What does דְּבַשׁ (dĕbaš) mean in the Bible?
דְּבַשׁ (dĕbaš): Honey as sweetness and stickiness combined—captures both taste appeal and binding adhesive quality in biblical metaphor
Hebrew · H1706
דְּבַשׁ
Honey (from its stickiness ); by analogy, syrup
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דְּבַשׁ H1706
Pronunciation dĕbaš
What does דְּבַשׁ (dĕbaš) mean in the Bible?
דְּבַשׁ (dĕbaš): Honey as sweetness and stickiness combined—captures both taste appeal and binding adhesive quality in biblical metaphor
Full entry for דְּבַשׁ (H1706) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1706?
The BSB source-word alignment has 54 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and honey (28), honey (12), . . . (2), than honey (2), with honey (2).
Where does דְּבַשׁ (dĕbaš) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 43:11. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (8), Ezekiel (6), 1 Samuel (5), Exodus (5).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It and honey 28× Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17, Exodus 13:5, Exodus 33:3
honey 12× Genesis 43:11, 1 Samuel 14:25, 1 Samuel 14:26, 1 Samuel 14:29
. . . 2× 1 Samuel 14:27, Proverbs 16:24
than honey 2× Judges 14:18, Psalms 19:10
with honey 2× Deuteronomy 32:13, Psalms 81:16
[sweeter than] honey 1× Psalms 119:103
along with their honey 1× Judges 14:8
as honey 1× Ezekiel 3:3
made with honey 1× Exodus 16:31
my honey 1× Song Of Solomon 5:1
of honey 1× 1 Kings 14:3
or honey 1× Leviticus 2:11
the honey 1× Judges 14:9
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 43:11 דְּבַ֔שׁ to honey Noun - masculine singular Exodus 3:8 וּדְבָ֑שׁ to and honey Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 3:17 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ to and honey Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 13:5 וּדְבָ֑שׁ to and honey Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 16:31 בִּדְבָֽשׁ׃ to made with honey Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 33:3 וּדְבָ֑שׁ to and honey Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 2:11 דְּבַ֔שׁ to or honey Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 20:24 וּדְבָ֑שׁ to and honey Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Numbers 13:27 וּדְבַ֛שׁ to and honey Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Numbers 14:8 וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ to and honey Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 43:11
Aligned rows 54
Books represented 19
Genesis 1 Exodus 5 Leviticus 2 Numbers 4 Deuteronomy 8 Joshua 1 Judges 3 1 Samuel 5 2 Samuel 1 1 Kings 1 2 Kings 1 2 Chronicles 1 Job 1 Psalms 3 Proverbs 4 Song Of Solomon 2 Isaiah 2 Jeremiah 3 Ezekiel 6
Source forms
וּדְבַ֔שׁ 7x ū·ḏə·ḇaš Numbers 16:13, Deuteronomy 27:3, Deuteronomy 31:20, 2 Kings 18:32
וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ 7x ū·ḏə·ḇāš Exodus 3:17, Numbers 14:8, Deuteronomy 8:8, Deuteronomy 26:9
וּדְבָ֑שׁ 5x ū·ḏə·ḇāš Exodus 3:8, Exodus 13:5, Exodus 33:3, Leviticus 20:24
דְּבַ֣שׁ 4x də·ḇaš Job 20:17, Psalms 81:16, Proverbs 25:16, Proverbs 25:27
וּדְבַשׁ֙ 3x ū·ḏə·ḇaš Numbers 16:14, Isaiah 7:22, Ezekiel 16:19
דְּבַ֔שׁ 2x də·ḇaš Genesis 43:11, Leviticus 2:11
דְּבַ֖שׁ 2x də·ḇaš 1 Samuel 14:43, 1 Kings 14:3
וּדְבַ֛שׁ 2x ū·ḏə·ḇaš Numbers 13:27, Ezekiel 16:13
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 31x Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17, Exodus 13:5, Exodus 33:3
Noun - masculine singular 14x Genesis 43:11, Leviticus 2:11, Deuteronomy 32:13, 1 Samuel 14:25
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular 3x Judges 14:18, Psalms 19:10, Psalms 119:103
Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Judges 14:9, 1 Samuel 14:27
Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Proverbs 25:27
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular 1x Song Of Solomon 5:1
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular 1x Exodus 16:31
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular 1x Ezekiel 3:3
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Honey as sweetness and stickiness combined—captures both taste appeal and binding adhesive quality in biblical metaphor
Source Gloss
honey (from its stickiness ); by analogy, syrup
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Honey as sweetness and stickiness combined—captures both taste appeal and binding adhesive quality in biblical metaphor
honey (from its stickiness); by analogy, syrup BDB: honey Usage: honey(-comb).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Sweet substance to be eaten for health and wisdom benefits
Pleasant food that becomes harmful if consumed in excess
Sweet substance representing excess and indulgence leading to harm
Sweet substance contrasted with bitter food in hunger context
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 54 lexical occurrence verses.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain