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Then I looked and realized a hand was stretched out to me, and in it was a written scroll. 10 He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front[a] and back;[b] written on it were laments, mourning, and woe.

He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of you[c]—eat this scroll—and then go and speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.

He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it,[d] and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 2:10 tn Heb “on the face.”
  2. Ezekiel 2:10 sn Written on the front and back. While it was common for papyrus scrolls to have writing on both sides, the same was not true for leather scrolls.
  3. Ezekiel 3:1 tn Heb “eat what you find.”
  4. Ezekiel 3:3 tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.sn I ate it. A similar idea of consuming God’s word is found in Jer 15:16 and Rev 10:10, where it is also compared to honey and may be specifically reminiscent of this text.

Then I looked, and I saw a hand(A) stretched out to me. In it was a scroll,(B) 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.(C)

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate(D) it, and it tasted as sweet as honey(E) in my mouth.