Ezekiel 2:10

And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) He spread it before me.—The roll was given to the prophet open, as the book in Revelation 10:8, that he might first see it all as a whole, before becoming thoroughly possessed with it in detail. What he saw was “lamentations, and mourning, and woe;” in other words, this was the whole character of the message he was commissioned to bear until the great judgment in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple should be fulfilled, when, after Ezekiel 33, his prophecies assume a consolatory character. (See Introduction, VI)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:6-10 Those who will do any thing to purpose in the service of God, must not fear men. Wicked men are as briers and thorns; but they are nigh unto cursing, and their end is to be burned. The prophet must be faithful to the souls of those to whom he was sent. All who speak from God to others, must obey his voice. The discoveries of sin, and the warnings of wrath, should be matter of lamentation. And those acquainted with the word of God, will clearly perceive it is filled with woe to impenitent sinners; and that all the precious promises of the gospel are for the repenting, believing servants of the Lord.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Was sent - Rather, was put forth.

A roll of a book - The book was one of the ancient kind written on skins rolled up together. Hence, our English volume Psalm 40:7. The writing was usually on one side, but in this case it was written within and without, on both sides, the writing as it were running over, to express the abundance of the calamities in store for the devoted people. To eat the book signifies to be thoroughly possessed with its contents (compare Ezekiel 3:10; Jeremiah 15:16). There should be no break between Ezekiel 2:10 and Ezekiel 3.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. within and without—on the face and the back. Usually the parchment was written only on its inside when rolled up; but so full was God's message of impending woes that it was written also on the back.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He: Ezekiel 2:9 it was the hand, here it is the person, he who held out his hand.

Spread it before me; unrolled it within that distance the prophet might read what was written therein.

Written within and without; on both sides, on that side which was inward when rolled upon its roundle, and on that side also that was outward, and as it were the back side: a long roll, and full on both sides; so would the sorrows of the Jews be.

Lamentations, and mourning, and woe; such things as would make the stoutest heart lament, inwardly grieve; and mourn, express it in visible tokens; and woe, sad thoughts and guesses at worse to come: so this prophet’s message would be a most heavy burden to the Jews and other nations against which he prophesied.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he spread it before me,.... Unrolled it, that what was written in it might he seen and read; that so, understanding it, he might deliver the contents of it to the people: thus the Gospel, and the mysteries of it, must be explained by Christ to his ministers; and their understandings must be opened before they will be capable of making them known to others: and

it was written within and without; on the back, of the vellum or parchment as well as inside; and such writings were called "opisthographa"; of this kind was the book John saw Revelation 5:1. It was usual only to write on the inside; but when they had a great deal to write, then they wrote on the backside also (d); so that this roll being thus written denotes the largeness and abundance of the prophecies contained in this book; some respecting the Jews, and others the nations of the world. The Targum is,

"it was written before and behind, what was from the beginning, and what shall be in the end:''

and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe; afflictions, chastisements, and punishments, that should be inflicted upon the Jews, and other nations of the world; which, when made known to them, and especially when inflicted on them, would occasion sorrow and distress among them. In the Talmud, "lamentations" are interpreted of the punishments of the righteous in this world; "mourning" of the gift of reward to the righteous in the world to come; and "woe" of the punishments of the wicked in the world to come (e). The Targum is,

"if the house of Israel transgress the law, the people shall rule over them; but, if they keep the law, lamentation, and mourning, and sorrow, shall cease from them.''

(d) "----Aut summi plena tam margine libri Scriptus, et in tergo, nec dum finitus Orestes". Juvenal. Satyr. 1.((e) T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 21. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written in it {g} lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

(g) He shows what were the contents of this book: that is, God's judgments against the wicked.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - It was written within and without. Commonly such rolls, whether of vellum or papyrus, were written on one side only. This, like the tables of stone (Exodus 32:15), was written, as a symbol of the fulness of its message, on both sides. And as he looked at the roll thus "spread before" him, he saw that it was no evangel, no glad tidings, that he had thus to identify with his work, but one from first to last of lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Jeremiah had been known as the prophet of weeping, and was about this time (probably a little later) writing his own Lamentations (the Hebrew title of the book, however, is simply its first words) over the fall of Jerusalem. Ezekiel's work was to be of a like nature. The word meets us again (Ezekiel 19:1, 14; Ezekiel 26:17; Ezekiel 27:2, 32; Ezekiel 28:12; Ezekiel 32:2, 16) as the keynote of his writings. Out of such a book, though the glad tidings were to come afterwards, his own prophetic work was to be evolved.



Ezekiel 2:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

After the Lord had pointed out to the prophet the difficulties of the call laid upon him, He prepared him for the performance of his office, by inspiring him with the divine word which he is to announce. - Ezekiel 2:8. And thou, son of man, hear what I say to thee, Be not stiff-necked like the stiff-necked race; open thy mouth, and eat what I give unto thee. Ezekiel 2:9. Then I saw, and, lo, a hand outstretched towards me; and, lo, in the same a roll of a book. Ezekiel 2:10. And He spread it out before me; the same was written upon the front and back: and there were written upon it lamentations, and sighing, and woe. Ezekiel 3:1. And He said to me: Son of man, what thou findest eat; eat the roll, and go and speak to the house of Israel. Ezekiel 3:2. Then opened I my mouth, and He gave me this roll to eat. Ezekiel 3:3. And said to me: Son of man, feed thy belly, and fill thy body with this roll which I give thee. And I ate it, and it was in my mouth as honey and sweetness. - The prophet is to announce to the people of Israel only that which the Lord inspires him to announce. This thought is embodied in symbol, in such a way that an outstretched hand reaches to him a book, which he is to swallow, and which also, at God's command, he does swallow; cf. Revelation 10:9. This roll was inscribed on both sides with lamentations, sighing, and woe (הי is either abbreviated from נהי, not equals אי, or as Ewald, 101c, thinks, is only a more distinct form of הוי or הו). The meaning is not, that upon the roll was inscribed a multitude of mournful expressions of every kind, but that there was written upon it all that the prophet was to announce, and what we now read in his book. These contents were of a mournful nature, for they related to the destruction of the kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple. That Ezekiel may look over the contents, the roll is spread out before his eyes, and then handed to him to be eaten, with the words, "Go and speak to the children of Israel," i.e., announce to the children of Israel what you have received into yourself, or as it is termed in Ezekiel 3:4, דּברי, "my words." The words in Ezekiel 3:3 were spoken by God while handing to the prophet the roll to be eaten. He is not merely to eat, i.e., take it into his mouth, but he is to fill his body and belly therewith, i.e., he is to receive into his innermost being the word of God presented to him, to change it, as it were, into sap and blood. Whilst eating it, it was sweet in his mouth. The sweet taste must not, with Kliefoth, be explained away into a sweet "after-taste," and made to bear this reference, that the destruction of Jerusalem would be followed by a more glorious restoration. The roll, inscribed with lamentation, sorrow, and woe, tasted to him sweetly, because its contents was God's word, which sufficed for the joy and gladness of his heart (Jeremiah 15:16); for it is "infinitely sweet and lovely to be the organ and spokesman of the Omnipotent," and even the most painful of divine truths possess to a spiritually-minded man a joyful and quickening side (Hengstenberg on Revelation 10:9). To this it is added, that the divine penal judgments reveal not only the holiness and righteousness of God, but also prepare the way for the revelation of salvation, and minister to the saving of the soul.