Overview
The Bible addresses milk across 40 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Exodus, Deuteronomy and Isaiah. Closely related themes include Sheep, Ox, the, Wine and Agriculture or Husbandry.
Key Bible verses about milk
Old Testament
Genesis
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
Exodus
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
Deuteronomy
Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.
Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
Judges
1 Samuel
Proverbs
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. look: Heb. set thy heart
And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens. maintenance: Heb. life
Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.
Song of Solomon
Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. yea: or, and be drunken with loves
Isaiah
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. the land: Heb. the midst of the land
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
Jeremiah
That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD. So: Heb. Amen
And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
Lamentations
Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. sea: or, sea calves
Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
Ezekiel
In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:
Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. men: Heb. children
New Testament
1 Corinthians
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
Hebrews
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. is unskillful: Gr. hath no experience
In the Bible dictionary
Studying milk for yourself
- Begin with Genesis 18:8, then read the passages below in canonical order.
- Compare how Exodus, Deuteronomy and Isaiah each treat the theme.
- Widen the study to related themes: Sheep, Ox, the, Wine and Agriculture or Husbandry.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say about milk?
The Bible addresses milk across 40 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Exodus, Deuteronomy and Isaiah. Closely related themes include Sheep, Ox, the, Wine and Agriculture or Husbandry.
How many Bible verses are about milk?
The Bible references milk in 40 verses (King James Version).
Where does the Bible first mention milk?
In canonical order, the first of these passages is Genesis 18:8: “And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.”
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