Land or Milk and Honey
Milk and Honey (stylized as milk and honey) is a collection of poetry and prose by Rupi Kaur. The collection is about survival. It is divided into four chapters, with each chapter serving a different purpose. Violence, abuse, love, loss and femininity are prevalent themes.
Milk and honey also refers to the Promised Land of Hebrew tradition, as described in (Exodus chapter 3:) "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8); (Numbers 14:8); (Deuteronomy 26:9, 31:20); and (Ezekiel 20:15).
“If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.” (Isaiah 7:2)
Lebanon has been called many things such as the "The land of Milk and Honey", "Pearl of the Middle East" and the "Switzerland of the East." A land of Roman ruins and ravishing red wines in the original land of milk and honey.
''Lebanon,'' known in Latin as 'Mons Libanus', was the name of a mountain. The Hebrew word ''laban'' meaning white, because of its snow covered mountains.
At the time when the Bible was written, there was no clear distinction between what is now the Palestinian territories, Israel and Lebanon. “Land of Milk and Honey” represents the point of view of the people living in the desert to the east. Thus, people who lived in the desert could have neither milk or honey.
America was also once called the Land of Milk and Honey. It was so named for the prosperity and promise associated with the opportunity that was once available to anyone who, when willing to work, could acquire a piece of the America Dream.
The phrase 'land of milk and honey' is an idiomatic expression used today as in old times to refer to a place full of comfort and luxury.
The Hebrew word for honey, “dvash”, means more than just the ambrosial product we borrow from bees. In antiquity it meant the sweet juice of almost any fruit.
The Hebrew word for milk is “khaláv’, or halabh, "new milk", milk in its fresh state (Judges 4:19). There are in the Bible 48 verses in 56 passages about milk from 18 books. Milk is a powerful symbol within most cultural traditions. It is the fluid of eternal life, fertility, abundance; it is the food of the Gods, the first human diet, it flows freely in the "Promised Land of Canaan" (Biederman, 221). Milk symbolizes the Mother, it is deeply connected with life itself.
It is often alluded to in the Bible, as a symbol of pure, simple, and wholesome truth, (Hebrews 5:12, 13); (1 Peter 2:2); and in connection with honey, to denote fertility and plenty, (Genesis 49:12); (Numbers 16:13); (Joshua 5:6).
The Hebrews and neighbours used not only the milk of cows, but also that of camels, sheep, and goats, (Genesis 32:15); (De 32:14); and (Proverbs 27:27).
Not surprisingly, milk and honey figure prominently in the oldest cultures and religions of the Middle East. For example, the Egyptians, who kept bees as long as 5,000 years ago, sweetened their foods and wine with it. They also valued honey for its medicinal virtues and for its ability to preserve fruits.
The history of the early Hebrews is known primarily from one of their sacred texts, the Torah, which comprises the first five books of the Old Testament of the Bible. Yahweh promised Abraham that if he followed these laws, he would found a great land flowing with milk and honey.
Within the original context and significance of "The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey" was it the land or the milk and honey that the promise was all about?
Food for thought!