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Lips That Drip: From Open Speech to Modesty

A beginner in serving Hashem sometimes speaks freely of what he does, without any shame. What changes as he grows? Read a second way, “Your lips drip honey, O bride; honey and milk are under your tongue” follows a person’s speech about his own service.

Shir HaShirim 4:11
נֹפֶת תִּטֹּפְנָה שִׂפְתוֹתַיִךְ כַּלָּה דְּבַשׁ וְחָלָב תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנֵךְ וְרֵיחַ שַׂלְמֹתַיִךְ כְּרֵיחַ לְבָנוֹן
Your lips drip honey, O bride; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Levanon.
6Or we may say: nofes tittofnah, “drip honey,” can also be read as the stages of a person's speech about his own service. When a person first begins to serve Hashem, he must serve with fear. Because he is not yet fully refined, he sometimes speaks openly of what he does, without shame. Later, when he rises a level higher, he is ashamed to speak and to reveal his deeds in his words; he is like a bride, whose deeds are done in private, and this is because “his fear is on his face.”1 When he rises higher still, he is modest in all his deeds. So nofes tittofnah, “drip,” hints that at the beginning of his service he lets words drip out openly, without shame, for his fear is not yet complete. Next comes “your lips, O bride”: his words are spoken with shame, and his deeds are done quietly, like a bride's. After that, “honey and milk,” words as sweet as honey and milk, are “under your tongue”: this is walking in complete modesty.2
אוֹ יֹאמַר "נוֹפֶת תִּטּוֹפְנָה", דְּהִנֵּה בְּהַתְחָלַת הָאָדָם לָבוֹא בַּעֲבוֹדָתוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ וְיִתְעַלֶּה, צָרִיךְ לִהְיוֹת בְּיִרְאָה, וּמֵחֲמַת שֶׁעֲדַיִין אֵינוֹ מְתוּקָּן כָּל צוֹרְכּוֹ, לָכֵן לִפְעָמִים מְדַבֵּר דְּבָרִים בְּגָלוּי בְּלֹא בּוּשָׁה, ואח"כ כְּשֶׁעוֹלֶה בְּמַדְרֵיגָה יְתֵירָה, הֲרֵי הוּא מִתְבַּיֵּישׁ מִלְּדַבֵּר לְגַלּוֹת אֶת מַעֲשָׂיו בְּדִיבּוּרָיו כְּכַלָּה שֶׁמַּעֲשֶׂיהָ בַּחֲשַׁאי, וְזֶה הוּא בַּעֲבוּר כִּי יִרְאָתוֹ עַל פָּנָיו, ואח"כ כְּשֶׁעוֹלֶה לְמַדְרֵיגָה יְתֵירָה הֲרֵי הוּא צָנוּעַ בְּכָל מַעֲשָׂיו, וְזֶה "נוֹפֶת תִּטּוֹפְנָה" רֶמֶז שֶׁמַּתְחִיל בְּהַתְחָלַת עֲבוֹדָתוֹ, אֲזַי הוּא מְטַפְטֵף דְּבָרִים כנ"ל, כִּי עֲדַיִין אֵין יִרְאָתוֹ שְׁלֵימָה, ואח"כ "שִׂפְתוֹתַיִךְ כַּלָּה", ר"ל שֶׁדְּבָרָיו נֶאֱמָרִים בְּבוּשָׁה וּמַעֲשָׂיו הֵן בַּחֲשַׁאי כְּכַלָּה, ואח"ז "דְּבַשׁ וְחָלָב", פֵּירוּשׁ דְּבָרִים הַמְּתוּקִים כִּדְבַשׁ וְחָלָב, הֵם "תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנֵךְ", שֶׁהוּא הַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת לְגַמְרֵי.
  1. Shemos 20:17, “so that His fear may be on your faces”; the Gemara reads it as shame (Nedarim 20a). ↩
  2. “Walk modestly,” hatzne'a leches, is from Michah 6:8. ↩
In shortSpeech marks the stages of growth: the beginner lets things drip out, the one further along speaks with a bride's shame, and the highest keeps everything under his tongue.
The maamar as a whole

Returning to “Your lips drip honey, O bride,” R’ Elimelech reads it a second way: as the stages of how a person speaks of his own service. The beginner serves with fear, but since he is not yet fully refined, he lets his deeds drip out in words, openly and without shame. Rising higher, he is ashamed to reveal what he does; like a bride, whose deeds are done in private, he speaks with shame, for “His fear is on his face.” Higher still, he is modest in all his deeds: the sweet things, honey and milk, stay “under your tongue,” and he walks in complete modesty.

Takeaway

Talking about our own avodah belongs to the beginning, not the end. As fear of Hashem grows, a person speaks of his deeds with shame, and at last keeps them sweet and hidden under his tongue, walking modestly with Hashem.

Related learning

Sources he cites

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Translated with AI assistance. Sources and summaries were checked by a separate AI review; not yet reviewed by a human editor.

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