Of anguish. The scene of the sin is also the scene of the punishment.

Commit adultery (μοιχεύοντας)

A wider term than πορνεῦσαι to commit fornication. Compare the metaphorical meaning expressing the rebellion and idolatry of Israel (Jeremiah 3:8; Jeremiah 5:7; Ezekiel 16:32).

With her (μετ' αὐτῆς)

Not with her as the conjux adulteri, but who share with her in her adulteries.

Of their deeds (ἐκ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν)

Read αὐτῆς her (deeds). Repent out of (ἐκ) as in Revelation 2:21.

Emphatic. Distinguished from the participators of Revelation 2:22, as her proper adherents, "who are begotten of her and go to constitute her." Others, however, deny any distinction (Milligan), and others (as Trench) explain as the less forward and prominent members of the wicked company, deceived where the others were the deceivers.

With death (ἐν θανάτῳ)

To kill with death is a very strong expression. Compare Leviticus 20:10, Sept., θανάτῳ θανατούσθωσαν shall be put to death (A. V. and Rev.). Lit., let them be put to death with death. The reference can hardly be to the slaughter of Ahab's seventy sons (2 Kings 10:6, 2 Kings 10:7) who were not Jezebel's children.

All the churches

Not merely the seven churches, but the churches throughout the world.

Shall know (γνώσονται)

See on John 2:24.

Searcheth (ἐρευνῶν)

See John 5:39; John 7:52; Romans 8:27. Compare Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 17:10; Jeremiah 20:12; 1 Peter 1:11. Denoting a careful search, a following up or tracking. See Genesis 31:35; 1 Kings 20:6; Proverbs 20:27; 1 Corinthians 2:10.

Reins (νεφροὺς)

Only here in the New Testament. Strictly, kidneys. Used of the thoughts, feelings, and purposes of the soul. A similar use of the physical for the spiritual organ is σπλάγχνα bowels for heart. See pitiful, 1 Peter 3:8.

Omit and, and render, as Rev., to you I say, to the rest, etc.

And which (καὶ οἵτινες)

Omit καὶ and. The compound relative, which, classifies; which are of those who know not, etc.

The depths of Satan (τὰ βάθη τοῦ Σατανᾶ)

The reference is, most probably, to the Gnostic sect of the Ophites (ὄφις a serpent), or, in Hebrew, Naasenes (naash a serpent), serpent-worshippers, a sect the origin of which is unknown, but which existed as late as the sixth century; since, in 530, Justinian passed laws against it. "The veneration of the serpent was but the logical development of a theory, the germ of which is common to many of the Gnostic sects. Proceeding on the assumption that the creator of the world is to be regarded as an evil power, a thing in hostility to the supreme God, it follows as a natural consequence that the fall of man through disobedience to the command of his maker must be regarded, not as a transgression against the will of the supreme God, but as an emancipation from the authority of an evil being. The serpent, therefore, who tempted mankind to sin, is no longer their destroyer but their benefactor. He is the symbol of intellect, by whose means the first human pair were raised to the knowledge of the existence of higher beings than their creator. This conception, consistently carried out, would have resulted in a direct inversion of the whole teaching of scripture; in calling evil good and good evil; in converting Satan into God and God into Satan. The majority of the Ophite sects, however, seem to have shrunk from this portentous blasphemy. While acknowledging the fall of man as, in some manner, a deliverance from evil and an exaltation of human nature, they hesitated to carry out their principle by investing the evil spirit with the attributes of deity. A kind of compromise was made between scripture and philosophy. The serpent was, notwithstanding his service to mankind, represented as a being of evil nature and au enemy to man, though his work was overruled to man's good, and he himself was, beyond his intention, the instrument of a higher wisdom. Rut in one sect at least of the Ophites, the more logical and thoroughly blasphemous consequences of the first principles were exhibited openly and unblushingly" (Mansel, "Gnostic Heresies"). The characteristic boast of the Gnostics was their knowledge of the depths of divine things. In this they were probably perverting and caricaturing the words of Paul (Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 2:10).

As they speak

Rev., as they say. The questions are, 1st. What is the phrase alluded to? Is it the familiar formula of these heretics, "the depths," or "the depths of God," the depths of Satan being added by the Lord himself in ironical contrast with the depths of divine knowledge, - or is it the depths of Satan? 2nd. Does as they say refer to Christians, describing the depths of the Gnostics as depths of Satan, or does it refer to the heretics themselves, calling their own mysteries depths of Satan?

The majority of commentators regard as they say as referring to the heretics, and as applying only to the word depths; of Satan being added by the Lord in indignation. Alford says that no such formula as depths of Satan, or any resembling it, is found as used by the ancient Gnostic heretics.

Other burden (ἄλλο βάτος)

The words for burden in the New Testament are ὄγκος (only in Hebrews 12:1), βάρος (Matthew 20:12; Galatians 6:2), and φορτίον (Matthew 11:30; Matthew 23:4; Galatians 6:5). ὄγκος refers to bulk, βάρος to weight, φορτίον to a burden so far as it is born (φέρω). Thus in Hebrews 12:1, "lay aside every weight (ὄγκος)," the figure being that of runners in the race-course, and the word appropriate as denoting the bulky robes and the accoutrements of the ordinary dress which might impede the freedom of the limbs. In Matthew 20:12, "the burden (βάρος) and heat of the day," the idea is that of heavy toil pressing like a weight. So Galatians 6:2, "Bear ye one another's burdens." But in Galatians 6:5, the emphasis is on the act of bearing; and therefore φορτίον is used: "Every man shall bear his own burden;" i.e., every man shall carry that which it is appointed him to bear. The reference in that passage is probably to the prohibition enjoined by the apostolic council of Jerusalem, which concerned the very things which are rebuked here - fornication and abstinence from idol-meats. In the narrative of that council the phrase occurs "to lay upon you no greater burden" (Acts 15:28). The meaning accordingly will be, "I put upon you no other burden than abstinence from and protest against these abominations."

See on Mark 7:3; see on Acts 3:11.

Till I come (ἄχρις οὗ ἂν ἥξω)

The conditional particle ἂν marks the time of His coming as uncertain.

The phrase occurs only here in the New Testament. The works are those which Christ commands, which He does, and which are the fruits of His Spsrit. See on John 4:47.

Power (ἐξουσίαν)

See on John 1:12. Rev., better, authority.

Nations (ἐθνῶν)

See on Matthew 25:32, and see on Gentiles, Luke 2:32. Properly, here, the Gentiles, as opposed to the true Israel of God.

Lit., shall shepherd. A comparison with Revelation 7:17, brings out the terrible irony in this word. Compare Psalm 2:9, Sept., where the same word is used. A.V., break. See on rule, Matthew 2:6; see on feed, Acts 20:28; see on 1 Peter 5:2; see on Jde 1:12.

Rod (ῥάβδῳ)

Commonly rendered staff, once sceptre, Hebrews 1:8. This is its meaning here.

Vessels (σκεύη)

See on goods, Matthew 12:29; see on vessel, 1 Peter 3:7.

Of the potter (κεραμικὰ)

From κέραμος potter's clay.

Shall they be broken to shivers

The A.V. follows the reading συντριβήσεται, the future tense of the verb. The correct reading is συντρίβεται, the present tense. Render therefore, as Rev., "as the vessels of the potter are broken." See on Mark 5:4, and see on bruising, Luke 9:39. The σύν together gives the picture of the fragments collapsing into a heap.

The star, that of the morning. One of John's characteristic constructions. See on 1 John 4:9. The reference is, most probably, to Christ himself. See Revelation 22:16. He will give Himself. This interpretation falls in with the promise of power over the nations in Revelation 2:26. The star was the ancient emblem of sovereignty. See Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2:2. "It was the symbol of sovereignty on its brighter and benignant side, and was therefore the fitting and necessary complement of the dread attributes that had gone before. The king came not only to judge and punish, but also to illumine and cheer" (Plumptre). Compare 2 Peter 1:19.

The capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia. It was situated in a plain watered by the river Pactolus. The city was of very ancient origin. Herodotus (i., 84) gives the account of its siege and capture by Cyrus, and of its previous fortification by an old king, Meles. It was ruled by a series of able princes, the last of whom was Croesus, celebrated for his wealth and his misfortunes. In the earlier part of his reign he extended his dominion over the whole of Asia Minor, with the exception of Lycia and Cilicia. The Lydian rule was terminated by the conquest of Cyrus. From the Persians it passed into the hands of Alexander the Great, after which, for the next three hundred years, its fortunes are obscure. In b.c. 214 it was taken and sacked by Antiochus the Great after a siege of two years. The kings of Pergamus next succeeded to the dominion, and from them it passed into the hands of the Romans.

In the time of Tiberius it was desolated by an earthquake, together with eleven or twelve other important cities of Asia, and the calamity was increased by a pestilence.

Sardis was in very early times an important commercial city. Pliny says that the art of dyeing wool was invented there, and it was the entrept of the dyed woolen manufactures, carpets, etc., the raw material for which was furnished by the flocks of Phrygia. It was also the place where the metal electrum was procured. Gold was found in the bed of the Pactolus. Silver and gold coins are said to have been first minted there, and it was at one time known as a slave-mart. The impure worship of the goddess Cybele was celebrated there, and the massive ruins of her temple are still to be seen. The city is now a heap of ruins. In 1850 no human being found a dwelling there.

The seven Spirits of God

See on Revelation 1:4.

Lit., become awake and on the watch. See on Mark 13:35; see on 1 Peter 5:8. Become what thou art not.

Strengthen (στήριξον)

See on 1 Peter 5:10, and compare Luke 22:32; Romans 1:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:3.

That are ready to die (ἃ μέλλει ἀποθανεῖν)

Read ἔμελλον were ready or about (to die).

I have not found thy works (οὐ εὕρηκά σου τὰ ἔργα)

Some texts omit the article before works, in which case we should render, I have found no works of thine. So Rev.

Perfect (πεπληρωμένα)

Lit., fulfilled. So Rev.

God

The best texts insert μου, "my God."

The former of these verbs is in the perfect tense: thou hast received the truth as a permanent deposit. It remains with thee whether thou regardest it or not. The latter verb is ill the aorist tense, didst hear (so Rev.), denoting merely the act of hearing when it took place.

Watch

See on Revelation 3:2.

On thee

Omit.

As a thief (ὡς κλέπτης)

Thief, as distinguished from hp λῃστής robber, a plunderer on a larger scale, who secures his booty not by stealth, but by violence. Hence the word is appropriate here to mark the unexpected and stealthy coming of the Lord. Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:4; 2 Peter 3:10.

Thou shalt not know what hour l will come upon thee

The Greek proverb says that the feet of the avenging deities are shod with wool. The sentiment is voiced in the two following fragments from Aeschylus:

"Whether one sleep or walk or sit at ease,

Unseen and voiceless Justice dogs his steps,

Striking athwart his path from right or left;

Nor what is foully done will night conceal:

continued...

The best texts insert ἀλλὰ but between these words and the close of the preceding verse. So Rev. But, notwithstanding the general apathy of the Church, thou hast a few, etc. Compare Revelation 3:1, thou hast a name, and see on Revelation 11:13. Names is equivalent to persons, a few who may be rightly named as exceptions to the general conception.

Even in Sardis

Omit καὶ even.

Defiled (ἐμόλυναν)

See on 1 Peter 1:4.

Garments

See the same figure, Jde 1:23. The meaning is, have not sullied the purity of their Christian life.

In white (ἐν λευκοῖς)

With ἱματίοις garments understood. See on Revelation 2:17, and compare Zechariah 3:3, Zechariah 3:5. "White colors are suitable to the gods" (Plato, "Laws," xii., 956). So Virgil, of the tenants of Elysium:

"Lo, priests of holy life and chaste while they in life had part;

Lo, god-loved poets, men who spake things worthy Phoebus' heart:

And they who bettered life on earth by new-found mastery;

And they whose good deeds left a tale for men to name them by:

continued...

Lit., the book of the life. For the figure, see Exodus 32:32; Psalm 69:28; Daniel 12:1; Philippians 4:3. Compare Luke 10:20; Hebrews 12:23.

I will confess (ἐξομλογήσομαι)

Openly confess (ἐξ). See on Matthew 11:25; see on Acts 19:18; see on James 5:16.

Seventy-five miles southeast of Sardis. The second city in Lydia. The adjacent region was celebrated as a wine-growing district, and its coins bore the head of Bacchus and the figure of a Bacchante. The population included Jews, Jewish Christians, and converts from heathenism. It suffered from frequent earthquakes. Of all the seven churches it had the longest duration of prosperity as a Christian city. It still exists as a Turkish town under the name of Allah Shehr, City of God. The situation is picturesque, the town being built on four or five hills, and well supplied with trees, and the climate is healthful. One of the mosques is believed by the native Christians to have been the gathering-place of the church addressed in Revelation. "One solitary pillar of high antiquity has been often noticed as reminding beholders of the words in Revelation 3:12 : 'Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.'"

He that is holy (ὁ ἅγιος)

See on Acts 26:10. Christ is called holy, Acts 2:27; Acts 13:35; Hebrews 7:26; in all which passages the word, however, is ὅσιος, which is holy by sanction, applied to one who diligently observes all the sanctities of religion. It is appropriate to Christ, therefore, as being the one in whom these eternal sanctities are grounded and reside. Ἅγιος, the word used here, refers rather to separation from evil.

He that is true (ὁ ἀληθινὸς)

See on John 1:9. Αληθινὸς is not merely, genuine as contrasted with the absolutely false, but as contrasted with that which is only subordinately or typically true. It expresses the perfect realization of an idea as contrasted with its partial realization. Thus, Moses gave bread, but the Father giveth the true bread (τὸν ἄρτον τὸν ἀληθινόν). Israel was a vine of God's planting (Psalm 80:8), Christ is the true (ἡ ἀληθινὴ) vine (John 15:1). The word is so characteristic of John that, while found only once in the Synoptic Gospels, once in a Pauline Epistle, and four times in the Epistle to the Hebrews, it occurs nine times in the fourth Gospel, four times in John's First Epistle, and ten times in Revelation, and in every instance in these three latter books in its own distinctive signification.

The key of David

See on Revelation 1:18, and compare Isaiah 22:22. David is the type of Christ, the supreme ruler of the kingdom of heaven. See Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 37:24. The house of David is the typical designation of the kingdom of Jesus Christ (Psalm 122:5). The holding of the keys, the symbols of power, thus belongs to Christ as Lord of the kingdom and Church of God. See on Matthew 16:19 : He admits and excludes at His pleasure.

No man shutteth (οὐδεὶς κλείει)

Read κλείσει shall shut So Rev.

Lit., I have given. For a similar phrase see Luke 12:51.

An open door (θύραν ἀνεῳγμένην)

Rev., more literally, a door opened. This is variously explained. Some refer it to the entrance into the joy of the Lord; others to the initiation into the meaning of scripture; others again to the opportunity for the mission-work of the Church. In this last sense the phrase is often used by Paul. See 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3. Compare Acts 14:27. I have given is appropriate, since all opportunities of service are gifts of God. See on Revelation 2:7.

For thou hast (ὅτι ἔχεις)

Some texts make behold-shut parenthetical, and render ὅτι that, defining thy works, etc. So Rev.

A little strength (μικρὰν δύναμιν)

This would mean, thou hast some power, though small. Many, however, omit the indefinite article in translating, and render thou hast little strength; i.e., thou art poor in numbers and worldly resources. So Alford, Trench, and Dsterdieck.

And (καὶ)

John's single copula instead of a particle of logical connection. See on John 1:10; see on John 6:46; see on 1 John 1:5; see on John 8:20.

Hast kept my word (ἐτήρησάς μου τὸν λόγον)

Rev., rendering the aorist more strictly, didst keep. For the phrase, see John 17:6, John 17:8.

Rev., rightly, I give. See on Revelation 3:8. The sense is broken off there and resumed here.

Of the synagogue (ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς)

Certain ones of the synagogue. Most interpreters refer to the Jews. Others explain more generally, of the bowing down of the Church's enemies at her feet. Trench refers to a passage in the Epistle of Ignatius to this Philadelphian church, implying the actual presence in the midst of it of converts from Judaism, who preached the faith which they once persecuted.

Of Satan

See on Revelation 2:9.

I will make them to come (ποιήσω αὐτοὺς ἵνα ἥξωσιν)

Lit., I will make them that they shall come.

Worship before thy feet

Compare Isaiah 60:14; Isaiah 49:23.

Not the words which Christ has spoken concerning patience, but the word of Christ which requires patience to keep it; the gospel which teaches the need o a patient waiting for Christ. On patience, see on 2 Peter 1:6; see on James 5:7.

From the hour (ἐκ)

The preposition implies, not a keeping from temptation, but a keeping in temptation, as the result of which they shall be delivered out of its power. Compare John 17:15.

Of temptation (τοῦ πειρασμοῦ)

Lit., "of the trial" See on Matthew 6:13; see on 1 Peter 1:7. Rev., trial.

World (οἰκουμένης)

See on Luke 2:1

Omit.

That no one take thy crown (ἵνα μηδεὶς λάβῃ τὸν στέφανον)

Take it away. The idea is not that of one believer stepping into the place which was designed for another, but of an enemy taking away from another the reward which he himself has forfeited. The expression is explained by Colossians 2:18. It is related by Mahomet that, after having attempted, in vain, to convert one Abdallah to the faith, and having been told by him to go about his business and to preach only to those who should come to him - he went, downcast, to a friend's house. His friend, perceiving that he was sad, asked him the reason; and on being told of Abdallah's insult, said, "Treat him gently; for I swear that when God sent thee to us, we had already strung pearls to crown him, and he seeth that thou hast snatched the kingdom out of his grasp." For crown, see on Revelation 2:10. Thy crown is not the crown which thou hast, but the crown which thou shalt have if thou shalt prove faithful.

The word occurs, Galatians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:15; Revelation 10:1. The reference here is not to any prominence in the earthly church, as Galatians 2:9, but to blessedness in the future state. The exact meaning is doubtful. Some explain, he shall have a fixed and important place in the glorified church. Compare Matthew 19:28. Others emphasize the idea of stability, and find a possible local reference to the frequent earthquakes from which Philadelphia had suffered, and which had shaken its temples. Strabo says: "And Philadelphia has not even its walls unimpaired, but daily they are shaken in some way, and gaps are made in them. But the inhabitants continue to occupy the land notwithstanding their sufferings, and to build new houses." Others again emphasize the idea of beauty. Compare 1 Peter 2:5, where the saints are described living stones.

Temple (ναῷ)

See on Matthew 4:5.

Upon him

The conqueror, not the pillar. Compare Revelation 7:3; Revelation 9:4; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 22:4. Probably with reference to the golden plate inscribed with the name of Jehovah, and worn by the High-Priest upon his forehead (Exodus 28:36, Exodus 28:38). See on Revelation 2:17.

New Jerusalem

See Ezekiel 48:35. The believer whose brow is adorned with this name has the freedom of the heavenly city. Even on earth his commonwealth is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). "Still, his citizenship was latent: he was one of God's hidden ones; but now he is openly avouched, and has a right to enter in by the gates to the city" (Trench). The city is called by John, the great and holy (Revelation 21:10); by Matthew, the holy city (Matthew 4:5); by Paul, Jerusalem which is above (Galatians 4:6); by the writer to the Hebrews, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). Plato calls his ideal city Callipolis, the fair city ("Republic," vii., 527), and the name Ouranopolis, heavenly city, was applied to Rome and Byzantium. For new (καινῆς), see on Matthew 26:29. The new Jerusalem is not a city freshly built (νέα), but is new (καινὴ) in contrast with the old, outworn, sinful city. In the Gospel John habitually uses the Greek and civil form of the name, Ἰεροσόλυμα; in Revelation, the Hebrew and more holy appellation, ἱερουσάλημ.

Read ἐν Ααοδικείᾳ in Laodicea. Laodicea means justice of the people. As Laodice was a common name among the ladies of the royal house of the Seleucidae, the name was given to several cities in Syria and Asia Minor. The one here addressed was on the confines of Phrygia and Lydia, about forty miles east of Ephesus, and was known as Laodicea on the Lycus. It had born successively the names of Diospolis and Rhoas, and was named Laodicea when refounded by Antiochus Theos, b.c. 261-246. It was situated on a group of hills between two tributaries of the Lycus - the Asopus and the Caprus. Towards the end of the Roman Republic, and under the first emperors, it became one of the most important and flourishing cities of Asia Minor. One of its citizens, Hiero, bequeathed all his enormous property to the people, and adorned the city with costly gifts. It was the seat of large money transactions and of an extensive trade in wood. The citizens developed a taste for Greek art, and were distinguished in science and literature. Laodicea was the seat of a great medical school. During the Roman period it was the chief city of a Roman conventus or political district, in which courts were held by the proconsul of the province, and where the taxes from the subordinate towns were collected. Cicero held his court there, and many of his letters were written thence. The conventus represented by Laodicea comprised not less than twenty-five towns, and inscriptions refer to the city as "the metropolis." The Greek word διοίκηδις, corresponding to the Latin conventus was subsequently applied to an ecclesiastical district, and appears in diocese. The tutelary deity of the city was Zeus (Jupiter). Hence its earlier name, Diospolis, or City of Zeus. Many of its inhabitants were Jews. It was subject to frequent earthquakes, which eventually resulted in its abandonment. It is now a deserted place, but its ruins indicate by their magnitude its former importance. Among these are a racecourse, and three theatres, one of which is four hundred and fifty feet in diameter. An important church council was held there in the fourth century.

The Amen

Used only here as a proper name. See Isaiah 65:16, where the correct rendering is the God of the Amen, instead of A.V. God of truth. The term applied to the Lord signifies that He Himself is the fulfilment of all that God has spoken to the churches.

Faithful (πιστός)

The word occurs in the New Testament in two senses: trusty, faithful Matthew 24:45; Matthew 25:21, Matthew 25:23; Luke 12:42); and believing, confiding (John 20:27; Galatians 3:9; Acts 16:1). Of God, necessarily only in the former sense.

True (ἀληθινὸς)

See on Revelation 3:7. The veracity of Christ is thus asserted in the word faithful, true being not true as distinguished from false, but true to the normal idea of a witness.

The beginning (ἡ ἀρχή)

The beginner, or author; not as Colossians 1:15, the first and most excellent creature of God's hands. "The stress laid in the Epistle to the Colossians on the inferiority of those to whom the self-same name of ἀρχαὶ, beginnings principalities was given... to the One who was the true beginning, or, if we might venture on an unfamiliar use of a familiar word, the true Principality of God's creation, may account for the prominence which the name had gained, and therefore for its use here in a message addressed to a church exposed, like that of Colossae, to the risks of angelolatry, of the substitution of lower principalities and created mediators for Him who was the Head over all things to His Church" (Plumptre). Compare Hebrews 12:2, ἀρχηγὸν leader.

Attached to the world and actively opposed to the Church. "This," as Alford remarks, "as well as the opposite state of spiritual fervor, would be an intelligible and plainly-marked condition; at all events free from the danger of mixed motive and disregarded principle which belongs to the lukewarm state: inasmuch as a man in earnest, be he right or wrong, is ever a better man than one professing what he does not feel."

Hot (ζεστός)

From ζέω to boil or seethe. See on fervent, Acts 18:25.

Only here in the New Testament.

Foremost and most numerous among the lost, Dante places those who had been content to remain neutral in the great contest between good and evil.

"Master, what is this which now Ihear?

What folk is this, which seems by pain so vanquished?

And he to me: "This miserable mode

Maintain the melancholy souls of those

Who lived withouten infamy or praise.

Commingled are they with that caitiff choir.

Of angels, who have not rebellious been,

Nor faithful were to God, but were for self.

The heavens expelled them, not to be less fair;

Nor them the nethermore abyss receives,

continued...

Connect, as A.V. and Rev., with what follows, not with what precedes. Some interpret I will spue thee out of my mouth because thou sayest, etc.

Increased with goods (πεπλούτηκα)

Rev., have gotten riches. The reference is to imagined spiritual riches, not to worldly possessions.

Thou

Emphatic.

Wretched (ὁ ταλαίπωρος)

Rev., better, giving the force of the article, the wretched one. From τλάω to endure, and πειρά a trial.

Miserable (ἐλεεινός)

Only here and 1 Corinthians 15:19. An object of pity (ἔλεος).

Poor (πτωχός)

See on Matthew 5:3.

With a certain irony. Though He might command, yet He advises those who are, in their own estimation, supplied with everything.

To buy

Compare Isaiah 4:1; Matthew 13:44, Matthew 13:46. Those who think themselves rich, and yet have just been called beggars by the Lord, are advised by Him to buy. The irony, however, covers a sincere and gracious invitation. The goods of Christ are freely given, yet they have their price - renunciation of self and of the world.

Gold (χρυσίον)

Often of gold money or ornaments. So 1 Peter 1:18; Acts 3:6; 1 Peter 3:3. Also of native gold and gold which has been smelted and wrought (Hebrews 9:4). There may very properly be a reference to the extensive money transactions of Laodicea.

Tried in the fire (πεπυρωμένον ἐκ πορὸς)

The verb means to burn, to be on fire: in the perfect passive, as here, kindled, made to glow; thence melted by fire, and so refined. Rev., refined by, fire. By fire is, literally, out of the fire (ἐκ; see on Revelation 2:7).

White raiment

Rev., garments. See on Revelation 3:4.

Mayest be clothed (περιβάλῃ)

Rev., more literally, mayest clothe thyself. See on Revelation 3:5.

Do not appear (μὴ φανερωθῇ)

Rev., more literally, be not made manifest. See on John 21:1. Stripping and exposure is a frequent method of putting to open shame. See 2 Samuel 10:4; Isaiah 20:4; Isaiah 47:2-3; Ezekiel 16:37. Compare also Matthew 22:11-13; Colossians 3:10-14.

continued...

In the Greek order I stands first as emphatic.

Rebuke (ἐλέγχω)

See on John 3:20. Rev., reprove.

Chasten (παιδεύω)

See on Luke 23:16.

Be zealous (ζήλευε)

The verb is akin to ζεστός hot in Revelation 3:16, on which see note.

Repent

See on Matthew 3:2; see on Matthew 20:29.

Compare Sol 5:2, Κρούω I knock was regarded as a less classical word than κόπτω. Κρούω is to knock with the knuckles, to rap; κόπτω, with a heavy blow; ψοφεῖν of the knocking of some one within the door, warning one without to withdraw when the door is opened. Compare James 5:9. "He at whose door we ought to stand (for He is the Door, who, as such, has bidden us to knock), is content that the whole relation between Him and us should be reversed, and, instead of our standing at His door, condescends Himself to stand at ours" (Trench). The Greeks had a word θυραυλεῖν for a lover waiting at the door of his beloved. Trench cites a passage from Nicolaus Cabasilas, a Greek divine of the fourteenth century: "Love for men emptied God (Philippians 2:7). For He doth not abide in His place and summon to Himself the servant whom He loved; but goes Himself and seeks him; and He who is rich comes to the dwelling of the poor, and discloses His love, and seeks an equal return; nor does He withdraw from him who repels Him, nor is He disgusted at his insolence; but, pursuing him, remains sitting at his doors, and that He may show him the one who loves him, He does all things, and sorrowing, bears and dies."

My voice

Christ not only knocks but speaks. "The voice very often will interpret and make intelligible the purpose of the knock" (Trench).

Hear - open the door

No irresistible grace.

Will sup (δειπνήσω)

See on Luke 14:12. For the image, compare Sol 5:2-6; Sol 4:16; Sol 2:3. Christ is the Bread of Life, and invites to the great feast. See Matthew 8:11; Matthew 25:1 sqq. The consummation will be at the marriage-supper of the Lamb (Mark 14:25; Revelation 19:7-9).

He with me

It is characteristic of John to note the sayings of Christ which express the reciprocal relations of Himself and His followers. See John 6:56; John 10:38; John 14:20; John 15:4, John 15:5; John 17:21, John 17:26. Compare John 14:23.