Bee

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

( Deborah .) Whence Rebekah's nurse ( Genesis 35:8) and the judge (Judges 4) were named; the bee's industry, fruitfulness, and sweetness suggesting the similitude. In  Deuteronomy 1:44 "the Amorites chased you as bees do";  Psalms 118:12;  Isaiah 7:18; the bold pertinacity with which bees in swarming hosts assail the object of their wrath is the point of comparison. "The Lord shall hiss for the bee that is in the land of Assyria"; i.e., He will call for the enemy to invade the Holy Land. Bees were drawn out of their hives by hissing or whistling. They were as numerous in Assyria as "the fly" in marshy Egypt. "They shall come and rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the reeks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes"; the foes, like bees, swarming and settling on all places. Hereafter He will "hiss for" His people to "gather them, for He hath redeemed them" ( Zechariah 10:8).

Wild honey, such as John Baptist ate ( Matthew 3:4), abounded in Palestine, often liquid, whence the land is described as "flowing with milk and honey" ( Exodus 3:8). Often found in the rocks ( Psalms 81:16;  Deuteronomy 32:13), or in a hollow tree ( 1 Samuel 14:25). Samson, having slain a young lion, found on his return within the dried carcass a swarm of bees and honeycomb, with which he refreshed himself and iris father and mother, without telling them whence it came. (The heat in 24 hours often so dries up the moisture that, without decomposition, the bodies remain like mummies, free from odor.) Hence, he made a riddle: "out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness" ( Judges 14:14).

A type of the antitypical Samson the stronger One, spoiling the strong and roaring lion, "dividing the spoils" among His friends, and bringing forth life and divine nourishment out of death, and sweetness out of misery ( Luke 11:21-22;  Hebrews 2:14-15). Samson's history, of which this incident is the epitome, sets forth Satan's lion-like violence and harlot-like subtlety, overruled by divine might to his own destruction and fallen man's redemption. The scarcity of honey ( Dibash ) in Egypt is implied in Jacob's thinking "a little honey" worth including in the present sent to conciliate the Egyptian viceroy ( Genesis 43:11); but it was the boiled down, thickened juice of grapes, dates, etc., still called Dibs , an article of commerce in the E., which Jacob sent Joseph, and which the Tyrians brought from Palestine ( Ezekiel 27:17).

The decoction of the grape, or must boiled down, is mixed with wine or milk, and looks like coarse honey. In  Isaiah 7:15-16, of Immanuel it is written, "butter and honey shall He eat," i.e. curdled milk (the acid of which is grateful in the hot East) and honey mixed together shall He eat, as the ordinary food of infants, marking His real humanity ( Luke 2:52). In the type, the prophetess' child, a state of distress is also implied; when, owing to invaders, milk and honey, things produced spontaneously, should be the only abundant articles of food. That distress and the invasion should cease before the child reached the age of consciousness to distinguish good and evil. The commonness of honey in Palestine as an article of diet appears in  2 Samuel 17:29;  2 Kings 14:3;  Jeremiah 41:8;  Ezekiel 16:13;  Ezekiel 16:19.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

רבודה , occurs  Deuteronomy 1:44;  Judges 14:8;  Psalms 108:12;  Isaiah 7:18 . A well known, small, industrious insect; whose form, propagation, economy, and singular instinct and ingenuity, have attracted the attention of the most inquisitive and laborious inquirers into nature. Bees were very numerous in the east. Serid, or Seriad, means "the land of the hive;" and Canaan was celebrated as "a land flowing with milk and honey." The wild bees formed their comb in the crevices of the rocks, and in the hollows of decayed trees. The passage in   Isaiah 7:8 , which mentions the "hissing for the bee," is supposed to involve an allusion to the practice of calling out the bees from their hives, by a hissing or whistling sound, to their labour in the fields, and summoning them again to return when the heavens begin to lower, or the shadows of evening to fall. In this manner Jehovah threatens to rouse the enemies of Judah, and lead them to the prey. However widely scattered, or far remote from the scene of action, they should hear his voice, and with as much promptitude as the bee that has been taught to recognise the signal of its owner and obey his call, they should assemble their forces; and although weak and insignificant as a swarm of bees, in the estimation of a proud and infatuated people, they should come, with irresistible might, and take possession of the rich and beautiful region which had been abandoned by its terrified inhabitants.

The bee is represented by the ancients as a vexatious and even a formidable enemy; and the experience of every person who turns his attention to the temper and habits of this insect attests the truth of their assertion. The allusion, therefore, of Moses to their fierce hostility,  Deuteronomy 1:44 , is both just and beautiful: "The Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir even unto Hormah." The Amorites, it appears, were the most bitter adversaries to Israel of all the nations of Canaan. Like bees that are easily irritated, that attack with great fury and increasing numbers the person that dares to molest their hive, and persecute him in his flight to a considerable distance, the incensed Amorites had collected their hostile bands, and chased the Israelites from their territory. The Psalmist also complains that his enemies compassed him about like bees; fiercely attacking him on every side. From these allusions it would however appear, that the bees of the east were of a more quarrelsome temper than ours, which exist chiefly in a domesticated state.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

BEE ( debôrâh ). The bee ( Apis fasciata ) is a very important insect of Palestine. Wild bees are common, and stores of their honey are often found by wandering Bedouin, especially, it is said, near the Dead Sea. Most of the honey consumed and exported in large quantities is made by domesticated bees. The vast numbers of flowers and especially of aromatic plants enable the skilled bee-keeper to produce the most delicately flavoured honey, e.g. ‘orange flower,’ ‘thyme,’ etc.; be carries his hives to different parts according to the season. Many now keep bees in hives of European pattern, but the ordinary native still universally uses the primitive tube hive. This is like a wide drain-pipe of very rough earthenware, some 3 ft. long and about 8 in. in diameter, closed at the end with mud, leaving a hole for ingress and egress. A number of hives are piled one above the other. A few years ago, while the owner of several swarms of bees was transferring his brittle mud hives on donkey-hack, one of the asses stumbled and in falling broke one of the hives. In a moment the whole swarm fell on the unfortunate animals and on a fine horse standing near. One donkey was quickly stung to death, and all the other animals were severely injured. Cf.   Deuteronomy 1:44 ,   Psalms 118:12 , and   Isaiah 7:18 , where the hosts of Assyria are compared to such a swarm let loose. That a swarm of bees should settle in a carcass (  Judges 14:8 ) is certainly an unusual occurrence, as indeed is suggested in the narrative, but the dried-up remains of animals, little but hide and ribs, so plentiful by the roadsides in Palestine, often suggest suitable places for such a settlement. Honey has probably always been plentiful in Palestine, hut it is very doubtful whether ‘a land flowing with milk and honey ’ could have meant the product of bees alone. See Honey and Vine. In the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] there is an addition to   Proverbs 6:8 , in which the bee is, like the ant, extolled for her diligence and wisdom.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Bee. (Hebrew, deborah ).  Deuteronomy 1:44;  Judges 14:8;  Psalms 118:12;  Isaiah 7:18. Bees abounded in Palestine, honey being a common article of food,  Psalms 81:16, and was often found in the clefts of rocks and in hollow trees.  1 Samuel 14:25;  1 Samuel 14:27. English naturalists know little of the species of bees that are found in Palestine, but are inclined to believe that the honey-bee of Palestine is distinct from the honey-bee ( Apis mellifica ) of this country.

The passage in  Isaiah 7:18 refers "to the custom of the people in the East of calling attention to any one by a significant hiss or rather hist." We read,  Judges 14:8, that "after a time," probably many days, Samson returned to the carcass of the lion he had slain, and saw bees and honey therein.

"If any one here represents, to himself, a corrupt and putrid carcass, the occurrence ceases to have any true similitude, for it is well known that, in these countries, at certain seasons of the year, the heat will, in the course of twenty-four hours, completely dry up the moisture of dead camels, and that, without their undergoing decomposition, their bodies long remain like mummies, unaltered and entirely free from offensive odor." - Edmann.

King James Dictionary

BEE, n. An insect of the genus Apis. See Apis. The species are numerous, of which the honey-bee is the most interesting to man. It has been cultivated from the earliest periods, for its wax and honey. It lives in swarms or societies, of from 10,000 to 50,000 individuals. These swarms contain three classes of bees, the females or queen bees, the males or drones, and the neuters or working bees. Of the former, there is only one in each hive or swarm, whose sole office is to propagate the species. It is much larger than the other bees. The drones serve merely for impregnating the queen, after which they are destroyed by the neuters. These last are the laborers of the hive. They collect the honey, form the cells, and feed the other bees and the young. They are furnished with a proboscis by which they suck the honey from flowers, and a mouth by which they swallow it, and then convey it to the hive in their stomachs, where they disgorge it into the cells. The pollen of flowers settles on the hairs with which their body is covered, whence it is collected into pellets, by a brush on their second pair of legs,and deposited in a hollow in the third pair. It is called bee bread, and is the food of the larvae or young. The adult bees feed on honey. The wax was supposed to be formed from pollen by a digestive process, but it is now ascertained that it is formed from the honey by a similar process. The females and neuters have a barbed sting, attached to a bag of poison, which flows into the wound inflicted by the sting. When a hive is overstocked, a new colony is sent out under the direction of a queen bee. This is called swarming.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The well-known insect that supplies honey. They are referred to symbolically as chasing and surrounding an enemy, and the painfulness of their attacks has often been experienced.  Deuteronomy 1:44;  Judges 14:8;  Psalm 118:12;  Isaiah 7:18 . Bees abound in Palestine, making their nests in the woods and in the clefts of the rocks, which habit well illustrates the description of the land as "flowing with milk and honey:" cf.  1 Samuel 14:26 .

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) A neighborly gathering of people who engage in united labor for the benefit of an individual or family; as, a quilting bee; a husking bee; a raising bee.

(2): p. p. of Be; - used for been.

(3): (n.) Pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through; - called also bee blocks.

(4): (n.) An insect of the order Hymenoptera, and family Apidae (the honeybees), or family Andrenidae (the solitary bees.) See Honeybee.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Deuteronomy 1:44 Psalm 118:12 Judges 14:8 Deuteronomy 32:13 Psalm 81:16 Isaiah 7:18

Holman Bible Dictionary

Insects

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( דְּבוֹרָה , Deborah ' , Gr. Μέλισσα ), a gregarious insect, of the family Apidae, order Hymenoplera, species Apis Mellifica, commonly called the honey-bee, one of the most generally-diffused creatures on the globe. Its instincts, its industry, and the valuable product of its labors, have attained for it universal attention from the remotest times. A prodigious number of books have been written, periodical publications have appeared, and even learned societies have been founded, with a view to promote the knowledge of the bee, and increase its usefulness to man. Poets and moralists of every age have derived from it some of their most beautiful and striking illustrations.

The following is a mere outline of the facts ascertained by Swammerdam, Maraldi, Reaumur, Schirach, Bonnet, and Huber: — Its anatomy and physiology, comprehending the antennae, or tactors, by which it exercises at least all the human senses; the eye, full of lenses, and studded with hairs to ward off the pollen or dust of flowers, and the three additional eyes on the top of the head, giving a defensive vision upward from the cups of flowers; the double stomach, the upper performing the office of the crop in birds, and regurgitating the honey, and the lower secreting the wax into various sacklets; the baskets on the thighs for carrying the pollen; the hooked feet; the union of chemical and mechanical perfection in the sting; its organs of progressive motion; its immense muscular strength: — the different sorts of bees inhabiting a hive, and composing the most perfect form of insect society, from the stately venerated queen-regnant, the mother of the whole population and their leader in migrations, down to the drone, each distinguished by its peculiar form and occupations: — the rapidity of their multiplication; the various transitions from the egg to the perfect insect; the amazing deviations from the usual laws of the animal economy; the means by which the loss of a queen is repaired, amounting to the literal creation of another; their architecture (taught by the great Geometrician, who "made all things by number, weight, and measure"), upon the principles of the most refined geometrical problem; their streets, magazines, royal apartments, houses for the citizens; their care of the young, consultations. and precautions in sending forth a new colony; their military prowess, fortifications, and discipline; their attachment to the hive and the common interest, yet patience under private wrongs; the subdivision of labor, by which thousands of individuals co-operate without confusion in the construction of magnificent public works; the uses they serve, as the promoting of the fructification of flowers; the amazing number and precision of their instincts, and the capability of modifying these by circumstances, so far as to raise a doubt whether they be not endowed with a portion, at least, of intelligence resembling that of man.

The bee is first mentioned in  Deuteronomy 1:44, where Moses alludes to the irresistible vengeance with which bees pursue their enemies. A similar reference to their fury in swarms is contained in  Psalms 118:12. The powerlessness of man under the united attacks of these insects is well attested. Pliny relates that bees were so troublesome in some parts of Crete that the inhabitants were compelled to forsake their homes, and AElian records that some places in Scythia were formerly inaccessible on account of the swarms of bees with which they were infested. Mr. Park (Travels, 2, 37) relates that at Doofroo, some of the people, being in search of honey, unfortunately disturbed a swarm of bees, which came out in great numbers, attacked both men and beasts, obliged them to fly in all directions, so that he feared an end had been put to his journey, and that one ass died the same night, and another the next morning. Even in England the stings of two exasperated hives have been known to kill a horse in a few minutes.

In  Judges 14:5-8, it is related that Samson, aided by supernatural strength, rent a young lion that warred against him as he would have rent a kid, and that "after a time," as he returned to Take His Wife, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, "and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion." It has been hastily concluded that this narrative favors the mistaken notion of the ancients, possibly derived from misunderstanding this very account, that bees might be engendered in the dead bodies of animals (Virgil, Georg. 4), and ancient authors are quoted to testify to the aversion of bees to flesh, unpleasant smells, and filthy places. But it may readily be perceived that it is not said that the bees were bred in the body of the lion. Again, the frequently recurring phrase "after a time," literally "after days," introduced into the text, proves that at least sufficient time had elapsed for all the flesh of the animal to have been removed by birds and beasts of prey, ants, etc. The Syriac version translates "the bony carcass." Bochart remarks that the Hebrew phrase sometimes signifies a whole year, and in this passage it would seem likely to have this meaning, because such was the length of time which usually elapsed between espousal and marriage (see  Judges 14:7). He refers to  Genesis 4:3;  Genesis 24:55;  Leviticus 25:29-30;  Judges 11:4; comp. with  Judges 11:40;  1 Samuel 1:3; comp. with  1 Samuel 1:7;  1 Samuel 1:20; and  1 Samuel 2:19; and  1 Samuel 27:7. The circumstance that "Honey " was found in the carcass as well as bees shows that sufficient time had elapsed since their possession of it for all the flesh to be removed. Nor is such an abode for bees, probably in the skull or thorax, more unsuitable than a hollow in a rock, or in a tree, or in the ground, in which we know they often reside, or those clay nests which they build for themselves in Brazil. Nor is the fact without parallel. Herodotus (5, 14) relates that a swarm of bees took up their abode in the skull of one Silius, an ancient invader of Cyprus, which they filled with honey-combs, after the inhabitants had suspended it over the gate of their city. A similar story is told by Aldrovandus (De Insectis, 1, 110) of some bees that inhabited and built their combs in a human skeleton in a tomb in a church at Verona. — In  Sirach 11:3, the production of honey by bees, and its use as food, are also mentioned. Bees must have been very common in Palestine to justify the title given to it of a land flowing with milk and honey. They are still abundant there (Shaw, Trav. p. 292 sq.; Oedmann, Samml. 6, 136), and mentioned in the Talmud (Chelim, 16, 7; Sabb. 24, 3). See Philo, Opp. 2, 633 Bochart, 3, 352. (See Honey).

The reference to the bee in  Isaiah 7:18, has been misunderstood: "The Lord shall Hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost parts of the river of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria." Here the fly and the bee are no doubt personifications of those inveterate enemies of Israel, the Egyptians and Assyrians, whom the Lord threatened to excite against his disobedient people. But the Hissing for them has been interpreted, even by modern writers of eminence, as involving "an allusion to the practice of calling out the bees from their hives, by a hissing or whistling sound, to their labor in the fields, and summoning them to return when the heavens begin to lower, or the shadows of evening to full" (Dr. Harris's Natural History of the Bible, London, 1825). No one has offered any proof of the existence of such a custom, and the idea will itself seem sufficiently strange to all who are acquainted with the habits of bees. The true allusion is, no doubt, to the custom of the people of the East, and even of many parts of Europe, of calling the attention of any one in the street, etc., by a significant hiss, or rather hist, as Lowth translates the word both here and in  Isaiah 5:26, but which is generally done in this country by a short significant Hem! or other exclamation. Hissing, or rather histing, is in use among us for setting a dog on any object. Hence the sense of the threatening is, I will direct the hostile attention of the Egyptians and Assyrians against you.

In the Septuagint version there is an allusion to the bee, immediately after that of the ant ( Proverbs 6:8), which may be thus rendered — "Or go to the bee, and learn how industrious she is, and what a magnificent work she produces; whose labors kings and common people use for their health. And she is desired and praised by all. And though weak in strength, yet prizing wisdom, she prevails." This passage is not now found in any Hebrew copy, and Jerome informs us that it was wanting in his time. Neither is it contained in any other version except the Arabic. It is nevertheless quoted by many ancient writers, as Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. 1; Origen, In Num. Hom. 27, and in Isai. Hom. 2; Basil, Hexameron, Hom. 8; Ambrose, 5, 21; Jerome, in Ezekiel 3; Theodoret, De Providentia, Orat. 5; Antiochus, Abbas Sabbae, Hom. 36; and John Damascenus, 2:89. It would seem that it was in the Hebrews copy used by the Greek translators. The ant and the bee are mentioned together by many writers, because of their similar habits of industry and economy. For the natural history and habits of the bee, see the Penny Cyclopaedia, s.v. (See Swarm).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Bee (occurs in  Deuteronomy 1:44;  Judges 14:8;  Psalms 118:12;  Isaiah 7:18). This insect belongs to the family apidæ, order hymenoptera, species apis mellifica, commonly called the honey-bee, because this species has often yielded honey to man.

In proceeding to notice the principal passages of Scripture in which the bee is mentioned, we first pause at  Deuteronomy 1:44, where Moses alludes to the irresistible vengeance with which bees pursue their enemies: 'The Amorites came out against you and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir unto Hormah.' The powerlessness of man under the united attacks of these insects is well attested. Pliny relates that bees were so troublesome in some parts of Crete, that the inhabitants were compelled to forsake their homes; and Ælian records that some places in Scythia were formerly inaccessible on account of the swarms of bees with which they were infested. Park relates that at Doofroo, some of the people being in search of honey, unfortunately disturbed a swarm of bees, which came out in great numbers, attacked both men and beasts, obliged them to fly in all directions, so that he feared an end had been put to his journey, and that one ass died the same night, and another the next morning. Even in this country the stings of two exasperated hives have been known to kill a horse in a few minutes.

The reference to the bee contained in  Judges 14:8, has attracted the notice of most readers. It is related in  Judges 14:5-6 that Samson, aided by supernatural strength, rent a young lion, that warred against him, as he would have rent a kid, and that 'after a time,' as he returned to take his wife, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. It has been hastily concluded that this narrative favors the mistaken notion of the ancients, possibly derived from misunderstanding this very account, that bees might be engendered in the dead bodies of animals; and ancient authors are quoted to testify to the aversion of bees to flesh, unpleasant smells, and filthy places. But it may readily be perceived that it is not said that the bees were bred in the body of the lion. Again, the frequently recurring phrase, 'after a time,' literally 'after days,' introduced into the text, proves that at least sufficient time had elapsed for all the flesh of the animal to have been removed by birds and beasts of prey, the ants, etc. The Syriac version translates 'the bony carcass.' The learned Bochart remarks that the Hebrew phrase sometimes signifies a whole year, and in this passage it would seem likely to have this meaning, because such was the length of time which usually elapsed between espousal and marriage (see  Judges 14:7). The circumstance that 'honey' was found in the carcass as well as bees, shows that sufficient time had elapsed since their possession of it, for all the flesh to be removed. Nor is such an abode for bees, probably in the skull or thorax, more unsuitable than a hollow in a rock, or in a tree, or in the ground, in which we know they often reside, or those clay nests which they build for themselves in Brazil. Nor is the fact without parallel. Herodotus relates that a swarm of bees took up their abode in the skull of one Silius, an ancient invader of Cyprus, which they filled with honeycombs, after the inhabitants had suspended it over the gate of their city. A similar story is told by Aldrovandus of some bees that inhabited and built their combs in a human skeleton in a tomb in a church at Verona.

The phrase in  Psalms 118:12, 'They compassed me about like bees,' is easily understood by all who know the manner in which bees attack the object of their fury.

The only remaining passage has been strangely misunderstood ( Isaiah 7:18): 'The Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost parts of the river of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.' Here the fly and the bee are no doubt personifications of those inveterate enemies of Israel, the Egyptians and Assyrians, whom the Lord threatened to excite against his disobedient people. But the hissing for them has been interpreted, even by modern writers of eminence, as involving an allusion to the practice of calling out the bees from their hives, by a hissing or whistling sound, to their labor in the fields, and summoning them to return, when the heavens begin to lower, or the shadows of evening to fall.' No one has offered any proof of the existence of such a custom, and the idea will itself seem sufficiently strange to all who are acquainted with the habits of bees. The true reference is, no doubt, to the custom of the people of the East, and even of many parts of Europe, of calling the attention of anyone in the street, etc. by a significant hiss or rather hist, as Bishop Lowth translates the word both here and in  Isaiah 5:26. Hissing, or rather histing, is in use among us for setting a dog on any object. Hence the sense of the threatening is, I will direct the hostile attention of the Egyptians and Assyrians against you.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bē ( דּבורה , debhōrāh  ; compare Arabic dabr , "a swarm of bees," also Arabic debbūr , "a wasp," said to be a corruption of zunbūr , "a wasp"; all are apparently from the Hebrew dābhar , "to speak," "arrange," "lead," "follow," or from Arabic dabara , "follow" (compare Arabic dabbara , "arrange"), though the connection in meaning is not apparent): Honey is mentioned many times in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, but the word "bee" occurs only four times, and only one of the four times in connection with honey in the story of Samson ( Judges 14:8 ). Both wild and domesticated bees are found today in Palestine, but it is not clear that bees were kept in Bible times, although it would seem very probable. The frequently recurring phrase, "a land flowing with milk and honey," certainly suggests that the honey as well as the milk is a domestic product. The hives now in use are very primitive and wasteful as compared with hives that are made in Europe and America. Sometimes a large water jar is used. More frequently a cylinder about 3 or 4 ft. long and 6 inches in diameter is constructed of mulberry withes plaited together and plastered with mud or cow dung. A number of these cylinders are placed horizontally, being piled up together under some rude structure which serves as a protection from the direct rays of the sun. In the passage already cited it is related that Samson found a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion which he had killed on his previous visit. We are not told how much time had intervened, but it does not take long in the dry climate of Palestine for scavenging beasts and insects to strip the flesh from the bones and make the skeleton a possible home for a swarm of bees. The other three passages refer to the offensive power of bees. In  Deuteronomy 1:44 , in the speech of Moses he says, "The Amorites chased you, as bees do"; in  Psalm 118:12 , the psalmist says, "They compassed me about like bees"; in  Isaiah 7:18 , the bee is the type of the chastisement that the Lord will bring from the land of Assyria.