Ezekiel 2:10

which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Ezekiel addresses the exiled house of Israel during a prophetic vision where a hand extends toward him holding a scroll. He describes the moment God unrolls the scroll directly before his eyes for inspection.

The words — The Hebrew פָּנִים וְ/אָח֑וֹר (panim ve-'achor) literally means "face and back," indicating the scroll's complete inscription. The verb וַ/יִּפְרֹ֤שׂ (va/yippros) conveys the active spreading out of the scroll for Ezekiel to read.

The thread — The motif of a fully inscribed message of judgment appears in Isaiah 30:8 and Isaiah 3:11, while Revelation 8:13 echoes the triple proclamation of woe. These passages trace a consistent biblical pattern of divine warning recorded for future witness.

Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment of a complete message of judgment that leaves no room for evasion. It requires the reader to confront the certainty of divine warning before acting.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיִּפְרֹ֤שׂva/i.yif.Rosand/ he spread out אוֹתָהּ֙'o.Ta/h<obj.>/ it לְפָנַ֔יle./fa.Na/i<to>/ before/ me וְהִ֥יאve./Hi'and/ it כְתוּבָ֖הkhe.tu.Vah[was] written פָּנִ֣יםpa.Nimface וְאָח֑וֹרve./'a.Chorand/ back וְכָת֣וּבve./kha.Tuvand/ [was] written אֵלֶ֔יהָ'e.Lei./hato/ it קִנִ֥יםki.Nimlamentations וָהֶ֖גֶהva./He.gehand/ moaning וָהִֽי׃ סva./Hiand/ wailing

King James Version

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

Cross-references

Isaiah 30:8 Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.
Revelation 8:13 And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the remaining three angels!”
Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
Jeremiah 36:29 You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’
Habakkuk 2:2 Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
Revelation 9:12 The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to follow.
Revelation 11:14 The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming shortly.