Revelation 3

To the angel of the church in Sardis, write this: These are the words of the one who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. I know what you do. You have a name for being alive, but you are dead.

1And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

Note"Angel" translates a Greek word meaning messenger, and it can refer either to a heavenly being or to a human envoy, so it is left open whether each of these seven letters is addressed to a spirit, to a leader of the congregation, or to the congregation itself. Sardis was an ancient capital in western Asia Minor (now western Turkey), rich from wool and dyed textiles and from gold taken out of the river below it. "The seven Spirits of God" and "the seven stars" pick up the opening vision of the book, where the stars are identified as the angels of the seven churches (1:20); seven runs through Revelation as a number of fullness. "A name that thou livest" uses "name" in the older sense of reputation, what a person or a place is known for.

2Wake up and stay alert. Make strong what is left, which is about to die. I have not found anything you do to be complete in the sight of my God.

2Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

NoteIn 1611 "perfect" meant finished or complete, not morally flawless. The Greek says the congregation's deeds have not been found filled up or brought to completion in God's sight.

3So remember how you received it and how you heard it. Hold on to it, and turn back from your sin. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

3Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Note"Watch" here means stay awake and keep guard, the work of a night sentry. The thief image is about timing rather than theft: a burglar arrives at the hour nobody expects. The picture would have stung in Sardis, whose fortress hill was thought unassailable and was twice taken by night, once by the Persians and once by the Seleucids, because the guards were not watching the cliff path.

4Still, you do have a few people in Sardis who have not stained their clothes. They will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy.

4Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

Note"A few names" uses "names" to mean persons, the way a list of names stands for the people on it. Clothing carried social weight: soiled garments shut a person out of a temple across much of the ancient world, while white was worn at festivals, at civic honors, and by victors in a triumphal procession.

5The one who overcomes will be dressed the same way, in white clothes. I will never erase his name from the book of life. I will speak his name openly before my Father and before his angels.

5He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Note"The book of life" draws on the civic register that a Greek city kept of its citizens, a roll from which a name was struck out at death or after a serious crime. The image of a divine register of the living is already in the Hebrew scriptures (Exodus 32:32, Psalm 69:28). To "confess his name" is to acknowledge someone openly and on the record, the way a witness speaks up in court.

6Anyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

6He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

NoteThis sentence closes each of the seven letters. "He that hath an ear" is singular, addressing each listener one at a time, while "the churches" is plural: every letter was meant to be read aloud in all seven congregations, not only in the one it names. The same formula appears in the sayings of Jesus in the gospels.

7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write this: These are the words of the one who is holy, who is true, who holds the key of David. What he opens, no one can shut. What he shuts, no one can open.

7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

NotePhiladelphia was a smaller city southeast of Sardis, founded as a Greek settlement on the edge of the Lydian highlands. "The key of David" quotes Isaiah 22:22, where the key of the house of David is taken from one palace steward and given to another, Eliakim; the steward with the key decided who was admitted to the king and who was not. The point of the image is authority over access.

8I know what you do. Look, I have set an open door in front of you, and no one can shut it. You have only a little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

8I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Note"A little strength" is not a comment on the quality of their faith but on their size and resources: this was a small congregation with little power in the city. "An open door" was a common figure for an opportunity, especially an opening for preaching (Paul uses it that way in 1 Corinthians 16:9 and 2 Corinthians 2:12); following the key of verse 7, it can also mean admission granted, and the wording lets both senses stand.

9Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews when they are not. They are lying. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and know that I have loved you.

9Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Note"Synagogue" is simply the Greek word for an assembly or gathering, and "Satan" is a Hebrew word meaning adversary or accuser. The dispute behind the verse is over who has the right to the name Jew in a city where the Christian congregation and the established Jewish community both claimed the same heritage. The picture of others coming to bow at their feet reverses the language of Isaiah 45:14, 49:23 and 60:14, where the nations bow before Israel.

10Because you have kept my word about holding out patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is coming on the whole world, to test everyone who lives on the earth.

10Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Note"The word of my patience" is a compressed phrase in Greek and can mean either my message about endurance or my message that calls for endurance. The word behind "patience" means holding out under a load, staying at your post under pressure, rather than waiting quietly. "Temptation" and "try" in 1611 English mean a test and to test; the sense is a trial that proves what someone is, not an enticement to do wrong.

11Look, I am coming soon. Hold tightly to what you have, so that no one takes your crown.

11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

NoteThe "crown" is a stephanos, the wreath of leaves placed on a winning athlete or on a citizen honored by his city, not a royal crown; Greek uses a different word, diadema, for that. The image is of a prize already won that someone else could still walk off with.

12The one who overcomes I will make into a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God. And I will write on him my own new name.

12Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

NoteTemples in this region were ringed with columns carrying inscriptions that named donors, priests and civic benefactors, so a pillar bearing a name was a permanent public record of belonging. "He shall go no more out" would have carried weight in Philadelphia, which sat on an earthquake fault, was destroyed in AD 17 and shaken repeatedly afterward, so that people left the city and camped in the open. Writing a name on a person marks whose they are, as a name stamped on property or inscribed on a stone marks its owner.

13Anyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

13He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

14And to the angel of the church in Laodicea, write this: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

NoteLaodicea was a wealthy banking and textile city in the Lycus valley; after the earthquake of about AD 60 it refused imperial relief money and rebuilt at its own cost. "The Amen" uses the Hebrew word normally said after a statement to affirm it, meaning it is firm, it is certain; here it is used as a title. "Witness" translates martys, the ordinary word for someone giving testimony in court. "The beginning of the creation of God" turns on the Greek word arche, which can mean starting point, source or origin, or ruler; the phrase can be read either as first of the things God created or as the origin from which God's creation comes, and it has been read both ways since antiquity.

15I know what you do. You are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other.

15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

NoteLaodicea's own water was piped in over several miles from warm mineral springs and arrived tepid and heavy with deposits. Just across the valley, Hierapolis had hot springs used for bathing and healing, and Colossae had cold, fresh mountain water. Hot water and cold water were each good for something; the local lukewarm supply was good for neither.

16So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth.

16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Note"Spue" is the older spelling of spew; the Greek verb means to vomit, and it is deliberately crude.

17You say, 'I am rich. I have piled up goods. I need nothing.' You do not know that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Note"Increased with goods" means grown wealthy. "Miserable" in 1611 means pitiable, someone others would pity, not someone who feels sad.

18My advice is that you buy from me gold made pure in fire, so you can really be rich; and white clothes to put on, so your shameful bareness is not seen; and ointment to rub on your eyes, so you can see.

18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

NoteEach item answers something Laodicea was proud of. Gold "tried in the fire" is ore melted so the impurities burn away and only true metal is left, and Laodicea was a banking center rich in gold. The city's textile trade was built on a glossy black wool, against which white cloth stands out. And it had a well-known medical school associated with an eye powder that was mixed into a paste and smeared on the eyelids.

19Everyone I love, I correct and discipline. So be eager about it, and turn back from your sin.

19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Note"Chasten" translates a word for training or correcting a child, the discipline a parent gives rather than a punishment handed down by a court; the line echoes Proverbs 3:12. "Be zealous" means be at a boil, be in earnest, which plays back on the hot and cold of verses 15 and 16.

20Look, I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he will eat with me.

20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

NoteTo "sup" is to eat the deipnon, the main meal of the day, taken in the evening at leisure and with company. Sharing it was a social act rather than simply eating: it meant acceptance, friendship and standing in someone's house.

21To the one who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

NoteIn the ancient world a second seat on the ruler's throne belonged to a co-regent or to the honored heir, someone who exercised the ruler's own authority. The picture is of sharing the seat, not standing beside it.

22Anyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.