1 Samuel 14:26,27 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And when the people were come into the wood, &c.— Wild honey, which was part of St. John Baptist's food in the wilderness, may give us an idea of the great plenty of it in those deserts; and that consequently, by taking the hint of nature, and enticing the bees into hives and larger colonies, a much greater increase might be made of it, Accordingly Josephus (Bell. Jud. lib. 5: cap. 4.) calls Jericho μελιττοτροφον χωραν a country fertile in honey. We find, moreover, that wild honey is often mentioned in Scripture. 1 Samuel 14:25-26. Deuteronomy 32:13.Psalms 81:16. Job 20:17. Diodorus Siculus, lib. 19: speaks of the μελι αγριον wild honey, that dropped from the trees; which some have taken, perhaps too hastily, for a honey-dew only, or some liquid kind of manna: whereas bees are known to swarm, as well in the hollow trunks, and upon the branches of trees, as in the clifts of rocks: honey, therefore, may be equally expected from both places. See Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 337. Jonathan, who was ignorant of his father's adjuration, being weary with the fatigue of the pursuit, eats some of the wild honey which abounded in the present wood; and his eyes were enlighted, i.e. his spirits and strength, which were quite exhausted by long abstinence from food, so that he could scarcely see, were restored to him, and he became fresh and lively to proceed in the pursuit of the enemy: for it is a fact, that famine and fatigue, by weakening the spirits, dim the sight; and as all meat and drink refreshes and enlivens, so wine and honey, in a remarkable degree, produce this effect; for their spirits are both very subtile, and quickly diffuse themselves through the human frame. See Bishop Patrick, and Vossius de Orig. et Prog. Idol. lib. 4: cap. 69.