📖 Biblical Definition
Butter/curds in the Bible is the rich, thickened milk product of the tent-dwelling pastoralist — a staple of hospitality and blessing. Abraham served Sarah's chem'ah with fresh bread to his three heavenly visitors (Gen 18:8). Jael brought it to Sisera before killing him (Judg 5:25). "Surely the churning of milk produces butter" (Prov 30:33) — a wry observation that pressure produces product, good or bad, depending on what is pressed. The clearest messianic use is Isaiah 7:15: "He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good" — the Immanuel child's diet is the simple food of the faithful poor, signaling both the low estate and the moral discernment of the coming Messiah.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
BUT'TER, n.
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BUT'TER, n. [Sax. butere; Gr. boutyron.] An oily substance obtained from cream or milk by churning. In Scripture, however, the word so translated is more commonly the thick curdled milk or soured cream carried in the skin of the Bedouin tent, a staple of hospitality and pilgrimage. Abraham offered it to the angels at the oak of Mamre; Jael carried a dish of it to Sisera before his death; and the prophecy of Immanuel declares He shall eat butter and honey in His infancy, the simple food of the pious poor, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 18:8 — "Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them."
Isaiah 7:15 — "He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good."
Judges 5:25 — "He asked for water and she gave him milk; she brought him curds in a noble's bowl."
Proverbs 30:33 — "For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The messianic significance of Isaiah's "curds and honey" is typically missed by readers who hear "butter" and think grocery-aisle.
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Isaiah 7:15 is a Christological gem: the virgin's Son will eat curds and honey "when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good." Curds and honey are the food of a people under threat — when fields are trampled and cattle graze freely, milk is abundant; honey is wild. The Messiah's infancy will be marked by humble pastoralist food in a land under judgment — and yet the child Himself will grow in moral discernment. Every detail matters. Modern readers breeze past "butter" as a breakfast spread; the faithful reader sees Bethlehem, the stable, the humble feedbox, and the tiny King already distinguishing evil from good. Recover the weight of Isaiah 7, and the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke click into place.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H2529 — chem'ah (חֶמְאָה) — curds, thick sour milk.
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H2529 — chem'ah (חֶמְאָה) — curds, sour cream, thickened milk; the hospitality food of the tent.
Usage
"Curds and honey was the Messiah's infant diet — humble pastoral food for the King of Glory."
"Pressing milk makes curds; pressing anger makes strife. What you press determines what you get."