In its primary meaning akal (to eat) is used in the sense of taking
food by animals; this needs no illustration. It was afterwards observed
that eating includes two processes—(1) the loss of the food, i.e., the
destruction of its form, which first takes place; (2) the growth of
animals, the preservation of their strength and their existence, and
the support of all the forces of their body, caused by the food they
take.
The consideration of the first process led to the figurative use of the
verb, in the sense of “consuming,” “destroying”; hence it includes all
modes of depriving a thing of its form; comp. “And the land of your
enemies shall destroy (lit. eat) you” (Lev. xxvi. 38); “A land that
destroyeth (lit. eateth) the inhabitants thereof” (Num. xiii. 32); “Ye
shall be destroyed (lit. eaten) with the sword” (Isa. i. 6); “Shall the
sword destroy (lit. eat)” (2 Sam. ii. 26); “And the fire of the Lord
burnt among them, and destroyed (lit. ate) them that were in the
uttermost parts of the camp” (Num. xi. 1); “(God) is a destroying (lit.
eating) fire” (Deut. iv. 24), that is, He destroys those who rebel
against Him, as the fire destroys everything that comes within its
reach. Instances of this kind are very frequent.
With reference to the second effect of the act of eating, the verb “to
eat” is figuratively used in the sense of “acquiring wisdom,”
“learning”; in short, for all intellectual perceptions. These preserve
the human form (intellect) constantly in the most perfect manner, in
the same way as food preserves the body in its best condition. Comp.
“Come ye, buy and eat” (Isa. lv. 1); “Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good” (ib. 2); “It is not good to eat much honey”
(Prov. xxv. 27); “My son, eat thou honey, because it is good, and the
honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste; so shall the knowledge of
wisdom be unto thy soul” (ib. xxiv. 13, 14).
This figurative use of the verb “to eat” in the sense of “acquiring
wisdom” is frequently met with in the Talmud, e.g., “Come, eat fat meat
at Raba’s” (Baba Bathra 22a); comp. “All expressions of ‘eating’ and
‘drinking’ found in this book (of Proverbs) refer to wisdom,” or,
according to another reading, “to the Law” (Koh. rabba on Eccl. iii.
13). Wisdom has also been frequently called “water,” e.g., “Ho, every
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters” (Isa. lv. 1).
The figurative meaning of these expressions has been so general and
common, that it was almost considered as its primitive signification,
and led to the employment “of hunger” and “thirst” in the sense of
“absence of wisdom and intelligence”; comp. “I will send a famine in
the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing
the words of the Lord”; “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God”
(Ps. xlii. 3). Instances of this kind occur frequently. The words,
“With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Isa. xii.
3), are paraphrased by Jonathan son of Uzziel thus: “You will joyfully
receive new instruction from the chosen of the righteous.” Consider how
he explains “water” to indicate “the wisdom which will then spread,”
and “the wells” (maʻayene) as being identical with “the eyes of the
congregation” (Num. xv. 24), in the sense of “the chiefs,” or “the
wise.” By the phrase, “from the chosen of the righteous,” he expresses
his belief that righteousness is true salvation. You now see how he
gives to every word in this verse some signification referring to
wisdom and study. This should be well considered.