1Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. 4Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.. 5But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:1-5
“There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll”
[ἔσωθεν] esōthen ‘within’, ‘on the inside’ [ὄπισθεν] opisthen ‘outside’, ‘behind’ ‘backside’A scroll written on both sides is a rarity among Hebrew scrolls. Normally scrolls are written on one side only and then sewn to the rod and rolled up with an accompanying rod at the other end of the scroll. In order to be read, the scroll is rolled from one rod on to the other rod and the portion in between the end rods is read as it is unrolled. One side of the scroll is smooth, the inner side on which the text is written. The other side is the back side of the scroll and on that side the velum is rough and ridged and so is harder to write on.
A scroll with writing on both sides is not necessarily unusual in that some scrolls have writing on the back, outer side but that writing is usually only just a few words of a general nature giving a summary of the contents at that point. On some scrolls there is a [mezuzah], a “doorpost” written on the outside of the scroll in the form of the reference to the TANAKH e.g Deut 6:9 or a word summarising what this part of the scroll includes within. But it is not an extensive amount of writing. Scrolls with writing on the outer surface are called opisthographi (sing.)or opisthographa (plural). On occasions there are explanatory notes on the outside which convey more than just a brief reference. Sometimes there are comments related to interpretive notes. But never, to the best of my knowledge has there been a scroll found which has the full text written on the back side of a scroll where the text of a book or chapters of the TANAKH have been written in full on both sides. On the website Echad Mi Yodeya [אחד מי יודע] ‘One who knows’ the author has written “Every Hebrew scroll I’ve ever seen has been written on only one side.”
There is another limiting factor involved in a scroll written on both sides. It would be hard while reading a scroll to turn it over and read the other side. Firstly it would be cumbersome. But secondly turning it over would not result in you being able to read the next portion. If the text were to be written on the outside / backside as well, given the constraints noted above, you would need to read to the end of the scroll and then turn it over to read back the other way if the text were continuous and concatenated.
There is biblical background to this concept found in Ezekiel.
Son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.” Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me. It held a scroll, which he unrolled. And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom.
Ezekiel 2:8-10
If indeed these elements of text from Ezekiel were to have been written on the outside of the scroll they were not likely to have been full and complete, extensive blocks of text. Rather the suggestion is that odes of doom or verses of sorrow and complaint were more likely to have been penned.
Others refer to the passage in Daniel which reads thus:
But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”
Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing on opposite banks of the river. One of them asked the man dressed in linen, who was now standing above the river, “How long will it be until these shocking events are over?”
The man dressed in linen, who was standing above the river, raised both his hands toward heaven and took a solemn oath by the One who lives forever, saying, “It will go on for a time, times, and half a time. When the shattering of the holy people has finally come to an end, all these things will have happened.”
I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant. So I asked, “How will all this finally end, my lord?”
But he said, “Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end.
Daniel 12:4-9
Some commentators then feel that this passage in Daniel refers to the scroll in Revelation 5. Others feel it is related to the breaking of the seals of the ‘little scroll’ in Revelation 10. They appeal to the angel standing on the sea with an upraised right hand who holds a little scroll and declares that which was written down and kept hidden in Daniel is the little scroll of Revelation 10. They claim the angel described in this way is one and the same angel. I am not so sure. While there are elements of the text that seem to find parallels with Daniel and with Ezekiel regarding eating the scroll, it does not in my mind equate with what the LAMB ONY is worthy to declare. How can this angel be declaring the contents of the scroll when no angel in heaven is worthy to open the scroll and even read what is written therein?
What therefore is the significance of a scroll written on both sides of the velum? What are we to conclude this means to tell us about this scroll? The way this scroll has been announced can only signify that it was highly prized and precious beyond measure. Some feel the reason it was written on both sides was because velum or parchment was in short supply. I don’t agree. Surely for a scroll so precious which emanated from the Throne Room of God, there was no shortage of velum. And besides was this scroll even an actual scroll or was it a vision from which we are to conclude that the Lamb was to announce the contents? We don’t have to find an ancient scroll which is the equivalent of what the Lamb was permitted to open.
Others feel the markings or text on the reverse side were more likely to be interpretive notes which explained the text in more detailed. A little like Kethib כתב/ Qere קרא marks, “what is written” and “what is to be read” in the text which add interpretive notes to explain them. But why would a heavenly scroll require interpretive notes to be added? Especially when it’s the Lamb of God Himself who is opening the scroll and breaking the seals.
So what are we to conclude about the purpose of the scroll written on both sides? Some opinions are too ludicrous to consider such as the texts on the inside surface deal with the mystical while that on the outside are concerned with the literal. Other think the inside provides a clearer explanation of the Old Testament while the outer the truths of the New Testament. Still others think the inside and outside text seals the authenticity of those writings, thus sealing God’s truth. Others feel that which has been written “within and without” denotes the perfection and comprehensiveness of the message, which then “seals” the certainty of its fulfilment, and the secrecy and hiddenness of it, until accomplished. Nothing from that list leaves me with a degree of certainty that we are any closer to the true purpose behind the dual text. Whatever the outcome, it’s important to remember that whatever was on this scroll, no one except Jesus was (and is) worthy to open it. A. T. Robertson in his series on the Word Pictures in the New Testament says, “There are many allegorical interpretations of this fact which are all beside the point.”
Much has been made of the fact that mention has been made to the scroll inscribed on both sides by:
- Pliny the Younger (61-113 AD)
- Juvenal, a poet of the early 2nd Century, his first book published in 100 to 101, and his last in 127 AD,
- Lucian a writer and satirist of Samosata (125 – 180 AD)
- Martial, a Roman poet living in Spain 41 – 104 AD
All made reference to the double-sided scroll mentioned in Revelation 5 but without adding anything significant.
Grotius, a Dutch theologian (1583 – 1645) connected ὄπισθεν (the backside) with ‘the sealing’, and concluded the scroll was “written within and sealed on the back.”
I really don’t think we have found the answer yet. I don’t know about you, but I am not yet satisfied. I will reserve my conclusions until I have investigated all other aspects of this chapter. The next aspect we need to look at is the nature of the sealing and how was it done? What was sealed and how was the scroll opened sequentially? How does the breaking of the seals on the scroll result in the unfolding revelation of the Book or the Letter?
Mystery is another name for our ignorance; if we were omniscient, all would be perfectly plain.
Tryon Edwards
I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it all.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.
Neil Armstrong
“Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
Job 11:7