Eating Honey

Φάγε μέλι υἱέ ἀγαθὸν γὰρ κηρίον ἵνα γλυκανθῇ σου ὁ φάρυγξ. Oὕτως αἰσθήσῃ σοφίαν τῇ σῇ ψυχῇ ἐὰν γὰρ εὕρῃς ἔσται καλὴ ἡ τελευτή σου καὶ ἐλπίς σε οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψει. Ἐσθίει μέλι ὁ ἀπὸ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν ὠφελούμενος· ὁ δὲ ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἐκβάλλων τῶν πραγμάτων τοὺς λόγους, ἀφʼ ὧν εἰλήφασιν ἅγιοι προφῆται καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι, ἐν τῷ ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδάσκειν, τρώγει κηρίον· καὶ τὸ μὲν μέλι φαγεῖν, τοῦ βουλομένου παντός· τὸ δὲ κηρίον, μόνου τοῦ καθαροῦ· ἢ καὶ μέλι ῥητέον τὴν ἀλληγορίαν· κηρίον δὲ, τὴν ῥητὴν ἐπίσκεψιν καὶ ἱστορίαν, πρὸς τὸ ἔχειν τὸν ἀποκεκρυμμένον νοῦν καὶ βαθύτερον, ἔνεστι γὰρ τῷ κηρίῳ μέλι· φάρυγγα δὲ τὴν θρεπτικὴν τῆς ψυχῆς δύναμιν, δι' ἧς αἱ τροφαὶ παραπέμπονται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν· ἐὰν οὖν ταῦτα κατορθώσῃς, τά τε κατὰ διάνοιαν, καὶ τὰ καθ' ἱστορίαν, ἔσονταί σοι αἰσθήσει τῆς σοφίας αὐτὰ τὰ σοφὰ δόγματα· ἐὰν γὰρ εὕρῃς τὸν πνευματικὸν τῆς Γραφῆς νοῦν, ἔσται καλὴ ἡ τελευτή σου, ὡς λεχθῆναι· Τίμιος ἐναντίον Κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ· οὐκ ἀποβαλεῖς δὲ τὴν εἰς τὸ μέλλον ἐλπίδα. Μὴ προτιμήσῃς τὸν διάβολον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνης, ἢν οἱ δίκαιοι νομεύονται· μηδὲ ἀπατηθῇς μωρολογίαις θανατηφόροις χορτάσαι σου τὴν καρδίαν σου, ὅ ἐστι κοιλία. Μὴ ἕνεκεν ἡδονῆς προδῷς τὸν Θεόν· οὗτος γὰρ νομὴ δικαίου, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐγκαταλείψῃ σε. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφαλή KΔ´ Source: Migne PG 17.228a-c

Eat honey, my son, for it is good and the comb is most sweet in your throat. So is wise teaching to your soul, which when you find it, you shall have hope at the end, and your hope shall not perish. 1 He eats honey who is improved by the Divine Scriptures. And he who draws out from the account of things, derived from the holy prophets and the Apostles, he eats the comb in teaching and doing. To eat honey is more pleasing, but the comb is only for the pure. The honey is spoken of allegorically. So the comb is what we name speculation and investigation, which grasps the more hidden and deeper sense, and in the comb is the honey. The throat is the digestive faculty of the soul by which power food is sent to the stomach. If, then, you are rightly established in these things, things of understanding and investigation, you shall you grasp the wisdom of wise teaching. For if you find the spiritual understanding of Scripture, even your death will be a beautiful thing, as it says: 'Precious in the sight of God is the death of his holy ones.' 2 You shall not have lost hope for the future. Do not prefer the devil to the righteousness of God which feeds the righteous. Nor be deceived, that you fill your heart, which is like a stomach, with foolish and fatal teachings. Do not on account of pleasure be a traitor to God. He feeds the righteous and He shall not abandon you. Origen, On Proverbs, Chapter 24 1 Prov 24.13-14 2 Ps 115.15