How many times is honey mentioned in the Bible?
The word honey appears 56 times in the King James Version, in 56 verses. Counting every form (honey, honeycomb), it appears 65 times in 61 verses across 23 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses honey 57 times (65 with every form).
Honey in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of honey counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| honey | 56 | 57 |
| honeycomb | 9 | 8 |
| Total | 65 | 65 |
Which books mention honey most
Honey appears in 23 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Deuteronomy has the most (8), then Proverbs (7) and Ezekiel (6).
Also in: 2 Samuel (1), 1 Kings (1), 2 Kings (1), 2 Chronicles (1), Job (1), Matthew (1), Mark (1), Luke (1).
First and last mention of honey
And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
The verse that uses it most is Psalm 19:10, 2 times (tied with Proverbs 24:13, Song of Solomon 4:11, Song of Solomon 5:1):
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Verses with honey on our topic pages
6 verses that use honey in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
It is not good to eat much honey; nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor.
On: Pride, What Does the Bible Say About Gluttony? 26 Verses
As soon as the commandment went out, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in the tithe of all things abundantly.
On: Tithing
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
On: Healing
Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.
A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.
They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.
Common questions
How many times is honey in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 60 of the 65 uses are in the Old Testament and 5 in the New Testament. Honey appears in 23 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Deuteronomy has the most (8), then Proverbs (7) and Ezekiel (6).
Where is honey first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 43:11: "And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:" The last is Revelation 10:10.
More word counts: milk, oil, salt, fire, sword, king, priest, wife, or all 253 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-05.