Revelation 10:9
in Revelation 10And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And he saith unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey.
KJV
And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
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This verse in Revelation 10
Commentary
15 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And I went unto the angel - This is symbolic action, and is not to be understood literally. As it is not necessary to suppose that an angel literally descended, and stood upon the sea and the land, so it is not necessary to suppose that there was a literal act of going to him, and taking the book from his hand and eating it. Give me the little book - In accordance with the command in Rev 10:
This site's exposition
Go, take the small scroll
on Revelation 10:8-9
The voice from heaven sends John to take the small scroll, and the angel warns him in advance, It will make your stomach bitter. Ezekiel 3:1-3 gives the pattern, a prophet eating a scroll that tasted of honey.
This site's exposition
Take it and eat it
Wesley reads the command to take the scroll and eat it as a call to take in the whole message, as Ezekiel ate his scroll. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the honey in the mouth as doing the will of God. The stomach turned bitter at the judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Our belly stuck to the ground." They mean that "our belly" consented to the impious persuasion of that dust [i.e., godless persecutors]; for that is what the expression "stuck to" implies.… To cling to God is to do his will. It makes sense, then, to say of the belly that it clung to the earth, when we mean those people who could not hold out under persecution but yielded to the will of the wicked; for this is how they "stuck to the earth." But why are they called "the belly"? Because they are carnal. It suggests that the church's mouth is to be found in the saints, in spiritual people, and the church's belly in the carnal. This is why the church's mouth is plainly visible, but its belly is covered up, as befits something weaker and more vulnerable. Scripture supports this interpretation in the passage where someone says he was given a book to eat, "and the book was sweet in my mouth but bitter in my stomach." What can that mean? Surely that the highest precepts, which spiritual persons accept, are unacceptable to the carnal, and that commands that delight the spiritual only give the carnal indigestion. What is in that book, brothers and sisters? "Go and sell all you possess, and give the money to the poor." How sweet is that command in the church's mouth! All the spiritual have obeyed it. But if you tell any sensual person to do that, he or she is more likely to walk sadly away, as the rich man in the Gospel walked away from the Lord, than to fulfill the injunction. Why does a carnal person walk away? Because that book, so sweet to the mouth, is bitter in the belly.
A commentator
Caesarius of ArlesEXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 10:10, HOMILY 8 · Written before 542.
proposed
"It will be sweet in your mouth but bitter in your stomach." By the mouth we are to understand the good and spiritual Christians, while by the stomach we understand the carnal and dissolute. And so it is that when the word of God is …
[I told the angel to give me the book.] The church is moved by divine inspiration to be thoroughly instructed about this mystery. "And he said, 'Take and eat it.' " This means that he was to store [the book] in his secret inward parts. …
When I took it, he said, I ate it, and it was sweet in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. Since the divine evangelist both saw and heard the punishments inflicted upon the impious, so that they might be …
The Medieval Church1 voice
He says that although the knowledge of future things will be sweet to you, at the same time it will be bitter to your stomach, that is, to your heart, which is the dwelling place of spiritual foods. For you will have compassion on those …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
And I went to the angel, saying unto him, that he should give me the book. Then since the one who invites him to what he promised deceives no one, it is fittingly said after that, And he said to me: Take the book, and …
And I went to the angel, saying to him that he should give me the book. Let him approach the Lord who wishes to receive the mysteries of teaching.
And he said to me: Take the book and devour it. That is, insert it into your innermost parts and inscribe it in the breadth of your heart.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Eat it up - The like was commanded to Ezekiel. This was an emblem of thoroughly considering and digesting it. And it will make thy belly bitter, but it will be sweet as honey in thy mouth - The sweetness betokens the many good things which follow, chap. xi, 1, 15, &c.; the bitterness, the evils which succeed under the third woe.
And I went to the angel,.... According to the order given him; he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; and, indeed, whither should any go knowledge but to him who has the words of eternal life, and is the great prophet of the church? and to whom should John go to qualify him for prophesying, but to him, who, as man and Mediator, had this revelation of future things given him?
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
His finding the roll sweet to the taste at first, is because it was the Lord's will he was doing, and because, divesting himself of carnal feeling, he regarded God's will as always agreeable, however bitter might be the message of judgment to be announced.
Take it, and eat it up - Fully comprehend its meaning; study it thoroughly.
The words behind it
32 Greek wordsEvery Greek 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀπῆλθα | apeltha | I went | G565 → | 115 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄγγελον | angelon | angel | G32 → | 175 times |
| λέγων | legon | saying | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| αὐτῷ | auto | to him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| δοῦναί | dounai | to give | G1325 → | 412 times |
| μοι | moi | me | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| βιβλαρίδιον. | biblaridion | little scroll. | G974 → | 3 times |
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| λέγει | legei | he says | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| μοι· | moi | to me; | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| λάβε | labe | do take | G2983 → | 257 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| κατάφαγε | kataphage | do eat | G2719 → | 14 times |
| αὐτό. | auto | it. | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πικρανεῖ | pikranei | it will make bitter | G4087 → | 4 times |
| σου | sou | your | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| τὴν | ten | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κοιλίαν, | koilian | stomach, | G2836 → | |
| ἀλλ᾽ | all᾽ | but | G235 → | 635 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῷ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| στόματί | stomati | mouth | G4750 → | 78 times |
| σου | sou | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἔσται | estai | it will be | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| γλυκὺ | gluku | sweet | G1099 → | |
| ὡς | hos | as | G5613 → | 500 times |
| μέλι.¶ | meli | honey. | G3192 → |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀπῆλθαI went
apelthaG565 →115 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἄγγελονangel
angelonG32 →175 times
λέγωνsaying
legonG3004 →1325 times
αὐτῷto him
autoG846 →5565 times
δοῦναίto give
dounaiG1325 →412 times
μοιme
moiG3165 →1936 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
βιβλαρίδιον.little scroll.
biblaridionG974 →3 times
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
λέγειhe says
legeiG3004 →1325 times
μοι·to me;
moiG3165 →1936 times
λάβεdo take
labeG2983 →257 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
κατάφαγεdo eat
kataphageG2719 →14 times
αὐτό.it.
autoG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πικρανεῖit will make bitter
pikraneiG4087 →4 times
σουyour
souG4771 →2973 times
τὴν<the>
tenG3588 →19766 times
κοιλίαν,stomach,
koilianG2836 →
ἀλλ᾽but
all᾽G235 →635 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῷthe
toG3588 →19766 times
στόματίmouth
stomatiG4750 →78 times
σουof you
souG4771 →2973 times
ἔσταιit will be
estaiG1510 →2333 times
γλυκὺsweet
glukuG1099 →
ὡςas
hosG5613 →500 times
μέλι.¶honey.
meliG3192 →
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
Jeremiah 15:16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 3:1–3
“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 10:9–10
And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as…
- Psalms 119:101–103
I have kept my feet from every evil path, that I may keep Your word.
- Job 23:12
I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
- Psalms 19:10
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- Ezekiel 3:1–3
Through
Job 23:12I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 15:16
Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 119:11
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
- Psalms 119:103
How sweet are Your words to my taste— sweeter than honey in my mouth!
- Jeremiah 15:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Revelation
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alcuin of York, COMMENTARY ON REVELATION; Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 10:9; Augustine of Hippo, EXPLANATION OF PSALM 43.25; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Caesarius of Arles, EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 10:10, HOMILY 8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation and Primasius of Hadrumetum, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 10:9.