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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
Oecumenius
And having eaten, he found them sweet to the mouth, but bitter to the stomach after consumption; for such is every sin. It is sweet in its operation, but bitter in its outcome. For it becomes the cause of punishment, and also, through repentance, it embitters those who have committed it. Such was also the tree forbidden by God in Paradise, which all interpret as leading to sin, producing knowledge of both good and evil (Gen. 2-3); sweet indeed in taste, but evil after experience.
Dionysius bar Salibi
My stomach was made bitter—My stomach was filled with bitterness.
Western Saints
Bede
And it will make your belly bitter, etc. When you receive it, you will be delighted by the sweetness of the divine word, but you will feel bitterness when you begin to preach and act upon what you have understood. Or indeed, it should be understood according to Ezekiel, who, when he said he had devoured the book, added, And I went in bitterness in the indignation of my spirit.
Alcuin of York
And I took the book from the hand of the angel, and ate it up: and it was in my mouth, sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. It is right for the mouth, out of which preaching emanates, to represent those who meditate on God's law day and night and say with the Psalmist, How sweet are thy words to my palate! [Ps. 118:103] On the other hand, it is right for the belly, out of which excrements come, to represent fleshly people devoted to earthly pleasures, about whom the elect say, Our belly cleaveth to the earth. …
Victorinus of Pettau
"I took the book from the hand of the angel, and ate it up." To take the book and eat it up, is, when exhibition of a thing is made to one, to commit it to memory. "And it was in my mouth as sweet as honey." To be sweet in the mouth is the reward of the preaching of the speaker, and is most pleasant to the hearers; but it is most bitter both to those that announce it, and to those that persevere in its commandments through suffering.
Translation