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Echoes of Revelation
Revelation never quotes the Old Testament outright, yet no New Testament book refers to it more. See both texts side by side, why they don’t match, and what John does with them.
Revelation 5:1, a scroll written inside and on the back
The scroll in God's right hand, written on both sides, is Ezekiel's scroll of laments and woes, now given a reach that covers the whole world.
Revelation 5:1, in every translation this tool compares.
A letter so full that the writer has run onto the back of the page tells you there is a lot of news. In God's right hand John sees a scroll with writing on the inside and on the back. Ezekiel was shown the same kind of scroll, written front and back, full of laments, mourning and woe. John borrows Ezekiel's scroll, and with it a hint of what is inside: judgment.
A scroll written on both sides. Ezekiel 2:10 in Greek has writing on the front and the back (ta emprosthen kai ta opisthen); Revelation has written inside and on the back (esothen kai opisthen). The Hebrew has panim ve'achor, front and back. Both scrolls are held out from heaven to a prophet.
Ezekiel's scroll is unrolled before him and he reads its woes; John's is sealed and no one can open it. Ezekiel's scroll was for Israel; John's covers the whole world. Beale says the change comes from joining Ezekiel's scroll with the books of Daniel 7 and 12, which have cosmic reach. John never says what the scroll holds.
Beale reads the scroll as God's plan of judgment and redemption, set in motion by Christ's death and resurrection and still to be completed. Heiser stresses that Ezekiel's book judges both Judah and the nations. The scroll is for the whole earth, and only the Lamb can put it into effect.
Not a scroll read out, as Ezekiel's was. Ezekiel's scroll is spread open before him; John's stays sealed until the Lamb takes it. The sources differ on whether chapters 6 to 8 show what it holds.
Beale says most have rightly heard Ezekiel 2:9b-10 in 5:1 and later speaks of the clear allusion to Ezekiel 2:10. The writing on the back connotes comprehensive contents, as in Ezekiel 2:10 and Zechariah 5:1-3. In his introduction he gives it as an example of universalization: the book of judgment aimed at Israel in Ezekiel 2:9 gains cosmic reach in 5:1 by being joined to the books of Daniel 7:10 and 12:4, 9. The Targum on Ezekiel 2:10 says the scroll held what had been from the beginning and what will be at the end. Beale weighs Roman wills sealed with seven seals and doubly written contracts, and thinks John may have combined them with Ezekiel. Keener, the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, the ESV Study Bible and the CSB Study Bible all cite Ezekiel 2:9-10. The grade is Beale's.
Following Aune, Heiser says the sealed scroll comes from Ezekiel 2:9-10 as a sign that the Lamb is being installed in office. The Ezekiel link, he says, settles it as a rolled scroll rather than a book with pages. The best clue to the contents is Ezekiel's: laments, mourning and woe, that is, judgment. Ezekiel judges Judah (chapters 4-24) and then the nations (25-32). So, he argues, the scroll targets the wicked among both, and Revelation is not about Jerusalem's fall alone.
The sources split on how the contents come out. The CSB Study Bible and Heiser say nothing can be read until all seven seals are off, so chapter 6 shows what comes before the opening. Beale holds that each broken seal reveals and carries out part of the contents. On the form, Beale weighs a codex and a double legal deed; Keener reads a sealed legal document; Heiser and most commentators read a scroll. MacArthur reads the scroll as a deed, the title deed to the earth, as in Jeremiah 32, and each broken seal as a judgment of the coming tribulation.
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- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), comment on 5:1, The Book, and introduction, The Use of the Old Testament in the Apocalypse, Universalization
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Revelation 5:1
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Revelation 5:1
- ESV Study Bible, note on Revelation 5:1
- CSB Study Bible, note on Revelation 5:1
- Septuagint, Ezekiel 2:9-10, Interlinear Greek-English Septuagint
- Hebrew text of Ezekiel 2:10, Miqra according to the Masorah (Sefaria)
- SBL Greek New Testament (MorphGNT), Revelation 5:1
- Michael S. Heiser, Revelation 5: The Scroll and the Lamb Who Is Worthy, video lecture (Naked Bible Revelation series)
- John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (ESV), notes on Revelation 5:1 and 6:1
