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From: Ezekiel 2:8-3:4

The Prophet’s mission

[2:8] ”But you, son of man, hear what I say to you: be not rebellious like that re
bellious house; open your mouth, and eat what I give you.” [9] And when I looked,
behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and, lo, a written scroll was in it; [10]
and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back, and
there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

[3:1] And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll,
and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me
the scroll to eat. [3] And he said to me. “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give
you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet
as honey.

[4] And he said to me, “Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak
with my words to them.

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Commentary:

2:1-3:3. The vision by the river Chebar is all about the grandeur and glory of God,
who is sovereign over all things; whereas the account given of the call of Ezekiel
tells us about the prophet and about the people of Israel, for whom the message
is meant. The prophet is described as a son of man, whom the Spirit moves, a
prophet among the people; and they are a rebellious people. The account takes
the form of an address by the Lord containing a command to pass his word on to
the people (2: 1-7) and a symbolic action in which Ezekiel eats the scroll given
to him by God (2:8-3:3).

2:8-3:3. The action of eating the scroll symbolizes to the people that the prophet
is faithfully passing on the word of God, and therefore that they should not neglect
to take on board anything he says or try to tone it down. It also shows the posi-
tive attitude of the prophet himself: he eagerly “fills his stomach” with the words
of the Lord even though they are severe. Commenting on this passage, Pope St
Gregory the Great points out: “The Holy Scriptures are food and drink to nourish
us [....]. The obscure pages, which cannot he understood unless further expla-
nation be provided, are food, because everything must be explained in order to be
properly understood, just as everything must be chewed in order to be swallowed.
We do not chew what we drink: when the teaching is clear, we swallow it whole,
because we are in need of no further explanation. The prophet Ezekiel will hear
difficult and obscure words, so he is told to eat the scroll, not to drink it, as if to
say, ‘Meditate on this teaching and understand it well’’’ (Homiliae in Ezechielem
prophetam, 1,10, 3).

A “written scroll” (2:9): in ancient times books were written on rolls of parchment
or on papyrus (see also Jer 36:4).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.