Revelation 2:6

2:6 But you do have this going for you:¹ You hate what the Nicolaitans² practice³ – practices I also hate.

Revelation 2:14-15

2:14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam,⁴ who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block⁵ before the people⁶ of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.⁷ 2:15 In the same way, there are also some among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans.⁸

Revelation 2:20-21

2:20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that⁹ woman¹⁰ Jezebel,¹¹ who calls herself a prophetess, and by her teaching deceives¹² my servants¹³ to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.¹⁴ 2:21 I¹⁵ have given her time to repent, but¹⁶ she is not willing to repent of her sexual immorality.

¹tn Grk “But you do have this.” The words “going for you” are supplied to complete the English idiom; other phrases like “in your favor” (NIV) or “to your credit” (NRSV) could also be supplied.

²sn The Nicolaitans were a sect (sometimes associated with Nicolaus, one of the seven original deacons in the church in Jerusalem according to Acts 6:5) that apparently taught that Christians could engage in immoral behavior with impunity.

³tn The expression τὰ ἔργα τῶν Νικολαϊτῶν (ta erga twn Nikolaitwn) has been translated as a subjective genitive.

⁴sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.

⁵tn That is, a cause for sinning. An alternate translation is “who instructed Balak to cause the people of Israel to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols…”

⁶tn Grk “sons,” but the expression υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ (Juioi Israhl) is an idiom for the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (see L&N 11.58).

⁷tn Due to the actual events in the OT (Num 22-24; 31:16), πορνεῦσαι (porneusai) is taken to mean “sexual immorality.” BDAG 854 s.v. πορνεύω 1 states, “engage in illicit sex, to fornicate, to whore…W. φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα ‘eat meat offered to idols’ Rv 2:14, 20.”

⁸tn The term ὁμοίως (Jomoiws, “likewise”) is left untranslated because it is quite redundant.

sn See the note on the term Nicolaitans in 2:6.

⁹tn The Greek article has been translated here with demonstrative force.

¹⁰tc The ms evidence for γυναῖκα (gunaika, “woman”) alone includes {א C P 1611 2053 pc lat}. The ms evidence for the addition of “your” (σου, sou) includes A 1006 2351 Ï^K pc sy. With the pronoun, the text reads “your wife, Jezebel” instead of “that woman, Jezebel.” In Revelation, A C are the most important mss, along with א Ì⁴⁷ (which only reads in portions of chapters 9-17) 1006 1611 2053; in this instance, the external evidence slightly favors the shorter reading. But internally, it gains strength. The longer reading implies the idea that the angel in 2:18 is the bishop or leader of the church in Thyatira. The pronoun “your” (σου) is used four times in vv. 19-20 and may have been the cause for the scribe copying it again. Further, once the monarchical episcopate was in vogue (beginning in the 2nd century) scribes might have been prone to add “your” here.

¹¹sn Jezebel was the name of King Ahab’s idolatrous and wicked queen in 1 Kgs 16:31; 18:1-5; 19:1-3; 21:5-24. It is probable that the individual named here was analogous to her prototype in idolatry and immoral behavior, since those are the items singled out for mention.

¹²tn Grk “teaches and deceives” (διδάσκει καὶ πλανᾷ, didaskei kai plana), a construction in which the first verb appears to specify the means by which the second is accomplished: “by her teaching, deceives…”

¹³tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

¹⁴sn To commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Note the conclusions of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:29, which specifically prohibits Gentile Christians from engaging in these activities.

¹⁵tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and contemporary English style.

¹⁶tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to bring out the contrast present in this woman’s obstinate refusal to repent.