see Jeremiah 38:28, and especially Christ, the sum and substance of the Gospel, may be figuratively meant, with whom the saints are fed, and who is compared to a corn of wheat,

John 12:24 for his preciousness and excellency, for his purity and fruitfulness, and for being the food of his people, the bread of life, for which he was prepared by his sufferings and death; which may be fitly expressed by the threshing, winnowing, and grinding of wheat, and then of kneading the flour, and baking the bread:

and with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee; the land of Canaan abounded with hills and rocks, in which bees had their hives, and from whence honey dropped to lower places; and hence the land is said to flow with milk and honey, Exodus 3:8, nor is it unusual in other places to find honey in rocks; at Guadaloupe, in the West Indies, we are told z, honey was found in trees and caves of rocks. Aben Ezra interprets this of the water which flowed out of the rock at Horeb, which was sweeter than honey; but the former sense is best: the rock spiritually and mystically designs Christ, the Rock of salvation, 1 Corinthians 10:4, the honey out of the rock, the fulness of grace in him, and the blessings of it, the sure mercies of David, and the precious promises of the everlasting covenant; and the Gospel, which is sweeter than the honey or the honeycomb; and with these such are filled and satisfied, who hearken to Christ, and walk in his ways; for, as the whole of what is here said shows what Israel lost by disobedience, it clearly suggests what such enjoy who hear and obey.

y מחלב חטה "ex adipe frumenti", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus; "adipe tritici", Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis. z P. Martyr. Decad. 3. lib. 9.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He should have fed them also - He would have given them prosperity, and their land would have produced abundantly of the necessities - even of the luxuries - of life. This is in accordance with the usual promises of the Scriptures, that obedience to God will be followed by national temporal prosperity. See Deuteronomy 32:13-14; 1 Timothy 4:8; Psalms 37:11. Compare the notes at Matthew 5:5.

With the finest of the wheat - Margin, as in Hebrew, with the fat of wheat. The meaning is, the best of the wheat - as the words fat and fatness are often used to denote excellence and abundance. Genesis 27:28, Genesis 27:39; Job 36:16; Psalms 36:8; Psalms 63:5; Psalms 65:11.

And with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee - Palestine abounded with bees, and honey was a favorite article of food. Genesis 43:11; Deuteronomy 8:8; Deu 32:13; 1 Samuel 14:25-26; Isaiah 7:15; Ezekiel 16:13; Matthew 3:4. Much of that which was obtained was wild honey, deposited by the bees in the hollows of trees, and as it would seem in the caverns of the rocks. Much of it was gathered also from rocky regions, and this was regarded as the most delicate and valuable. I do not know the cause of this, nor why honey in high and rocky countries should be more pure and white than that obtained from other places; but the whitest and the most pure and delicate honey that I have ever seen I found at Chamouni in Switzerland. Dr. Thomson (land and the Book, vol. ii. p. 362) says of the rocky region in the vicinity of Timnath, that “bees were so abundant in a wood at no great distance from this spot that the honey dropped down from the trees on the ground;” and that “he explored densely-wooded gorges in Hermon and in Southern Lebanon where wild bees are still found, both in trees and in the clefts of the rocks.”

The meaning here is plain, that, if Israel had been obedient to God, he would have blessed them with abundance - with the richest and most coveted productions of the field. Pure religion - obedience to God - morality - temperance, purity, honesty, and industry, such as religion requires - are always eminently favorable to individual and national prosperity; and if a man or a nation desired to be most prospered, most successful in the lawful and proper objects of individual or national existence, and most happy, nothing would tend more to conduce to it than those virtues which piety enjoins and cultivates. Individuals and nations, even in respect to temporal prosperity, are most unwise, as well as most wicked, when they disregard the laws of God, and turn away from the precepts and the spirit of religion. It is true of nations, as it is of individuals, that “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is,” 1 Timothy 4:8.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 81:16. With the finest of the wheat — מחלב חטה mecheleb chittah; literally, with the fat of wheat, as in the margin.

Honey out of the rock — And he fed thaim of the grese of whete: And of the hony stane he thaim filled. Old Psalter. Thus paraphrased: "He fed thaim with the body of Criste and gastely understandyng; and of hony that ran of the stane, that is, of the wisedome that is swete to the hert." Several of the fathers understand this place of Christ.

ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTY-FIRST PSALM

The contents of this Psalm are the following: -

I. The psalmist exhorts them to celebrate God's name in their festivals, Psalms 81:1-4.

II. The reasons why they should do this: God's benefits conferred on Israel, Psalms 81:5-10.

III. Israel's ingratitude, and its consequences, Psalms 81:11-12.

IV. God's love and call to amendment, with the reasons for obedience, Psalms 81:13-16.

I. He exhorts them to rejoice: but this must be, 1. In God, Psalms 81:1. 2. At his festivals, Psalms 81:2-3.

II. The reasons. 1. It was God's command, Psalms 81:4. 2. It was an ancient ordinance, Psalms 81:5. 3. Their deliverance from base servitude, Psalms 81:6. 4. When in deep affliction, Psalms 81:7. 5. In a miraculous manner, Psalms 81:7. 6. His mercy shown at the waters of Meribah, Psalms 81:7. 7. His giving them his law, Psalms 81:8-9.

He then inculcates obedience, for which he gives three reasons: 1. "I am the Lord thy God," Psalms 81:10. 2. Who redeemed thee from bondage, Psalms 81:10. 3. He will make thee truly happy: "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it," Psalms 81:10.

III. Israel's ingratitude, and its consequences. 1. God gave them up; left them to themselves, Psalms 81:12. 2. They walked in their own counsels, Psalms 81:12. And came to ruin.

IV. God's love and call, c.

He calls them to repentance, Psalms 81:13. The fruits of which would be three great benefits. 1. The subjugation of their enemies, Psalms 81:14. 2. A long uninterrupted prosperity. 3. An abundance of all temporal and spiritual blessings, Psalms 81:15-16.

Under the emblems of the finest wheat, and the purest honey from the hives of bees in the rocks, where they abounded in Judea, he shows them that his followers should have so much of earthly and spiritual blessings, that they should be satisfied and say, It is enough. But, alas! Israel would not be obedient and, therefore, Israel is under the curse.