The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet.
Parallel translations
- WEB A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.
- KJV The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
- NKJV A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
- NASB A satisfied person despises honey, But to a hungry person any bitter thing is sweet.
- NLT A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The satisfied reject even sweet food, while the hungry find bitter things sweet. It illustrates how appetite and contentment shape what we value.
Overview
The proverb observes that fullness breeds disdain for good things, while genuine need makes even bitterness welcome, a lesson about gratitude and the danger of complacency. Spiritually, those who feel no hunger for righteousness despise grace, while those who hunger and thirst for it are filled (Matthew 5:6). Christ is the bread of life who satisfies the truly hungry soul (John 6:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Luke 15:16–17He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.
- Num 21:5and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”
- Num 11:18–20And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have cried out in the hearing of the LORD, saying: ‘Who will feed us meat? For we were better off in Egypt!’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat.
- Num 11:4–9Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
- John 6:9“Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?”
- Job 6:7My soul refuses to touch them; they are loathsome food to me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 27:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.