212 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



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 recognize 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 esti- 

 mation of a proud and infatuated people, they should come with 

 irresistible might, and take possession of the rich and beautiful re- 

 gion that had been abandoned by its terrified inhabitants. 



The allusion of Moses to the attack of the Amorites, which in- 

 volves a reference to the irritable and revengeful disposition of the 

 bee is both just and beautiful : And 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,' Deut. i. 44. Every 

 person who has seen a swarm of disturbed bees, will easily conceive 

 the fierce hostility and implacable fury of the enemies of Israel, 

 which this expression is intended to denote. The same remarks 

 will apply to Psalm xviii. 12, in which there is a similar allusion. 



The surprising industry of the bee has, from the earliest times, 

 furnished man with a delicious and useful article, in the honey 

 which it produces. 



This was very common in Palestine. In Exod. iii. 8, &c. the 

 circumstance of its flowing with milk and honey is selected as a 

 striking proof of its being the glory of all lands ; and in Deut.xxxii. 

 13, and Ps. Ixxxi. 36, the inhabitants are said to have sucked 

 honey out of the rocks. With this agree 2 Sam. xiv. 25 ; Matt. iii. 

 4, &c. and the testimony of intelligent travellers. Hasselquist says, 

 that between Acra and Nazareth, great numbers of wild bees breed, 

 to the advantage of the inhabitants ; and Maundrel observes, that 

 when in the great plain near Jericho, he perceived in many places 

 a smell of honey and wax, as strong as if he had been in an apiary. 



It is reasonably supposed, however, that the honey mentioned in 

 some of these passages was not the produce of bees, but a sweet 

 syrup produced by the date-tree, which was common in Palestine, 

 and which is known to have furnished an article of this description. 

 There is also in some parts of the East, a kind of honey which 

 collects upon the leaves of the trees, something like dew, and which 

 is gathered by the inhabitants in considerable quantities. Jt is very 

 sweet when fresh, but turns sour after being kept two days. The 

 Arabs eat it with butter ; they also put it into their gruel, and use 

 it in rubbing their water skins, for the purpose of excluding the air. 

 It is collected in the months of May and June; and some persons 

 assured our traveller that the same substance was likewise prodnced 

 by the thorny tree Tereshresh at the same time of the year. 



Honey was prohibited as an offering on the altar, under the Le- 

 vitical dispensation, (Lev. ii. 11,) but its first-fruits were to be pre- 

 sented for the support of the priests, ver. 12. Some writers have 

 supposed that these first-fruits were of the honey of the date, but 

 such an interpretation is forced and unnatural : the articles intend- 

 ed in verse 12, are obviously the same as those which are specified 

 in the preceding verse. 



