Revelation 3 is the third chapter 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 the churches of

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and Laodicea, three 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 ...

, continuing from the messages for the other four churches which appear in

chapter 2 Chapter Two refers to the second chapter in a book. Chapter Two, Chapter 2, or Chapter II may also refer to: Film * ''Chapter Two'' (film), a 1979 adaptation of Neil Simon's play * '' KGF: Chapter 2'', 2022 Indian period action film * '' Khuda H ...

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 22 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others: *

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 10–12) *

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) *

Uncial 0169 Uncial 0169 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), known also as the ''Princeton fragment'', is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated palaeographically to the 4th century. Description The codex contains a small parts of the Book ...

(4th century; extant verses 19–22) *

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; extant verses 1–19) Seven churches of asia

Old Testament references

* Revelation 3:7: * Revelation 3:19:

The Message to Sardis (3:1–6)

Verse 1

: ''"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,'' ::''‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead."'"'' The

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

has the words , the name. Biblical exegete

Heinrich Meyer Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (10 January 1800 – 21 June 1873) was a German Protestant divine. He wrote commentaries on the New Testament and published an edition of that book. Biography Meyer was born in Gotha. He studied theology at Jena, was ...

notes that the

definite article In grammar, an article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" ...

(το) does not appear in several of the ancient manuscripts and is "to be deleted". The Douai-Rheims translation and the

Revised Standard Version The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation is a revision of the American St ...

refer to "the name" whereas the

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a translation of the Bible in American English. It was first published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches, the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirt ...

and many modern translations refer to "a name"; the meaning is interpreted as "a reputation" by the

Amplified Bible ''The Amplified Bible'' (AMP) is an English language translation of the Bible produced jointly by Zondervan and The Lockman Foundation. The first edition as a complete volume was published in 1965. "Amplifications" are words or phrases intende ...

and the

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...

The Message to Philadelphia (3:7–13)

Verse 7

: ''“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,'' ::''‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:'' The citation is from Isaiah 22:22

Verse 8

:''I know what you do; I know that you have a little power; you have followed my teaching and have been faithful to me. I have opened a door in front of you, which no one can close.''

Verse 9

:''Indeed I will make those of the

synagogue of Satan In the letters to the early Christian churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, Jesus makes reference to a synagogue of Satan (, ''synagoge tou satana''), in each case referring to a group persecuting the church "who say t ...

, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.''

Verse 10

:''Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.''

Verse 11

:''Look, I am coming soon! Hold tightly to the little strength you have—so that no one will take away your crown.''

Verse 12

: ''Him 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 In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the capital of the ...

,'' :: ''which cometh down out of heaven from my God:'' : ''and I will write upon him my new name.'' Cross reference: Isaiah 56:5

Verse 13

:''“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.''

The Message to Laodicea (3:14–22)

Verse 14

: ''And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,'' :: '''These things says the

Amen Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...

, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:''' In - ''he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth'' - the literal translation refers to the God of Amen. The

Common English Bible The Common English Bible (CEB) is an English translation of the Bible whose language is intended to be at a comfortable reading level for the majority of English readers. The translation, sponsored by an alliance of American mainline Protestant ...

gives the translation as "the God called Amen".

Verse 15

:''I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.'' According to the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary, "cold" must mean "more than negatively cold", i.e. not warm: it must mean "positively, icy cold: never warmed", while "hot" literally means "boiling" or "fervent". They comment that "the lukewarm state (verse 16), if it be the transitional stage to a warmer, is a desirable state (for a little religion, if real, is better than none); but most fatal when, as here, an abiding condition, for it is mistaken for a safe state."

Verse 18

: ''I counsel you to buy from Me

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

refined in the fire,'' :: ''that you may be rich;'' : ''and white garments, that you may be clothed,'' :: ''that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed;'' : ''and anoint your eyes with eye salve,'' :: ''that you may see.'' StAlbansFiveDock StainedGlass JesusKnock

StAlbansFiveDock StainedGlass JesusKnock

Verse 20

:''Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.'' The vision of Christ "standing at the door" may be expressive of the near approach, or sudden coming of Christ to judgment (see ), and his knocking may signify the notice that will be given of it, by some of the immediate forerunners and signs of his coming; which yet will be observed but by a few, such a general sleepiness will have seized all professors of religion; and particularly may intend the midnight cry, which will, in its issue, rouse them all.''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'' - Revelation 3:20
/ref>

Uses

The hamburger and cheeseburger wrappers of

In-N-Out Burger In-N-Out Burgers, doing business as In-N-Out Burger, is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants with locations primarily in California and to a lesser extent the Southwest from Oregon to Texas. It was founded in Baldwin Park, Ca ...

has the text "REVELATION 3:20", which refers to the verse 20 of this chapter.

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 03