STRONGS NT 974a: βιβλιδάριονβιβλιδάριον, βιβλιδαριου, τό (from βιβλίδιον, like ἱματιδαριον, from ἱματίδιον), a little book: Revelation 10:8 Tdf. (editions 2 and) 7. (Aristophanes fragment 596.)

The term biblaridion designates a small scroll. In Revelation it functions as a vivid literary device, drawing attention to the reception, internalization, and proclamation of God’s prophetic message.

Occurrences in the New Testament

1. Revelation 10:2 – The mighty angel descends “with a little scroll open in his hand.”
2. Revelation 10:9 – John approaches: “Take it and eat it.”
3. Revelation 10:10 – After eating, John testifies: “In my mouth it was as sweet as honey, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned bitter.”

Symbolic Significance in Revelation

• Open disclosure: The scroll is already “open,” underscoring divine intent to reveal, not conceal, the contents of upcoming judgments and consolations.
• Prophetic commissioning: Eating the biblaridion mirrors the prophetic call of Ezekiel 3:1-3, binding the messenger inseparably to the message.
• Mixed experience of truth: Sweetness reflects delight in God’s word (Psalm 119:103); bitterness forecasts the sobering realities John must announce (Revelation 11–20).
• Continuity with covenant revelation: As the Lamb opened the sealed scroll in Revelation 5, so the angel offers the unsealed biblaridion, showing progressive yet unified revelation.

Old Testament Parallels and Background

Ezekiel 2:9–10; 3:1-3 – A scroll written on both sides containing “lamentations, mourning, and woe,” which the prophet must eat.

Jeremiah 15:16 – “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word became to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” These passages illuminate John’s experience: inward appropriation precedes outward proclamation.

Theological Themes

• Revelation is meant for consumption: Scripture is not merely studied; it is ingested, affecting the whole person.
• Prophetic ministry embraces joy and sorrow: Faithfulness entails announcing both grace and judgment.
• God’s sovereignty in history: The open scroll in a powerful angel’s hand dramatizes divine control over forthcoming events.

Practical Ministry Implications

• Preachers and teachers must internalize Scripture before speaking it; private meditation fuels public proclamation.
• Expect spiritual paradox: The same gospel that saves also hardens; sweetness to believers can be bitterness to rebels.
• Encourage congregational engagement with the whole counsel of God, avoiding selective reading that neglects hard truths.

Historical and Manuscript Witness

Early papyri (e.g., P47) and the Codices Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus uniformly attest the term, confirming its authenticity. Patristic commentators such as Irenaeus and Hippolytus linked the little scroll to the prophetic corpus and interpreted it as the disclosure of final events, reinforcing its place in the church’s eschatological hope.

Intertestamental and Early Christian Usage

While biblaridion is unique to Revelation within extant Greek Scriptures, smaller covenant documents appear in Jewish literature (e.g., jubilees, legal contracts at Qumran). The diminutive nuance suggests accessibility—God’s word is not only majestic (megá biblíon) but also intimate and personally apprehended.

Summary

Biblaridion signifies God’s approachable yet profound revelation. By eating the little scroll, John models every believer’s calling: receive the full message of God, find delight in it, bear its burdens, and speak it faithfully to the nations.