Drone and dabar

Originally posted on April 30, 2007 – by Andre Piet

Bee – Dabar – Word – Honey

Yesterday, at the beginning of a study on the living Word, I briefly pointed out the drone. A drone is, as you may know, a male bee. Our Dutch word “Dar” (drone) comes, indirectly, from Hebrew and is derived from the Hebrew word ‘dabar’. ‘Dabar’ is a male bee, and ‘deborah’ (think of the well-known judge) is a female bee. Now, the word for “word” in Hebrew is likewise dabar. That is, of course, not without significance: a bee in general, and a drone in particular, refers to… the Word. A bee produces honey, and indeed, that is a picture of “the holy Scriptures” (“sweeter than honey, and dripping honey from the comb”; Psalm 19:10). Just as a bee produces honey, so the Word “produces” the Scriptures. It is the deposit of it.

virgin birth

But the comparison does not stop there. A drone originates from an unfertilized egg. In biology, this phenomenon is called parthenogenesis, which literally means virgin birth. A phenomenon, by the way, that occurs far more frequently in living nature (how so “scientifically irresponsible“?). “The Word (> dabar!) became flesh”, through parthenogenesis. That is to say, without the involvement of a natural father.

the drone slaughter

There is much to tell about the life of bees. But in connection with the drone, let me limit myself to one more peculiarity. When, in late summer, the queen ascends to great heights (the so-called nuptial flight) and is fertilized there by drones, then their function has been fulfilled. The queen is fertilized once and for all. She stores the seed in a kind of pouch and can lay fertilized eggs for the rest of her life (up to five years). When the drones subsequently return to the hive, they are no longer welcome and are killed and stung to death at the entrance (this is called the drone slaughter). Is that, in essence, not also the story of the Dabar? He is the one who brought new life to light, but nevertheless was no longer welcome among His people. He suffered “outside the gate.” But despite this rejection: the drone once and for all completed his task. The new life has been brought into being!

drones and frolicking

Strikingly, in our language we have two verbs that are related to the drone. First, there is “droning” (Dutch: darren). Drones, in contrast to the worker bees (aside from bringing forth new life), do nothing. Indeed, they drone. They remind me of “him who is not working, yet is believing on Him Who is justifying the irreverent” (Rom. 4:5).
And furthermore—speaking of new life (you know, the birds and the bees 😉): there is another word that recalls the drone, namely frolicking (Dutch: dartelen). According to the dictionary, frolicking is: skipping, jumping, and going through life cheerfully…

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