Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
I went--Greek, "I went away." John here leaves heaven, his standing-point of observation heretofore, to be near the angel standing on the earth and sea.
Give--A, B, C, and Vulgate read the infinitive, "Telling him to give."
eat it up--appropriate its contents so entirely as to be assimilated with (as food), and become part of thyself, so as to impart them the more vividly to others. 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. Compare Psalms 40:8, Margin, as to Christ's inner complete appropriation of God's word.
thy belly bitter--parallel to Ezekiel 2:10, "There was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe."
as honey-- (Psalms 19:10; Psalms 119:103). Honey, sweet to the mouth, sometimes turns into bile in the stomach. The thought that God would be glorified (Revelation 11:3-6, Revelation 11:11-18) gave him the sweetest pleasure. Yet, afterwards the belly, or carnal natural feeling, was embittered with grief at the prophecy of the coming bitter persecutions of the Church (Revelation 11:7-10); compare John 16:1-2. The revelation of the secrets of futurity is sweet to one at first, but bitter and distasteful to our natural man, when we learn the cross which is to be borne before the crown shall be won. John was grieved at the coming apostasy and the sufferings of the Church at the hands of Antichrist.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Job 20:14
Jeremiah 15:16
Ezekiel 2:8
Ezekiel 3:3
Revelation 1:1
Revelation 10:1
Revelation 10:2
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