John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 14:25

"And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey upon the ground." — 1 Samuel 14:25 (ASV)

And all they of the land came to a wood
Which lay between Bethaven and Aijalon; by whom are meant not all the inhabitants of the land of Israel, but all that came with Saul and Jonathan, and that joined them in the pursuit:

and there was honey upon the ground ;
which dropped upon it, as in the following verse, or where it was produced by bees; for Aristotle ^F18 reports, that bees in some places make their combs upon the ground; this was wild honey, which Diodorus Siculus ^F19 speaks of as common in Arabia, and which perhaps John the Baptist ate of, (Matthew 3:4) . Jarchi says, this was the honey of canes, or sugar canes, which grew in the land of Israel; and affirms from Nathan an Ishmaelite, that in the Ishmaelitish or Arabic language they call honey, sugar; but neither of these can be proved.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F18: Hist. Animal. l. 5. c. 22.
• F19: Bibliothec. l. 19. p. 731.