And he spread it before me
Unrolled it, that what was written in it might he seen and read; that so, understanding it, he might deliver the contents of it to the people: thus the Gospel, and the mysteries of it, must be explained by Christ to his ministers; and their understandings must be opened before they will be capable of making them known to others: and it [was] written within and without;
on the back, of the vellum or parchment as well as inside; and such writings were called "opisthographa"; of this kind was the book John saw ( Revelation 5:1 ) . It was usual only to write on the inside; but when they had a great deal to write, then they wrote on the backside also F4; so that this roll being thus written denotes the largeness and abundance of the prophecies contained in this book; some respecting the Jews, and others the nations of the world. The Targum is,
``it was written before and behind, what was from the beginning, and what shall be in the end:''and [there were] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe;
``if the house of Israel transgress the law, the people shall rule over them; but, if they keep the law, lamentation, and mourning, and sorrow, shall cease from them.''