In the original Greek, there are two distinct words used for "book" in Revelation.

• The Biblidarion (The Little Scroll): In Revelation 10, when the mighty angel descends from heaven with a document for John to eat, the Greek word used is biblidarion (βιβλιδάριον). This is a double diminutive form of the word for book, meaning it specifically refers to a "little scroll" or a "booklet". This biblidarion represents the specific, new prophetic revelation that John is receiving on Patmos.
• The Biblion (The Big Book): However, when John issues his terrifying warning in Revelation 22:18-19 about adding to or taking away from "the words of the prophecy of this book," he deliberately switches terms. He does not use biblidarion; he uses biblion (βιβλίον)—the "big book". It is from this exact Greek word, biblion, that we get our English word "Bible".

Throughout Scripture, the canon is consistently referred to in the singular as "a book," even though it is made up of many smaller volumes. For example, we see references to "the book" (Psalm 40:7), "the book of the Law" (Neh. 8:3), and "the book of the LORD" (Isa. 34:16).

John and Ezekiel

John’s experience in Revelation 10 is intentionally mirroring Ezekiel 2–3 on almost every level:

• Delivery: Both prophets received their respective little books from an angel.
• Action: Both were explicitly commanded to eat the book, which symbolized the reception of heavenly revelation that they would later write down with ink by inspiration.
• Reaction: Both books tasted sweet in the mouth but produced bitterness afterward, symbolizing the bitter judgments they contained.
• Appearance: Both scrolls were uniquely written on both the inside and the outside.
• Commission: Both instances were immediately followed by a divine commission to prophesy judgments.
• Size: Both books were explicitly small in comparison to the larger canon they were being added to.

When Ezekiel receives his revelation, the Hebrew text says he was given a migilath sepher (מְגִלַּת־סֵפֶר), which translates strictly to "a scroll of a book". When the ancient Jewish scholars translated this into the Greek Septuagint, they rendered it as kephalis bibliou—a "volume of the book".

This means Ezekiel was not handed the entire Bible; he was handed a single prophetic "scroll" that was to be added as a "volume" to a much larger "book" (the developing Old Testament canon). John’s experience is the exact New Testament equivalent. The "little scroll" (biblidarion) of Revelation is the final volume being added to the massive, growing "book" of the canon (biblion).

The moment a prophet wrote down a divine revelation, it was instantaneously added to the "big book" of the canon.

• When Moses wrote, God told him to "write this for a memorial in the book" (Ex. 17:14).
• When Joshua received revelation, "he wrote these words in the book of the laws of God" (Josh 24:26).
• When Isaiah prophesied, he told his readers to "Seek from the book of the LORD, and read," quoting the very chapter he was currently writing as already being part of the canon.

Just as Deuteronomy 4:2 warned Israel not to add to or take away from the foundational covenant revelation of the Law, Revelation 22:18–19 stands as the final warning attached to the completed prophetic witness of Scripture.