PROV 25:16 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) When you find honey, eat just what you need,
⇔ otherwise you might vomit if you’ve had too much.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Μέλι εὑρὼν φάγε τὸ ἱκανὸν, μή ποτε πλησθεὶς ἐξεμέσῃς.
(Meli heurōn fage to hikanon, maʸ pote plaʸstheis exemesaʸs. )

BrTr Having found honey, eat only what is enough, lest haply thou be filled, and vomit it up.

ULT If you find honey, eat enough for you,
⇔ lest you become satiated with it and you vomit it up.

UST If you discover some wild honey, do not eat too much of it.
⇔ If you do, then you will become sick from it and vomit.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE Have you found honey?
⇔ Eat as much as is sufficient for you,
⇔ lest you eat too much, and vomit it.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET When you find honey, eat only what is sufficient for you,
⇔ lest you become stuffed with it and vomit it up.

LSV You have found honey—eat your sufficiency,
Lest you are satiated [with] it, and have vomited it.

FBV If you find honey, eat just enough, for if you eat too much, you'll be sick.

T4T ⇔ If you find some honey, do not eat a lot of it,
⇔ because doing that may cause you to vomit.

LEB • If you find honey, eat what is sufficient for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it out.

BBE If you have honey, take only as much as is enough for you; for fear that, being full of it, you may not be able to keep it down.

Moff If you find honey, eat no more than you need;
⇔ you may surfeit yourself and vomit.

JPS Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

ASV Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee,
⇔ Lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

DRA Thou hast found honey, eat what is sufficient for thee, lest being glutted therewith thou vomit it up.

YLT Honey thou hast found — eat thy sufficiency, Lest thou be satiated [with] it, and hast vomited it.

Drby Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be surfeited therewith, and vomit it.

RV Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee; lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
(Hast thou/you found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee/you; lest thou/you be filled therewith, and vomit it. )

SLT Thou didst find honey; eat thy sufficiency, lest thou shalt be satiated, and thou vomit it forth.

Wbstr Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled with it, and vomit it.

KJB-1769 Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
(Hast thou/you found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee/you, lest thou/you be filled therewith, and vomit it. )

KJB-1611 Hast thou found hony? eate so much as is sufficient for thee: lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps If thou findest honie, eate so muche as is sufficient for thee: lest thou be ouer full, and parbreake it out agayne.
(If thou/you findest honey, eat so much as is sufficient for thee/you: lest thou/you be over full, and parbreake it out again.)

Gnva If thou haue found hony, eate that is sufficient for thee, least thou be ouerfull, and vomit it.
(If thou/you have found honey, eat that is sufficient for thee/you, least thou/you be overfull, and vomit it. )

Cvdl Yf thou findest hony, eate so moch as is sufficiet for ye: lest thou be ouer full, & perbreake it out againe.
(If thou/you findest honey, eat so much as is sufficiet for ye/you_all: lest thou/you be over full, and perbreake it out again.)

Wycl Thou hast founde hony, ete thou that that suffisith to thee; lest perauenture thou be fillid, and brake it out.
(Thou/You hast found honey, eat thou/you that that suffisith to thee/you; lest peradventure/perhaps thou/you be filled, and brake it out.)

Luth Findest du Honig, so iß sein genug, daß du nicht zu satt werdest und speiest ihn aus.
(Findest you(sg) honey, so eat be enough, that you(sg) not to/for full/fed_up become and speiest him/it out.)

ClVg [Mel invenisti: comede quod sufficit tibi, ne forte satiatus evomas illud.[fn]
([Mel I_foundsti: comede that enough to_you, not perhaps satiatus evomas it/this/that. )

25.16 Mel invenisti, comede quod sufficit tibi. Potest et sic intelligi, etc., usque ad vel toties ad illum venias ut fastidiat.

25.16 Mel I_foundsti, comede that enough to_you. Can and so to_be_understood, etc., until to or toties to him come as fastidiat.

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 25:1–29:27: This is Hezekiah’s collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the second collection of Solomon’s proverbs. These proverbs were organized and copied by men who served King Hezekiah. Most scholars divide this section into two groups. These groups differ in several ways.

The first group (chapters 25–27) has many more comparisons and admonitions. In Hebrew, most of these comparisons are metaphors in which one or more illustrations precede the topic. Some English versions change the order so that the topic precedes the illustration(s). You should follow the order that expresses the meaning naturally and effectively in your language.

In the first group, many proverbs are one verse long. As with the individual proverbs in the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs (Section 10:1–22:16), they are not related to the proverbs around them. Other proverbs in this group are two or more verses long. Still others are one-verse proverbs that are closely related in theme. Proverbs in all three categories will be marked as separate paragraphs.

The second group (chapters 28–29) has more contrastive proverbs. The proverbs in this group are each one verse long. They will not be marked as separate paragraphs.

Some other headings for this section are:

More Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

Proverbs of Solomon Collected by Hezekiah (NET)

These are also wise things that Solomon said

Paragraph 25:16–17

These proverbs both teach that people should enjoy good things in moderation. The second line of each proverb warns that over-indulging in something good has bad consequences. The first proverb is about a tasty kind of food. The second proverb is about pleasant social interaction.

25:16

The first line advises the reader to limit the amount of honey that he eats. The second line is a warning not to ignore this advice. The person who eats too much will vomit.

^16aIf you find honey, eat just enough—

^16btoo much of it, and you will vomit.

25:16a

If you find honey, eat just what you need,

¶ If there is honey that you have found, eat only what you^(sing) need.
¶ Did you find some honey that wild bees have made? Then satisfy your hunger.
¶ When you see honey in the bush/forest, limit what you eat.

If you find honey: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “you have found honey.” It implies that the reader has unexpectedly found a bee hive that contains wild honey.

eat just what you need: This clause advises the reader to eat only enough honey to satisfy his hunger. Some other ways to translate 25:16a are:

When you find honey, eat only as much as you need. (GW)

If you find honey, eat what you need and no more (REB)

Have you found honey? Eat only what you need (NASB)

25:16a–b

(combined/reordered)

¶ If you^(sing) find some wild honey to eat, do not eat too much lest you vomit.

25:16b

lest you have too much and vomit it up.

If you^(sing) eat too much, it will make you vomit.
But do not eat until you are too full, or you will vomit.
Otherwise you will vomit it.

lest you have too much and vomit it up: In Hebrew, this line is literally “lest you become full of it and you vomit it.” The word lest introduces the bad consequences of ignoring the advice in the preceding line. Some other ways to translate this line are:

lest you become stuffed with it and vomit it up (NET)

or it will make you throw up (NCV)

Otherwise, you will have too much and vomit. (GW)

General Comment on 25:16a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to make some of the information implicit or to combine it into one statement. For example, the GNT does not make explicit the clause “If you find honey.” It has:

Never eat more honey than you need; too much may make you vomit.

The NCV combines the words “eat just what you need” and “too much” into one statement. It has:

If you find honey, don’t eat too much, or it will make you throw up.

One or more of these options may be appropriate in your language.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

דְּבַ֣שׁ מָ֭צָאתָ

honey find

Here Solomon refers to someone unexpectedly discovering wild honey. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “If you happen to come across honey”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

אֱכֹ֣ל דַּיֶּ֑⁠ךָּ

eat sufficiency_of,your

Here Solomon implies that someone should only eat enough honey and not more than that. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “only eat enough for you”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

תִּ֝שְׂבָּעֶ֗⁠נּוּ

you,should_be_surfeited_with_it

Here, the word translated as satiated refers to someone overeating to the degree that he becomes sick. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “you eat yourself sick with it”