Revelation 2:14-16
2:14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, 1 who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block 2 before the people 3 of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. 4
2:15 In the same way, there are also some among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 5
2:16 Therefore, 6 repent! If not, I will come against you quickly and make war against those people 7 with the sword of my mouth.
1 sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.
2 tn 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…”
3 tn 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).
4 tn 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.”
5 tn The term ὁμοίως (Jomoiws, “likewise”) is left untranslated because it is quite redundant.
sn See the note on the term Nicolaitans in 2:6.
6 tc The “therefore” (οὖν, oun) is not found in א 2053 2329 2351 ÏA or the Latin mss. It is, however, included in impressive witnesses such as {A C 046 1006 1611 syp,h co}. Though the conjunction looks at first glance like a scribal clarification, its omission may be explained on the basis of its similarity to the last three letters of the verb “repent” (μετανόησον, metanohson; since οὖν is a postpositive conjunction in Greek, the final three letters of the verb [-σον, -son] would have been immediately followed by ουν). A scribe could have simply passed over the conjunction in his copy when he saw the last three letters of the imperative verb. A decision is difficult, however, because of the motivation to add to the text and the quality of witnesses that lack the conjunction.
7 tn Grk “with them”; the referent (those people who follow the teaching of Balaam and the Nicolaitans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.