Proverbs 24:13-14

13, 14. Eat thou honey These two verses, taken together, imply a comparison. There is first what seems a simple precept concerning diet, which is afterwards applied to the acquisition of wisdom. The sense may be given thus: As thou eatest honey because it is good, (Psalms 19:10,) and the droppings of the honeycomb because they are sweet to thy palate, so do thou mentally know, or taste, wisdom for thyself. If thou find it, there shall be a [happy] hereafter, and thy hope shall not be cut off. Stuart renders: “If thou hast found it, and there is a hereafter, then thy expectation shall not be cut off.” Here, as in Proverbs 23:18, where the same word ( אחרית , ahharith) occurs, the apparent conditionality is not one of doubt, but a supposed case, the reality of which is assumed; as sure as there is a hereafter like the phrase, If there be a God, he will punish such wickedness. Comp. Proverbs 23:18.