Revelation 2 is the second

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

or the Apocalypse of John in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. The book is traditionally attributed to

John the Apostle John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...

, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. This chapter contains messages to churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, four of the

seven churches of Asia The Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Seven Churches of Asia, are seven churches of early Christianity mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation. All of them were located in Asia Min ...

located in modern-day

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, with messages for the other three churches appearing in chapter 3.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 29 verses.

Textual witnesses

Early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter include: *

Papyrus 98 Papyrus 98 (in the Gregory–Aland numbering), designated by 𝔓98, is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Book of Revelation. The manuscript palaeographically had been assigned to years around 150– ...

(2nd century; extant verse 1) *

Papyrus 115 Papyrus 115, also known as ''P. Oxy. 4499'', is a fragmented manuscript of the New Testament written in Greek on papyrus. It is designated by the siglum in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It consists of 26 fragments of ...

(c. 275; extant verses 1–3, 13–15, 27–29) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

(c. 450; complete) * Papyrus 43 (6th/7th century; extant verses 12–13)

Old Testament references

* : * : * : ; * :

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

New Testament references

* : Revelation 12:5; 19:15.

The message to Ephesus (2:1–7)

Verse 1

: ''"To the angel of the church of

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

write,'' ::'''These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:"''

The message to Smyrna (2:8–11)

Verse 8

:''"And to the angel of the church in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

write,'' ::'''These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:'"''

Verse 9

:''"I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan."''

The message to Pergamum (2:12–17)

Verse 12

: ''"And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,'' :: '''These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:'"''

Verse 14

: ''But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.'' The instruction

Balaam Balaam (;; ; ), son of Beor, was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a non-Israelite prophet and diviner who lived in Pethor, a place identified with the ancient city of Pitru, thought to have been located between the region of Iraq and norther ...

gave to

Balak Balak son of Zippor ( ''Bālāq'') was a king of Moab described in the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible, where his dealings with the prophet and sorcerer Balaam are recounted. Balak tried to engage Balaam the son of Beor for the purpose of c ...

, which is here called his "doctrine", was that Balak should get some of the most beautiful women in his kingdom to ply the men of Israel, and draw them into uncleanness, and so to idolatry; this would provoke God's anger to the Israelites, so Balak might get an advantage over them. Israelites did commit whoredom with the daughters of

Moab Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...

, eat things sacrificed to idols, and bowed down to Baal Peor, is certain (); but that this was brought about through the counsel of Balaam is not so plainly expressed, though it is hinted at in ; but the Jewish writers are very clear about this matter. Jonathan ben Uzziel, one of the Targumists on , has these words of Balaam, : "Come, and I will counsel thee, (speaking to Balak,) go and set up inns, and place in them whorish women, to sell food and drink at a low price: and this people will come and eat and drink, and be drunken, and will lie with them, and deny their God; and they will be quickly delivered into thine hands, and many of them shall fall. This now was the stumbling block he taught Balak to lay before them. And elsewhere it is said, : "that Balaam, the wicked, gave counsel to Balak, the son of Zippor, to cause the Israelites to fall by the sword; he said to him, the God of this people hates whoredom, cause thy daughters to commit whoredom with them, and ye shall rule over them." Both Philo and

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

speak of this counsel of Balaam, much to the same purpose. The Samaritan Chronicle says that this counsel pleased the king, and he sent into the camp of Israel, on a sabbath day, 24,000 young women, by whom the Israelites were so seduced, that they did everything they desired them, which was just the number of those that were slain, .''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'' – Revelation 2:14
/ref>

The message to Thyatira (2:18–29)

Verse 18

:''"And to the angel of the church in

Thyatira Thyateira (also Thyatira; ) was the name of an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor, now the modern Turkish city of Akhisar ("white castle"), Manisa Province. The name is probably Lydian. It lies in the far west of Turkey, southwest of Istanb ...

write,'' ::'''These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass:'"''

Verse 20

: ''Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.'' The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

suggests that Jezebel was a "self-styled prophetess of the Nicolaitan sect". Theologian John Gill writes: :"That woman

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

" – or "thy wife Jezebel", as the Complutensian edition and Syriac version read – the name of King

Ahab Ahab (; ; ; ; ) was a king of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), the son and successor of King Omri, and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, according to the Hebrew Bible. He is depicted in the Bible as a Baal worshipper and is criticized for causi ...

's wife, who seduced him, in the Hebrew language is "''Izebel''", but is read by the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

in , "''Jezebel''", as here; and by Josephus as "''Jezabela''"; she had her name from "Zebel", "dung", to which

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

has reference in ; the Ethiopic version calls her "Elzabel". She was the daughter of an Heathen, and as she was the wife of Ahab, and therefore a queen, so the "

whore of Babylon Babylon the Great, commonly known as the Whore of Babylon, refers to both a symbolic female figure and a place of evil as mentioned in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament. Her full title is stated in Revelation 17:5 as "Mystery, Babylon ...

" calls herself; and as Jezebel was famous for her paintings, so are her pretensions to religion and holiness, and for the gaudiness of her worship; and as she was remarkable for her idolatry, whoredoms, witchcrafts, and cruel persecution of the prophets of the Lord, and for murder, and innocent blood she shed; and as Jezebel, who stirred up Ahab against good and faithful men, so Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, shall be cast into the sea, and be found no more at all: compare with Revelation 17:1.''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible''
on Revelation 2:20''Understanding the meaning of Revelation 2:9?''
on Revelation 2:20

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* King James Bible – Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate

''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Book of Revelation 02