---
title: מָתוֹק — sweet · The Tanakh dictionary
description: מָתוֹק (4966), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 12 times: sweet. BDB 1906: adj. sweet sweetness. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# מָתוֹק

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«מָתוֹק» in the Tanakh dictionary: **sweet** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 12 times · **Key:** 4966 · **BDB:** מָתוֹק

### Glosses

sweet (5); \[is\].sweet (4); a.sweet.\[thing\] (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

sweet [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4966/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

adj. sweet sweetness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4966/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** adj. sweet, and n.\[m.\] sweetness (on form v. LagBN 30, 60, cf. BaNB 13, 36);—abs. מ׳ Ju 14:14 + 9 times; f. מְתוּקָה Ec 5:11; pl. מְתוּקִים ψ 19:11;— sweet, of honey Ju 14:14 (where מ׳ = subst. a sweet thing), v 18 (both Samson’s riddle), Pr 24:13; so = sweetness, Ez 3:3; more gen., כָּל־מַר מ׳ Pr 27:7 every bitter thing is sweet to one hungry; fig. ψ 19:11 (God’s commandments, sweeter than honey), cf. Pr 16:24 (sim. of pleasant words) וּפִרְיוֹ מ׳ לְחִכִּי Ct 2:3 (i.e. his caresses); שָׂמִים מַר לְמ׳ וּמ׳ לְמָ֑ר Is 5:20 making bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter (obscuring moral distinctions; ‖ הָֹאמְרִים לָרַע טוֹב וְלַטּוֹב רָ֑ע). = pleasant, sleep of the toiler Ec 5:11; light 11:7 (‖ טוֹב לַעֵינַיִם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 11 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (5 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «מָתוֹק» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4966/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Proverbs 27:7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.27.7/)

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נֶ֣פֶשׁ שְׂ֭בֵעָה תָּב֣וּס נֹ֑פֶת וְנֶ֥פֶשׁ רְ֝עֵבָ֗ה כָּל־מַ֥ר מָתֽוֹק׃

*Word for word:* an.appetite satisfied it.treads.down honey and an.appetite hungry every bitter.\[thing\] \[is\].sweet

*JPS 1917:* The full soul loatheth a honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

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[Proverbs 24:13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.24.13/)

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אֱכָל־בְּנִ֣י דְבַ֣שׁ כִּי־ט֑וֹב וְנֹ֥פֶת מָ֝ת֗וֹק עַל־חִכֶּֽךָ׃

*Word for word:* eat my.son my honey (dm) \[it.is\].good and honey \[is\].sweet on palate your

*JPS 1917:* My son, eat thou honey, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to thy taste;

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