After my words they spake not again - The highest proof which could be given of deference. So full of respect were they that they did not dare to dispute him; so sagacious and wise was his counsel that they were satisfied with it, and did not presume to suggest any other.
And my speech dropped upon them - That is, like the dew or the gentle rain. So in Deuteronomy 32:2 :
My doctrine shall drop as the rain;
My speech shall distil as the dew,
As the small rain upon the tender herb,
And as the showers upon the grass.
So Homer speaks of the eloquence of Nestor,
Τοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης μέλιτος γλυκίων ῥέεν αὐδή.
Tou kai apo glōssēs melitos glukiōn rēn audē.
“Words sweet as honey from his lips distill’d.”
Pope
So Milton, speaking of the eloquence of Belial, says,
- Though his tongue
Dropt manna, and could make the worse appear
The better reason, to perplex and dash
Maturest counsels.
Paradise Lost, B. ii.
The comparison in the Scriptures of words of wisdom or persuasion, is sometimes derived from honey, that drops or gently falls from the comb. Thus, in Proverbs 5:3 :
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honey-comb,
And her mouth is smoother than oil,
So in Song of Solomon 4:11 :
Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb;
Honey and milk are under thy tongue.