What Does Ezekiel 3:1 Mean in the King James?
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The message becomes speakable only after it has become nourishment within you.
THE MEANING
The word reaches you as something to take inward before it passes through you as speech. The scroll becomes food, and the one who receives it becomes its voice. Understanding here is not just hearing a message; it is taking it into yourself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a message can remain outside you while you carry it faithfully to others.
THE ROOT
אֱכֹל
ʾĕḵōl
GROWS FROM
אכל
Eat, consume.
“eat” in this verse is ʾĕḵōl. The scroll is taken in as food, not held at a distance as information. The image makes receiving the message bodily: what is eaten becomes part of the one who will speak.
ALSO GROWS
ʾākal: To eat or consume.
אָכַל
The same root names the act Ezekiel performs with the scroll.
maʾăḵāl: Food, something eaten.
מַאֲכָל
The scroll is treated as food that can be received inwardly, not merely read.
מְגִלָּה
megillah
GROWS FROM
גלל
Roll, roll away.
“roll” in this verse is megillah. The Hebrew word for the scroll carries its physical form: it is something rolled. In the verse, this rolled message is not only opened or inspected; it is taken into the body.
ALSO GROWS
gālal: To roll or roll away.
גָּלַל
This verb shares the scroll’s root and preserves the physical action behind its name.
gilgāl: A circle or wheel; also the name Gilgal, associated with rolling.
גִּלְגָּל
This related form echoes the root’s circular, rolling motion, keeping the scroll connected to the act of unfolding.
דַּבֵּר
dabbēr
GROWS FROM
דבר
Speak; as a noun, word, matter, or thing.
“speak” in this verse is dabbēr. The same consonants form דָּבָר (dāḇār), meaning both “word” and “matter.” The verse links what is taken into the speaker with the matter that then comes out as speech.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: A word, matter, or affair.
דָּבָר
The spoken message is also the matter being carried from the scroll into the world.
dibbēr: Spoke or communicated.
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form shares the root with “word,” joining the content and the act of speaking.
THE PATTERN
The message becomes a voice after it is taken inward.
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.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.THE THREAD
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.Jeremiah uses the same Hebrew root, אכל (ʾ-k-l), for eating the found words. What is taken inward becomes joy at the heart; Ezekiel’s scroll gives that same inward receiving a body and a voice.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us