diff --git a/docs/changelog/124958.yaml b/docs/changelog/124958.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..be7f646b7dcae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/124958.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+pr: 124958
+summary: Catch parsing exception
+area: ES|QL
+type: bug
+issues:
+ - 119025
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/parser/EsqlParser.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/parser/EsqlParser.java
index 5912f1fe58bcd..a8ee18d8b2777 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/parser/EsqlParser.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/parser/EsqlParser.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import org.antlr.v4.runtime.Recognizer;
 import org.antlr.v4.runtime.Token;
 import org.antlr.v4.runtime.TokenSource;
+import org.antlr.v4.runtime.VocabularyImpl;
 import org.antlr.v4.runtime.atn.PredictionMode;
 import org.elasticsearch.logging.LogManager;
 import org.elasticsearch.logging.Logger;
@@ -23,12 +24,15 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.esql.telemetry.PlanTelemetry;
 
 import java.util.BitSet;
+import java.util.EmptyStackException;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.function.BiFunction;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.esql.core.util.StringUtils.isInteger;
+import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.esql.parser.ParserUtils.nameOrPosition;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.esql.parser.ParserUtils.source;
 
 public class EsqlParser {
@@ -44,6 +48,45 @@ public class EsqlParser {
      */
     public static final int MAX_LENGTH = 1_000_000;
 
+    private static void replaceSymbolWithLiteral(Map<String, String> symbolReplacements, String[] literalNames, String[] symbolicNames) {
+        for (int i = 0, replacements = symbolReplacements.size(); i < symbolicNames.length && replacements > 0; i++) {
+            String symName = symbolicNames[i];
+            if (symName != null) {
+                String replacement = symbolReplacements.get(symName);
+                if (replacement != null && literalNames[i] == null) {
+                    // literals are single quoted
+                    literalNames[i] = "'" + replacement + "'";
+                    replacements--;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Add the literal name to a number of tokens that due to ANTLR internals/ATN
+     * have their symbolic name returns instead during error reporting.
+     * When reporting token errors, ANTLR uses the Vocabulary class to get the displayName
+     * (if set), otherwise falls back to the literal one and eventually uses the symbol name.
+     * Since the Vocabulary is static and not pluggable, this code modifies the underlying
+     * arrays by setting the literal string manually based on the token index.
+     * This is needed since some symbols, especially around setting up the mode, end up losing
+     * their literal representation.
+     * NB: this code is highly dependent on the ANTLR internals and thus will likely break
+     * during upgrades.
+     * NB: Can't use this for replacing DEV_ since the Vocabular is static while DEV_ replacement occurs per runtime configuration
+     */
+    static {
+        Map<String, String> symbolReplacements = Map.of("LP", "(", "OPENING_BRACKET", "[");
+
+        // the vocabularies have the same content however are different instances
+        // for extra reliability, perform the replacement for each map
+        VocabularyImpl parserVocab = (VocabularyImpl) EsqlBaseParser.VOCABULARY;
+        replaceSymbolWithLiteral(symbolReplacements, parserVocab.getLiteralNames(), parserVocab.getSymbolicNames());
+
+        VocabularyImpl lexerVocab = (VocabularyImpl) EsqlBaseLexer.VOCABULARY;
+        replaceSymbolWithLiteral(symbolReplacements, lexerVocab.getLiteralNames(), lexerVocab.getSymbolicNames());
+    }
+
     private EsqlConfig config = new EsqlConfig();
 
     public EsqlConfig config() {
@@ -111,6 +154,9 @@ private <T> T invokeParser(
             return result.apply(new AstBuilder(new ExpressionBuilder.ParsingContext(params, metrics)), tree);
         } catch (StackOverflowError e) {
             throw new ParsingException("ESQL statement is too large, causing stack overflow when generating the parsing tree: [{}]", query);
+            // likely thrown by an invalid popMode (such as extra closing parenthesis)
+        } catch (EmptyStackException ese) {
+            throw new ParsingException("Invalid query [{}]", query);
         }
     }
 
@@ -141,11 +187,14 @@ public void syntaxError(
             String message,
             RecognitionException e
         ) {
-            if (recognizer instanceof EsqlBaseParser parser && parser.isDevVersion() == false) {
-                Matcher m = REPLACE_DEV.matcher(message);
-                message = m.replaceAll(StringUtils.EMPTY);
-            }
+            if (recognizer instanceof EsqlBaseParser parser) {
+                Matcher m;
 
+                if (parser.isDevVersion() == false) {
+                    m = REPLACE_DEV.matcher(message);
+                    message = m.replaceAll(StringUtils.EMPTY);
+                }
+            }
             throw new ParsingException(message, e, line, charPositionInLine);
         }
     };
@@ -172,7 +221,7 @@ private static class ParametrizedTokenSource extends DelegatingTokenSource {
         @Override
         public Token nextToken() {
             Token token = delegate.nextToken();
-            if (token.getType() == EsqlBaseLexer.PARAM) {
+            if (token.getType() == EsqlBaseLexer.PARAM || token.getType() == EsqlBaseLexer.DOUBLE_PARAMS) {
                 checkAnonymousParam(token);
                 if (param > params.size()) {
                     throw new ParsingException(source(token), "Not enough actual parameters {}", params.size());
@@ -181,8 +230,9 @@ public Token nextToken() {
                 param++;
             }
 
-            if (token.getType() == EsqlBaseLexer.NAMED_OR_POSITIONAL_PARAM) {
-                if (isInteger(token.getText().substring(1))) {
+            String nameOrPosition = nameOrPosition(token);
+            if (nameOrPosition.isBlank() == false) {
+                if (isInteger(nameOrPosition)) {
                     checkPositionalParam(token);
                 } else {
                     checkNamedParam(token);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/parser/StatementParserTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/parser/StatementParserTests.java
index c8ff6ef1b55ae..7f5ffdbe67e99 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/parser/StatementParserTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/parser/StatementParserTests.java
@@ -2977,4 +2977,11 @@ public void testInvalidInsistAsterisk() {
         expectError("FROM text | EVAL x = 4 | INSIST_🐔 *", "INSIST doesn't support wildcards, found [*]");
         expectError("FROM text | EVAL x = 4 | INSIST_🐔 foo*", "INSIST doesn't support wildcards, found [foo*]");
     }
+}
+    public void testUnclosedParenthesis() {
+        String[] queries = { "row a = )", "row ]", "from source | eval x = [1,2,3]]" };
+        for (String q : queries) {
+            expectError(q, "Invalid query");
+        }
+    }
 }