Ezekiel 3:2
in Ezekiel 3So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the roll.
KJV
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
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This verse in Ezekiel 3
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Verse 2.) And I opened my mouth, and he fed me with that scroll. And he said to me: Son of man. I, he said, opened my mouth, because I was told: Open your mouth, and eat. And, with my mouth open, the Lord bestowed food; so that the beginnings of the will are in us, and we attain the perfection of blessedness from the Lord. For it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of the merciful God (Rom. IX, 16). However, both to will and to run is of our own free will.
This site's exposition
eat this roll, and go speak
on Ezekiel 3:1-3
The scroll of lamentation, mourning and woe that ended chapter two is now eaten in full, mouth, then belly, and the taste defies the contents: as honey for sweetness. Gill and Henry both take the sweetness as the taste of God's own word to a heart submitted to it, bitter in its subject and sweet in its source, the same paradox John eats again at Revelation 10:9-10. The command to eat what he finds before speaking makes the point structural rather than incidental: no prophet speaks a word he has not first taken fully into himself.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
When the Prophet is ordered to eat whatever he receives, this ought not to be extended to everything which he meets with, but, whatever may be the taste of the book, he is forbidden to refuse it: for its bitterness might possibly cause him to reject the threats of God. Lastly, the quality of the book is noted, because it contained nothing but the material for sorrow.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
So I opened my mouth,.... To take in the roll, and eat it; he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; he did all that he could towards eating it, but was not sufficient of himself; and therefore it follows: and he caused me to eat that roll; he, the Lord, put it into his mouth, caused him to eat it, and tilled him with it, according to his promise, Psa 81:
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֶפְתַּ֖ח | vaeftach | and I opened | H6605 → | 144 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פִּ֑י | pi | mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
| וַיַּ֣אֲכִלֵ֔נִי | vaiyaakhileni | and he caused to eat me | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמְּגִלָּ֥ה | hamegilah | the scroll | H4039 → | 21 times |
| הַזֹּֽאת׃ | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
וָאֶפְתַּ֖חand I opened
vaeftachH6605 →144 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פִּ֑יmouth my
piH6310 →498 times
וַיַּ֣אֲכִלֵ֔נִיand he caused to eat me
vaiyaakhileniH398 →810 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
הַמְּגִלָּ֥הthe scroll
hamegilahH4039 →21 times
הַזֹּֽאת׃<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 26:19So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
it leads to
- Isaiah 50:5
The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.
- Ezekiel 2:7–8
But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.
- Galatians 1:16
to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,
- Jeremiah 20:9
If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of…
- Acts 26:2
“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews,
- Isaiah 50:5
Through
Jeremiah 25:17So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, each one to whom the LORD had sent me,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 1:10
See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”
- Jeremiah 25:28
If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘You most certainly must drink it!
- Ezekiel 43:3
The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown,
- Jeremiah 1:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.