Go to Related Reading
About this book

Psalms

About this book
Psalm 81

1 For the music director, according to the gittith style; by Asaph. Shout for joy to God, our source of strength! Shout out to the God of Jacob! 2 Sing a song and play the tambourine, the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument. 3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.⁠ 4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob. 5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph, when he attacked the land of Egypt. I heard a voice I did not recognize. 6 It said: “I removed the burden from his shoulder; his hands were released from holding the basket. 7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you. I answered you from a dark thundercloud. I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (Selah) 8 I said, ‘Listen, my people! I will warn you. O Israel, if only you would obey me! 9 There must be no other god among you. You must not worship a foreign god. 10 I am the Lord, your God, the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’ 11 But my people did not obey me; Israel did not submit to me. 12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; they did what seemed right to them. 13 If only my people would obey me! If only Israel would keep my commands! 14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and attack their adversaries.” 15 (May those who hate the Lord cower in fear before him. May they be permanently humiliated.) 16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat, and would satisfy your appetite with honey from the rocky cliffs.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 32:13 and Psalm 81:16

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Deuteronomy describes honey coming from a rock and oil from hard stone as images of unexpected abundance while Israel was in the wilderness. Psalm 81 alludes to this picture of honey from the rock, using it to depict how God took care of Israel.

Passages

Deuteronomy 32:13

Hebrew Bible
11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, so the Lord spread out his wings and took him, he lifted him up on his pinions. 12 The Lord alone was guiding him, no foreign god was with him. 13 He enabled him to travel over the heights of the earth, and he ate of the produce of the fields. He provided honey for him from the cliffs, and olive oil from the hardest of rocks, 14 butter from the herd and milk from the flock, along with the fat of lambs, rams and goats of Bashan, along with the best of the kernels of wheat; and from the juice of grapes you drank wine. 15 But Jeshurun became fat and kicked; you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Psalm 81:16

Hebrew Bible
12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; they did what seemed right to them. 13 If only my people would obey me! If only Israel would keep my commands! 14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and attack their adversaries.” 15 (May those who hate the Lord cower in fear before him. May they be permanently humiliated.) 16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat, and would satisfy your appetite with honey from the rocky cliffs.”
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... There are 68 references in the Bible to bees, honey and honeycomb (Root, 1975:66-69). Honey is regarded as essential and delicious food that nourishes and sustains life. “Honey from the rock” is used explicitly in Deuteronomy 32:13 and Psalm 81:16 as a figure of speech. This suggests the strength and triumph (compare Deuteronomy 33:29) of God’s people carried by Yahweh’s loving care. God led His people during their travel through the desert resulting in providing abundant sustenance in the land of Canaan. The people had access to the produce of the field, honey, from the rock, and oil from the flint rock (Merrill, 1994:415) ..."
Guy Stubbs, “Honey from the Rock: Poverty Alleviation from a Missio Dei Perspective” (PhD diss., North-West University, 2019), 9.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Deuteronomy 32:13 and Psalm 81:16

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library