What Does Ezekiel 3:3 Mean in the King James?
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.
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
What is given becomes inward when it is eaten: the scroll moves from the hand to the mouth, then fills the body’s depths.
THE MEANING
What is given to you passes beyond the mouth into your belly and bowels; receiving reaches the inner life, not just the surface. The word tastes sweet as it enters. Understanding is pictured as something taken in and carried within.
THE ROOT
תֹּאכֵל
tōʾkhēl
GROWS FROM
אכל
eat, consume
“eat” in this verse is tōʾkhēl. The same Hebrew root names the act of eating and forms a noun for food, so the scroll is pictured as more than something heard: it is received as substance within. The sweetness at the mouth and the filling of the bowels carry that reception from taste to the body’s depths.
ALSO GROWS
ʾākhal: To eat or consume.
אָכַל
This is the root verb behind the belly’s eating in the verse.
maʾakhal: Food or something eaten.
מַאֲכָל
This noun from the same root makes the scroll’s inward reception resemble taking in food.
THE PATTERN
A received word becomes inward substance when it is eaten, tasted, and carried within.
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.More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.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 eating root, אכל (ʾ-k-l), and the words he eats become joy in his heart. The shared root shows the word passing from the mouth into the inner life.
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