Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
20. a few things ] Should be omitted: it has come in from Rev 2:14, while the real construction is as in Rev 2:4, “I have [somewhat] against thee, because ,” or better, “I have [this] against thee, that.”
that woman Jezebel ] There is some authority for the reading “thy wife Jezebel,” and even if the possessive pronoun be not rightly inserted in the Greek text, it is a question whether the article ought not to be understood as equivalent to one. If the sense “thy wife Jezebel” be right, the allusion must be to 1Ki 21:25: there is some one (or something) at Thyatira who is, to the Angel of the Church, such a temptress as Jezebel was to Ahab. No doubt, if we suppose the Angel to be the Bishop, it is probable that his actual wife is intended; but even then the name Jezebel must have this meaning.
As a plain matter of verbal exegesis, “thy wife Jezebel” seems, in this context, the more natural translation. But it has its own difficulties. What analogy is there between a faithful servant of Christ, culpably tolerant of a bad wife, but not sharing her faults himself, and Ahab, who “did sell himself to work wickedness,” and “did very abominably in following idols?” It may be added, that except in Jehu’s taunt (2Ki 9:22), which need not be meant literally, there is no evidence whatever of Jezebel’s unchastity: her behaviour towards her husband, as well as her influence over him, makes it probable that she was a good wife, in her own way.
On the whole, the best editors decline to adopt the reading which would make the sense “thy wife” certain: and this being so, it seems better to translate as the A. V. Who “Jezebel” was whether a real woman, or a personification of a sect, is almost equally doubtful on any view: but it seems simplest to suppose a real person.
to teach and to seduce ] Literally, according to the right reading, and she teacheth and seduceth.
my servants ] The possessive pronoun is emphatic she leads those who belong to Me to act as do those in slavery to devils.
to commit fornication ] No doubt to be taken literally, not (as so often in the O. T.) as a metaphor for idolatry: since this is mentioned coordinately.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee – Compare notes on Rev 2:4.
Because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel – Thou dost tolerate, or countenance her. Compare the notes on Rev 2:14. Who the individual here referred to by the name Jezebel was, is not known. It is by no means probable that this was her real name, but seems to have been given to her as expressive of her character and influence. Jezebel was the wife of Ahab; a woman of vast influence over her husband – an influence which was uniformly exerted for evil. She was a daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre and Sidon, and lived about 918 years before Christ. She was an idolater, and induced her weak husband not only to connive at her introducing the worship of her native idols, but to become an idolater himself, and to use all the means in his power to establish the worship of idols instead of the worship of the true God. She was highly gifted, persuasive, and artful; was resolute in the accomplishment of her purposes; ambitious of extending and perpetuating her power, and unscrupulous in the means which she employed to execute her designs. See 1Ki 16:31 ff.
The kind of character, therefore, which would be designated by the term as used here, would be that of a woman who was artful and persuasive in her manner; who was capable of exerting a wide influence over others; who had talents of a high order; who was a thorough advocate of error; who was unscrupulous in the means which she employed for accomplishing her ends; and the tendency of whose influence was to lead the people into the abominable practices of idolatry. The opinions which she held, and the practices into which she led others, appear to have been the same which are referred to in Rev 2:6 and Rev 2:14-15 of this chapter. The difference was, that the teacher in this case was a woman – a circumstance which by no means lessened the enormity of the offence; for, besides the fact that it was contrary to the whole genius of Christianity that a woman should be a public teacher, there was a special incongruity that she should be an advocate of such abominable opinions and practices. Every sentiment of our nature makes us feel that it is right to expect that if a woman teaches at all in a public manner, she should inculcate only what is true and holy – she should be an advocate of a pure life. We are shocked; we feel that there is a violation of every principle of our nature, and an insult done to our common humanity, if it is otherwise. We have in a manner become accustomed to the fact that man should be a teacher of pollution and error, so that we do not shrink from it with horror; we never can be reconciled to the fact that a woman should.
Which calleth herself a prophetess – Many persons set up the claim to be prophets in the times when the gospel was first preached, and it is not improbable that many females would lay claim to such a character, after the example of Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, etc.
To teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication – Compare Rev 2:14. Whether she herself practiced what she taught is not expressly affirmed, but seems to be implied in Rev 2:22. It is not often that persons teach these doctrines without practicing what they teach; and the fact that they desire and design to live in this manner will commonly account for the fact that they inculcate such views.
And to eat things sacrificed unto idols – See the notes on Rev 2:14. The custom of attending on the festivals of idols led commonly to licentiousness, and they who were gross and sensual in their lives were fit subjects to be persuaded to attend on idol feasts – for nowhere else would they find more unlimited toleration for the indulgence of their passions.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. That woman Jezebel] There is an allusion here to the history of Ahab and Jezebel, as given in 2Kgs 9:1-10:36; and although we do not know who this Jezebel was, yet from the allusion we may take it for granted she was a woman of power and influence in Thyatira, who corrupted the true religion, and harassed the followers of God in that city, as Jezebel did in Israel. Instead of that woman Jezebel, , many excellent MSS., and almost all the ancient versions, read , THY WIFE Jezebel; which intimates, indeed asserts, that this bad woman was the wife of the bishop of the Church, and his criminality in suffering her was therefore the greater. This reading Griesbach has received into the text. She called herself a prophetess, i.e., set up for a teacher; taught the Christians that fornication, and eating things offered to idols, were matters of indifference, and thus they were seduced from the truth. But it is probable that by fornication here is meant idolatry merely, which is often its meaning in the Scriptures. It is too gross to suppose that the wife of the bishop of this Church could teach fornication literally. The messenger or bishop of this Church, probably her husband, suffered this: he had power to have cast her and her party out of the Church, or, as his wife, to have restrained her; but he did not do it, and thus she had every opportunity of seducing the faithful. This is what Christ had against the messenger of this Church.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee: See Poole on “Rev 2:4“, See Poole on “Rev 2:14“.
Because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel: the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, mentioned Rev 2:6,15, is so plainly expressed in the latter part of the verse, viz. maintaining the lawfulness of eating things offered to idols, and of fornication; that whosoever this woman was, it is plain she was one of that filthy sect. It is also plain, that she is called Jezebel with allusion to that wicked woman of that name who was the wife of Ahab, of whom we read, 1Ki 16:31. She was an instrument to bring Ahab her husband to serve and worship Baal. It is also piain, that she was one that pretended to Divine revelations; she called herself a prophetess; and that taught in public, which no women but prophetesses might do, 1Co 14:34; 1Ti 2:11,12; and that she taught a community of women, and the lawfulness as of fornication, so of eating things sacrificed to idols, directly contrary to the apostles doctrine, 1Co 9:10. But what she was cannot be determined; for though we allow this church to be typical of the church in the times of popery, and the popish synagogue, which maintaineth both these things to be the antitype; yet certainly there was some famous heretical strumpet in this church, which the governors did not restrain and cast out of their communion; which is the thing Christ had against this church, and the officers in it, who ought to have restrained her extravagancies both in teaching such doctrines, (being contrary to the apostles doctrine in the places before mentioned), and from teaching at all, being no prophetess though she pretended to it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. a few thingsomitted inthe three oldest manuscripts. Translate then, “I have againstthee that,” c.
sufferestThe threeoldest manuscripts read, “lettest alone.”
that womanTwo oldestmanuscripts read, “THYwife” two omit it. Vulgate and most ancient versions readas English Version. The symbolical Jezebel was to the Churchof Thyatira what Jezebel, Ahab’s “wife,” was to him. Someself-styled prophetess (or as the feminine in Hebrew is oftenused collectively to express a multitude, a set of falseprophets), as closely attached to the Church of Thyatira as awife is to a husband, and as powerfully influencing for evilthat Church as Jezebel did Ahab. As Balaam, in Israel’s earlyhistory, so Jezebel, daughter of Eth-baal, king of Sidon (1Ki16:31, formerly priest of Astarte, and murderer of hispredecessor on the throne, JOSEPHUS[Against Apion, 1.18]), was the great seducer to idolatry inIsrael’s later history. Like her father, she was swift to shed blood.Wholly given to Baal worship, like Eth-baal, whose name expresses hisidolatry, she, with her strong will, seduced the weak Ahab and Israelbeyond the calf-worship (which was a worship of the true God underthe cherub-ox form, that is, a violation of the second commandment)to that of Baal (a violation of the first commandment also). Sheseems to have been herself a priestess and prophetess of Baal.Compare 2Ki 9:22; 2Ki 9:30,”whoredoms of . . . Jezebel and her witchcrafts“(impurity was part of the worship of the Phoelignician Astarte, orVenus). Her spiritual counterpart at Thyatira lured God’s “servants”by pretended utterances of inspiration to the same libertinism,fornication, and eating of idol-meats, as the Balaamites andNicolaitanes (Rev 2:6; Rev 2:14;Rev 2:15). By a falsespiritualism these seducers led their victims into the grossestcarnality, as though things done in the flesh were outside the trueman, and were, therefore, indifferent. “The deeper the Churchpenetrated into heathenism, the more she herself became heathenish;this prepares us for the expressions ‘harlot’ and ‘Babylon,’ appliedto her afterwards” [AUBERLEN].
to teach and to seduceThethree oldest manuscripts read, “and she teaches and seduces,”or “deceives.” “Thyatira was just the reverse ofEphesus. There, much zeal for orthodoxy, but little love; here,activity of faith and love, but insufficient zeal for godlydiscipline and doctrine, a patience of error even where there was nota participation in it” [TRENCH].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee,…. By way of complaint; so the Arabic version renders it, “I have a certain complaint against thee”. The impartiality of Christ may be observed in taking notice of the bad deeds, as well as of the good ones of his people, and his tenderness in representing them as few; and these things he had against them not in a judicial way to their condemnation, but in a providential way, in order to chastise them for them, for their good; and they are as follow:
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel; or “thy wife Jezebel”, as the Complutensian edition and Syriac version read; the name of King Ahab’s wife, who seduced him, in the Hebrew language is “Izebel”, but is read by the Septuagint in 1Ki 16:31, Jezebel, as here; and by Josephus a Jezabela; she had her name from , “Zebel”, “dung”, to which Elijah has reference in 2Ki 9:37; the Ethiopic version calls her “Elzabel”. By her is meant the apostate church of Rome, comparable to Jezebel, the wife of Ahab; as she was the daughter of an Heathen, so is Rome Papal the daughter of Rome Pagan; and as she was the wife of Ahab, and therefore a queen, so the whore of Babylon calls herself; and as Jezebel was famous for her paintings, so the church of Rome for 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; so the church of Rome, for her idolatrous worship of images, for her whoredoms, both in a literal and spiritual sense, and for the witchcrafts, magic, and devilish arts many of her popes have been addicted to, and especially for her barbarities and cruelties exercised upon the true professors of Christ, and for the blood of the martyrs, with which she has been drunk; and as Jezebel stirred up Ahab against good and faithful men, is has this church stirred up the secular powers, emperors, kings, and princes, against the true followers of Christ: and the end of both of them is much alike; as scarce anything was left of Jezebel, so Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, shall be cast into the sea, and be found no more at all: compare 2Ki 9:7 with Re 17:1;
which calleth herself a prophetess; as perhaps Jezebel might do, since she was such a favourer of the prophets of Baal, and so familiarly conversed with them, and kept them, even a hundred of them, at her table: and certain it is, that the antitype of her pretends to an infallible interpretation of the Scriptures, and to have a bulk of unwritten traditions; and which interpretations and traditions are to be regarded as an infallible rule of faith and practice. Now what is complained of in the true members and followers of Christ is, that they suffered this woman
to teach; when it was insufferable for a woman to teach, and especially such a strumpet:
and to seduce my servants to commit fornication; to deceive such who called themselves the servants of Christ, and draw them into the commission of spiritual fornication, which is idolatry; as the idolatrous worship of the Mass, and of images and saints departed:
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols; as Balaam, or the pope, before had done, Re 2:14. This may have respect to the latter part of this period, when the eyes of many began to be opened to see these false doctrines and idolatrous practices, and yet had not courage enough to oppose them as they should.
a Antiqu. l. 8. c. 13. sect. 1. 4, 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Thou sufferest (). Late vernacular present active indicative second person singular as if from a form instead of the usual forms.
The woman Jezebel ( ). Symbolical name for some prominent woman in the church in Thyatira, like the infamous wife of Ahab who was guilty of whoredom and witchcraft (1Kgs 16:31; 2Kgs 9:22) and who sought to drive out the worship of God from Israel. Some MSS. here (A Q 40 min.s) have (thy wife, thy woman Ramsay makes it), but surely Aleph C P rightly reject . Otherwise she is the pastor’s wife!
Which calleth herself a prophetess ( ). Nominative articular participle of in apposition with the accusative like in apposition with in 2:13. is an old word, feminine form for , in N.T. only here and Lu 2:36 (Anna), two extremes surely. See Ac 21:9 for the daughters of Philip who prophesied.
And she teacheth and seduceth ( ). A resolution of the participles ( ) into finite verbs (present active indicatives) as in 1:5f. This woman was not a real prophetess, but a false one with loud claims and loose living. One is puzzled to know how such a woman had so much shrewdness and sex-appeal as to lead astray the servants of God in that church. The church tolerated the Nicolaitans and this leader whose primary object was sexual immorality (Charles) and became too much involved with her to handle the heresy.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee,” (alla echo kata soul “But, in spite of your church growth, I have, hold, or charge against thee,” the following – note the specific charges and specific person which and who were occasions for their need of repentance.
2) “Because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,” (hoti apheis ten gunaika lezabel) “That thou permittest the woman Jezebel; you allow permit or give liberty to that woman Jezebel. Like Ahab’s Jezebel, so many churches have a “that woman” in them, yet tolerate the “that woman,” Jezebel to the hurt of their influence, 1Ki 16:31-32; Pro 6:23-24.
3) “Which calleth herself a prophetess,” (he legousa heauten prophetin) “Who advertises herself (as or to be) a prophetess; a self-promoter, an evil woman, lacking both humility of disposition and character, either of which disqualifies for Divine service, Jas 4:6-10; 1Pe 5:6; Luk 18:14.
4) “To teach and seduce my servants,” (kai didaskei kai plana tous emous doulous) “And she also teaches and deceives or deludes my servants,” members of the Lord’s churches, Gal 6:6-8. What an individual or church sows or permits sown he or it reaps.
5) “To commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols,” (porneusai kai phagein eidolothuta) “To commit fornication (immoral sex relations) and continually to eat idol sacrifices, or meat offered to idols; to endorse and practice both loose and debasing morals and to endorse and engage in union worship with idolators – a concept -divinely disapproved. Act 15:20; 1Co 10:19.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(20) A few things.The Sinaitic MS. has I have much against thee; but the reading, I have against thee that thou lettest alone, &c., is to be preferred.
Jezebel.Some adopt the reading, thy wife Jezebel. From these words it has been thought that there was some personal influence at work for evil in Thyatira. Whether in the household of the angel or not is at least doubtful. The sin alleged against her is the same for which the Nicolaitanes are condemnedfornication, and the eating of things sacrificed to idols. If the above view be right, the leader of the exorcists is a womanregarded by her followers as a prophetess, as one with a real message from God; but viewed by the Lord of the churches as a very Jezebel, teaching and seducing the servants of God. For letting her alone, for being timid, paying too much deference to her spiritual pretensions, for failing to see and to show that the so-called deep things of these teachers were depths of Satan, the chief minister is rebuked. A large number of respectable critics regard Jezebel as a name applied to a faction, not as belonging to an individual. It seems best to view the name as symbolical, always remembering that the Jezebel spirit of proud, self-constituted authority, vaunting claims of superior holiness, or higher knowledge, linked with a disregard ofand perhaps a proud contempt forlegalism, and followed by open immorality, has again and again run riot in the churches of God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. That woman Though Alford rather approves the reading, thy wife, (meaning the wife of the pastor or bishop,) Tischendorf and Trench reject it. This reading may have arisen from the words, “Jezebel, his wife,” 1Ki 21:25.
Jezebel Was the true female counterpart of Balaam, both being great patrons of the same system of idolotrous sensualism, the fiery Molochism of the Tyrian sun-god. He seduced Israel on his first entrance to the promised land; she, more fatally, centuries after, won the kingdom of Israel to a still more fatal form of the same apostasy. She was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre and priest of Astarte. She became the wife of Ahab, king of Israel, and not only imported the voluptuous rites of the Tyrian religion, but gave it a complete ascendency over the religion of Jehovah in Jehovah’s own land. A contempt for the gloomy and narrow scruples of the true Israelite was diffused; it became aristocratic to be dissolute; temples were abundantly erected for the seductive rites, until but 7,000 adherents of Jehovah were alone known to Jehovah himself in the fallen nation. The overthrow and tragic end of Jezebel we need not here rehearse. Her antitype in spirit and influence was now found in the little Church of Thyatira, a libertine woman of great talent seducing the people by sensual doctrines, and leading them into most atrocious practices. There is not the slightest demand or excuse for giving any allegorical sense to these plain facts. The remark of Alford, that the emblematical name of Jezebel, given to this woman, leads “us into the regions of symbolism,” is over-strained. If we were to brand a modern traitor with the name of Judas, that would not at all imply that his treasonable character and acts were allegorical, or his person an unreality. And we have specimens of even female lecturers at the present day denouncing the institution of marriage, and propagating a theory of unsanctified sensualism, aiding us to understand both the Tyrian and the Thyatirian Jezebel. She claimed to be a prophetess, as Balaam was a prophet. That is, she assumed to be a religious doctrinary.
My servants As Balaam’s influence seduced Israel of old.
Fornication Eating of things sacrificed unto idols.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess; and she teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent but she is not willing to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I am throwing her into a bed, and those who commit sexual immorality with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the reins and hearts, and I will give to each of you in accordance with your works.’
In this church is a woman who has set herself up as a prophetess, but she is really like the evil Jezebel who was considered the epitome of evil (1Ki 16:31; 1Ki 18:4; 1Ki 18:13 ; 1Ki 19:1; 1Ki 21:7-15; 1Ki 21:25), who painted her face to try to seduce Jehu (2Ki 9:30). It was Jezebel who encouraged the worship of Baal with its accompanying sexual rites, and had been infamous for it ever since.
Here we have the same sins, sexual immorality and idolatry, which were clearly prevalent in a number of churches, but here exacerbated by the fact that they are encouraged by someone who claims to speak ecstatically in the name of God. And here the sexual immorality is mentioned first. It is clear that it was a major problem in the church, and that ‘Jezebel’ and her followers indulged in it to the limit.
Yet God has graciously given her time to repent. This suggests that she has been warned in some way about her behaviour, but she has hardened her heart. It is possible that she had been publicly admonished by the church, although their failure lay in the fact that they failed to take the necessary step of casting her out. So He will now provide her with another kind of bed, a bed of great tribulation and probably even death, possibly a mortal sickbed. ‘I will throw her into a bed’. Vividly in mind here is that the first Jezebel was thrown from a window to her doom (2Ki 9:33), thus it presumably signifies death. ‘Bed’ is, of course, ironic. She spends her time in bed, so she will be cast into one.
And similar ‘great tribulation’ will be meted out on those who indulge in immorality with her if they also fail to repent. Here the ‘great tribulation’ is God’s direct punishment, and it will be inflicted to the full. This is in contrast with the churches’ experience later in the book (Rev 7:14). They will also experience ‘great tribulation’, but their suffering will be undeserved. Great tribulation is not only endured by Christians. Others too will suffer.
Alternately the ‘great tribulation’ here may have in mind pestilence, especially sexually transmitted disease, which will strike them, but the deliberate use of ‘great tribulation’ demands a connection with Rev 7:14. However disease is undoubtedly one of the tribulations to come.
In the Old Testament the faithful often had to go through the judgments meted out on the wicked, although watched over by God in the process. So while the faithful would endure great tribulation knowing it to be their means of entry into Heaven, these heretics would experience it with little hope. The description of some as her ‘children’ probably refers to those who hold fast her teachings and propagate them, as against her lovers who only indulge in them. The former will suffer an even more intense fate, for they will be ‘killed with death’.
Once more we have an advancement in Old Testament history. The effects of Babel, with its introduction of idol worship and accompanying uncleanness, and Balaam, who was considered by the Jews to have introduced Israel to idolatry and sexual extravagance, have resulted in Jezebel who drove Israel even deeper into the same.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 2:20. Because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, Because thou sufferest thy wife Jezebel, is the Complutensian reading, which is more allusive to the symbol drawn from the history of Ahab, whose wife seduced him, than the common reading. Ahab is condemned above all other kings of Israel for doing ill, or, as it is said, for selling himself to do evil: he made himself a slave to this purpose, by suffering his wife Jezebel to do infinite mischief in introducing idolatry. By which it is plain, that the fault of the angel of this church was,that although he did his duty in all other respects, and rather increased in faith and diligence, yet he had suffered some to creep into the church, into his bosom, and there to sow the tares of the pernicious doctrine of the Gnostics, who arehere represented by the symbol of Jezebel, with the college of false prophets about her, whom she maintained to introduce idolatry in Israel, and corrupt the doctrine of God’s laws by little and little: and whereas the former kings of Israel had chiefly been guilty of schism, she caused her husband and thewhole nation to fall into idolatry insensibly. It has been thought by many learned writers, that there was in this church some great and powerful woman, who, having been corrupted herself, (as it was the practice of the Gnostics to insinuate themselves into the favour of women,) did afterwards harbour and encourage those false prophets, whereby they had opportunities to seduce the faithful, which the governor of this church did not endeavour to hinder as he ought. She called herself a prophetess; and it is well known that the Gnostics, from their very first appearing, using arts and sorceries, found means to give potions to seduce women, and thereby throw them into fits like prophetic extasies; in which, being prepossessed with fancies and enthusiastic doctrines, they delivered strange conceits to deceive both themselves and others. The committing fornication, and eating things sacrificed to idols, went together; for in Canaan, the remnant of the idolatrous nations, deprived of their laws, erected tippling-houses; hence the harlots frequented such houses, and worshipping still their gods secretly, sacrificed to them, and then invited the Israelites to eat and drink with them, and to commit iniquity. See Pro 7:6; Pro 7:27. Thus they communicated in idolatry. See chap. Rev 12:8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 2:20 . , . . . Cf. Rev 2:4 . Grot. incorrectly paraphrases: “I wish you to dismiss that wife.” The sense of the [1223] is correctly given by the var. , [1224] “that thou let alone.” Connected with , but in an interrupted construction, is the appositive [1225] ., . . . The juncture proposed by Winer, p. 498, , is too refined, while the very harshness of the former inartificial construction corresponds with John’s mode. The words are to be regarded neither as a so-called hysteron proteron, [1226] nor to be combined in , [1227] but the accus. . . depends upon both verbs, while the infinitives ., which are used with a certain looseness of construction, are nevertheless again connected with sufficient firmness by the prevailing meaning of the , which in its combination with appears to refer to a false doctrine.
The explanation of the expression . [1228] is a matter of controversy, which essentially depends upon the fact, that, as in Rev 2:14 , neither the nor even the . is to be understood figuratively or even only in a double sense. [1229] The precedency of the does not show that at Thyatira fornication prepared the way for eating sacrifices to idols, [1230] which in itself, and in view of Rev 2:14 , is improbable, as, on the contrary, the eating of sacrifices to idols gave occasion for unchastity; neither is it to be mentioned, that “in reference to ancient Jezebel, the history expressly intends only fornication, while in reference to Balaam the temptation to eat sacrifices offered to idols is also mentioned,” [1231] for according to 1Ki 18:19 ; 1Ki 21:25 sqq., this is not entirely correct with respect to either Jezebel or Balaam. [1232] Fornication precedes for the reasons for which (Rev 2:21 ) [1233] it is alone named; viz., because it was the chief thing among the Nicolaitans in Thyatira. “The woman Jezebel” is manifestly represented as a teacher of a Balaamite or Nicolaitan character. If now “the woman Jez.” collectively is to designate a party and “personified heresy,” [1234] the body of Jews, the synagogue, [1235] cannot be meant, an explanation which only by the most unnatural artificialness is united with the declaration that the false doctrine of Jezebel alludes to and . ., but the Nicolaitan false teachers must be represented under the figure of Jezebel. [1236] But partly the designation , which is attached to a name sufficient for that sense, partly the further limitation ., . . ., which has in itself something that is individual, decides the view that a particular woman is meant; not the wife of a bishop, [1237] nor a woman who is actually called Jezebel, [1238] but some woman who under the pretence of being a prophetess had approved the doctrines of the Nicolaitans, and for that reason was designated a new Jezebel, as Ahab’s wife formerly in the O. T. church, by the introduction of the worship of Baal, and fornication, [1239] which was combined with the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth, gave the greatest offence. [1240] That the woman in Thyatira did not actually have the name Jezebel, but rather that this name was understood symbolically, does not follow from the fact that in the Apoc. all names except that of the composer are of a symbolical character, [1241] for that is not the case; [1242] but from the fact that it is applied to the false doctrines and godlessness, which have been designated already by the name of Balaam, of entirely similar notoriety with that of the wife of Ahab.
[1223] On this form, Winer, p. 77.
[1224] Joh 11:44 ; Joh 11:48 ; Joh 12:7 .
[1225] Cf. Rev 1:5 , Rev 3:12 , Rev 14:12 .
[1226] . . . Pric.
[1227] Grot.
[1228] Cf. Critical Remarks.
[1229] Of proper and improper fornication. Hengstenb.
[1230] Bengel.
[1231] Hengstenb.
[1232] See on Rev 2:14 .
[1233] Cf. also Rev 2:22 .
[1234] Hengstenb.
[1235] Alcas., Zll.
[1236] Andr., Areth., Vitr., Eichh., Hengstenb., Ebrard.
[1237] Grot., Klief., who regards the after . as indisputable.
[1238] Wolf, Beng.
[1239] 2Ki 9:22 ; 1Ki 21:23 sqq.; 2Ki 3:2 ; 2Ki 9:30 sqq.
[1240] C. a Lap., Calov., Heinr., Herd., Ew., De Wette, Stern, etc.
[1241] Hengstenb.
[1242] Cf. Rev 2:13 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Ver. 20. Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel ] It is a fault, then, not only to be active in evil, but to be passive of evil. Non faciendo malus, sed patiendo fuit, said the poet concerning the Emperor Claudius. The kings of the earth are taxed, Rev 18:9 ., for not rooting out the Romish religion and setting up the truth.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20 .] Notwithstanding I have against thee that thou sufferest ( from , see ref. Ex. and Winer, edn. 6, 14. 3) thy wife (or, the woman ) Jezebel (on the whole, the evidence for being inserted in the text seems to me to preponderate. It could not well have been inserted : and was sure to have been erased, from its difficulty, and possibly from other reasons, considering what was the common interpretation of the . It does not create any real difficulty: finding its meaning not in the matter of fact at Thyatira, but in the history from which the appellation is taken. In 3 Kings 20:25 ( 1Ki 21:25 ) we read , , : from which text the phrase is transferred entire, importing that this Jezebel was to the church at Thyatira what that other was to Ahab. It is not so easy to determine who is, or who are, imported by the term. The very fact of the name Jezebel being chosen (for it is impossible, even were this the actual name of a woman, that it should be used here with any other than the symbolic meaning), coupled with above explained, takes us out of the realms of simple fact into those of symbolism. The figure of “Jezebel thy wife” being once recognized in its historical import, it would not be needful that an individual woman should be found to answer to it: the conscience of the Thyatiran church could not fail to apply the severe reproof to whatever influence was being exerted in the direction here indicated. So that I should rate at very little the speculations of many Commentators on the supposed woman here pointed out. Dsterd., recently, remarks that has something individual about it. So it has: but may not this individuality belong just as well to the figure, as to the thing signified by it? The sect or individuals being once concentrated as Jezebel, would follow of course, in the propriety of the figure. On the whole, however, I should feel it more probable that some individual teacher , high in repute and influence at the time, is pointed at. The denunciation of such a teacher under such a title would be at once startling and decisive. Nor would probability be violated by the other supposition, that a favoured and influential party In the Thyatiran church is designated. The church herself is represented by a woman: why may not a party (compare the Jews, who are the of Rev 2:9 ) within the church be similarly symbolized? However this may be, the real solution must lie hidden until all that is hidden shall be known. See more below), who calleth herself a prophetess (the appositional nom. again: see reff.: and again with an indeclinable proper name, as in Rev 2:13 . This clause perhaps points at an individual: but there is on the other hand no reason why a sect claiming prophetic gifts should not be indicated: the feminine belonging as before to the historical symbol), and she teacheth and deceiveth my servants, to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols (hence the propriety of the name Jezebel: for both these were the abominations of the historic Jezebel: 2Ki 9:22 ; 2Ki 9:30 (cf. Jer 4:30 ; Nah 3:4 ): the latter indeed in its more aggravated form of actual idolatry, 1Ki 18:19 . This specification of the mischief done shews us that this influence at Thyatira was in the same direction as the evil works of the Nicolaitans at Pergamum, Rev 2:14 . The fact that this was the prevalent direction of the false teaching of the day, is important in a chronological point of view: see Prolegg., iii. par. 6). And I gave her time (not, “in my pre-ordination of what is to be,” as the aor. in Mar 13:20 , but denoting historically that which the Lord had actually done, in vain. Notice that the , on which depended the time given her for repentance, is yet blamed in the church of Thyatira as a sin) that she should repent, and she willeth not to repent of (lit. “ out of :” constr. prgn., so as to come out of: or the . itself is regarded as an escape. The construction (reff.) is confined to this book: we have the verb once with , Act 8:22 ; and the subst. , Heb 6:1 ) her fornication ( is here to be taken, as in all these passages, in its literal sense. Otherwise, if taken figuratively, it would be only a repetition of the other particular, idolatry).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 2:20 . Women ( cf. Act 21:9 ; 1Co 11:5 , and the later Ammia in Philadelphia: Eus. H. E. ver 17. 2) occasionally prophesied in the early church, and false prophetesses were as likely to exist as false prophets. This “Jezebel of a woman, alleging herself to be a prophetess,” seems to have been some influential female (as the definite imagery of Rev 2:21-23 indicates); her lax principles or tendencies made for a connexion with foreign and compromising associations which evidently exerted a dangerous charm upon some weaker Christians in the city. The moral issue corresponds to that produced by the Nikolaitan party at Pergamos ( . , ), but the serious nature of the heresy at Thyatira appears from the fact that it was not simply propagated within the church but also notorious (Rev 2:23 ) and long-continued ( ), thanks to obstinacy among the Ahabs and adherents of this prominent woman (Rev 2:21 ). They prided themselves on their enlightened liberalism (Rev 2:24 ). The definiteness of her personality, the fact of her situation within a Christian church which had jurisdiction over her, and the association of her practices with those of the Nikolaitans, who were members of the church, render it impossible to identify this libertine influence of Jude with a foreign institution such as the famous shrine of the Chaldean Sibyl at Thyatira (Schrer: Theol. Abhandlungen , pp. 39 f., a theory suggested by Blakesley, in Smith’s DB ), or with the wife of the local Asiarch (Selwyn, 123). Besides it was not the cults but the trade-guilds that formed the problem at Thyatira. Jastrow points out (p. 267) that for some occult reason female sorcerers were preferred to men among the Babylonians; “the witch appears more frequently than the male sorcerer”. Hillel (Pirke Aboth, ii. 8; see Dr. C. Taylor’s note) had already declared, “more women, more witchcraft”. For the connexion of women and sorcery cf. Blau’s Altjd. Zauberwesen 18 f., 23 f. . . ., an irregular nomin. absolute, characteristic of the writer. This LXX peculiarity of a detached participle thrown into relief, which is not confined to the Apocalypse ( cf. Phi 3:16-19 , etc.), renders the participle almost a relative (Vit. i., 202); but indeed any word or group of words, thus singled out as characteristic of some preceding noun, tends to become independent and to take its own construction (II. 8f). See Zep 1:12 (LXX).
[903]. Jude
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
a few things. Omit.
that = the.
Jezebel. See 1Ki 16:30-34; 1Ki 21:25. This patroness of Baal-worship will have her sinister antitype in the future.
prophetess. Only here and Luk 2:36 (Anna) in NT.
to teach, &c. The texts read “and she teacheth and seduceth”.
seduce. App-128.
servants. App-190.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20.] Notwithstanding I have against thee that thou sufferest ( from , see ref. Ex. and Winer, edn. 6, 14. 3) thy wife (or, the woman) Jezebel (on the whole, the evidence for being inserted in the text seems to me to preponderate. It could not well have been inserted: and was sure to have been erased, from its difficulty, and possibly from other reasons, considering what was the common interpretation of the . It does not create any real difficulty: finding its meaning not in the matter of fact at Thyatira, but in the history from which the appellation is taken. In 3 Kings 20:25 (1Ki 21:25) we read , , : from which text the phrase is transferred entire, importing that this Jezebel was to the church at Thyatira what that other was to Ahab. It is not so easy to determine who is, or who are, imported by the term. The very fact of the name Jezebel being chosen (for it is impossible, even were this the actual name of a woman, that it should be used here with any other than the symbolic meaning), coupled with above explained, takes us out of the realms of simple fact into those of symbolism. The figure of Jezebel thy wife being once recognized in its historical import, it would not be needful that an individual woman should be found to answer to it: the conscience of the Thyatiran church could not fail to apply the severe reproof to whatever influence was being exerted in the direction here indicated. So that I should rate at very little the speculations of many Commentators on the supposed woman here pointed out. Dsterd., recently, remarks that has something individual about it. So it has: but may not this individuality belong just as well to the figure, as to the thing signified by it? The sect or individuals being once concentrated as Jezebel, would follow of course, in the propriety of the figure. On the whole, however, I should feel it more probable that some individual teacher, high in repute and influence at the time, is pointed at. The denunciation of such a teacher under such a title would be at once startling and decisive. Nor would probability be violated by the other supposition, that a favoured and influential party In the Thyatiran church is designated. The church herself is represented by a woman: why may not a party (compare the Jews, who are the of Rev 2:9) within the church be similarly symbolized? However this may be, the real solution must lie hidden until all that is hidden shall be known. See more below), who calleth herself a prophetess (the appositional nom. again: see reff.: and again with an indeclinable proper name, as in Rev 2:13. This clause perhaps points at an individual: but there is on the other hand no reason why a sect claiming prophetic gifts should not be indicated: the feminine belonging as before to the historical symbol), and she teacheth and deceiveth my servants, to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols (hence the propriety of the name Jezebel: for both these were the abominations of the historic Jezebel: 2Ki 9:22; 2Ki 9:30 (cf. Jer 4:30; Nah 3:4): the latter indeed in its more aggravated form of actual idolatry, 1Ki 18:19. This specification of the mischief done shews us that this influence at Thyatira was in the same direction as the evil works of the Nicolaitans at Pergamum, Rev 2:14. The fact that this was the prevalent direction of the false teaching of the day, is important in a chronological point of view: see Prolegg., iii. par. 6). And I gave her time (not, in my pre-ordination of what is to be, as the aor. in Mar 13:20, but denoting historically that which the Lord had actually done, in vain. Notice that the , on which depended the time given her for repentance, is yet blamed in the church of Thyatira as a sin) that she should repent, and she willeth not to repent of (lit. out of: constr. prgn., so as to come out of: or the . itself is regarded as an escape. The construction (reff.) is confined to this book: we have the verb once with , Act 8:22; and the subst. , Heb 6:1) her fornication ( is here to be taken, as in all these passages, in its literal sense. Otherwise, if taken figuratively, it would be only a repetition of the other particular, idolatry).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 2:20. ) Not only some MSS., but by far the most witnesses, exhibit this reading,[37] which the others, by supplying of themselves , or , or by inserting from Rev 2:14, confirm by this very separation into the extremes. In such places the shorter reading is almost always genuine. See App. Crit. Ed. ii. on this passage. In the 19th verse the comparative prefers the last works to the first, but it is not opposed to . The Lord had neither many nor few things against the angel at Thyatira, but that one thing only which is expressly mentioned, as against the angel of the church at Ephesus, ch. Rev 2:4, where Andreas writes that , one thing, only is blamed. Wherefore the denunciations against these two are more gentle than those against the angel of the church at Pergamos, against whom the Lord had a few things.- , , ) Wolf says, that he does not understand how can be said in Greek. But is read Exo 32:32, in the most approved editions: Chrys. hom. 3, ad Pox. Ant. in the notes of Ducus, quotes , Exodus 32; and in the Apocalypse it is supported by the agreement of all the MSS.,[38] if you except the silence of one or two which are more carelessly collated. Comp. Marck. on Ap. ii. 46, 53. From (Ion. , in the common dialects ) is formed , , , although only, and that contracted, is in use. However it is, there was no reason why John himself should not write , equally with the Greek copyists, the meaning being free from doubt. Arethas, who substitutes , in other places used Greek forms better than those employed by John, as they appeared to himself to be suitable. See below on ch. Rev 16:13. The same reasoning applies to the following words,[39] as far as relates to the MSS., , the meaning of which also is obvious. For first the verb is also put absolutely in Mat 3:15 : next, the defining of its object is here subjoined: thou permittest that woman, namely, to teach, and she does actually teach, etc. So ch. Rev 11:3, I will give to My two witnesses that they prophesy, and they shall prophesy. Comp. also Rev 13:16. See App. Crit. Ed. ii. We have given for , which is otherwise free from difficulty.[40]- ) Many long ago read, . Certainly she had a husband, for she had adulterers, Rev 2:22. The word appears to be a gloss,[41] but it is suitable to the subject itself. But it is elegantly said, woman, for thy wife; either because such an ellipsis is of frequent occurrence, Act 7:20, or because the person spoken of here was an adulteress: comp. Joh 4:18; Act 24:24 : and, the woman Jezebel; though the very name of Jezebel would indicate a woman: for she usurped the office of teaching, contrary to that which is becoming to a woman.
[37] Cypr. 72 and h add multa. Rec. Text, with Amiat. MS. of Vulg., adds . But ABC oppose the addition.-E.
[38] ABC support , an Alexandrine form: Rec. Text, without good authority, .-E.
[39] ABC read . But Vulg. h Cypr. support Rec. Text, .-E.
[40] is the reading of AC. But Vulg. h. Cypr. 72, qu se dicit. Rec. Text, .-E.
[41] ABh Syr. Cypr. read ; but C Vulg. and Rec. Text omit it.-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
I have: Rev 2:4, Rev 2:14
that woman: 1Ki 16:31, 1Ki 17:4, 1Ki 17:13, 1Ki 19:1, 1Ki 19:2, 1Ki 21:7-15, 1Ki 21:23-25, 2Ki 9:7, 2Ki 9:30-37
and to seduce: Rev 2:14, Exo 34:15, Num 25:1, Num 25:2, Act 15:20, Act 15:29, 1Co 8:10-12, 1Co 10:18-21, 1Co 10:28
Reciprocal: Lev 14:40 – take away 1Sa 2:24 – ye make 1Ki 18:19 – eat at Jezebel’s table 2Ki 9:22 – the whoredoms 2Ki 10:6 – your master’s sons 2Ki 21:9 – seduced 2Ch 21:11 – caused 2Ch 24:7 – that wicked Pro 7:13 – she Eze 13:10 – seduced Eze 13:17 – out of Dan 11:34 – cleave Hos 2:5 – their mother Mic 1:13 – she Mic 6:16 – the works Mat 5:19 – shall teach Mat 13:25 – men Mat 18:7 – but Mat 22:10 – both Mar 10:21 – One thing Luk 17:1 – It is Act 21:9 – which 1Co 5:2 – might 1Co 5:11 – fornicator 2Co 2:17 – which 2Co 11:13 – false 2Co 11:29 – and I burn Gal 1:7 – pervert Gal 3:1 – who 1Ti 1:3 – charge 2Ti 3:8 – resist Tit 2:3 – teachers Heb 12:16 – any fornicator Rev 2:2 – how
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 2:20. Having given the church credit for the good things it was doing the Lord next makes his complaints. Thou sufferest. When a church retains a bad character in its fellowship, it becomes a partaker of the evil deeds of that person and will be condemned by the Lord. (See verses 14, 15.) The church at Thyatira was doing so concerning a false prophetess named Jezebel. Thayer defines this word, “A second Jezebel,” then gives us the following historical statement. “The symbolic name of a woman who pretended to be a phophetess, and who, addicted to antinomianism [the doctrine of faith alone], claimed for Christians the liberty of eating things sacrificed to idols.” This statement of Thayer’s agrees with the language of the verse.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 20
2. “Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess”–Rev 2:20.
The name Jezebel is the symbol of the powerful heathen influences and applied to the same defections designated by the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. The expression that woman Jezebel was a gradation of the same evil Jewish parties in the Pergamos and the Thyatira churches. She was representative of a pseudo-prophetess in the person of a female Judaizer, a sort of the Lady Macbeth, of the Shakespearean play; a representation of an added source of opposition and seduction to the already existing Balaams and Nicolaitanes.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 2:20. What is praiseworthy in the church has been spoken of. The Lord now passes to that in which it failed. Again a division into four parts meets us:(1) That thou sufferest thy wife Jezebel. We adopt this reading as every way preferable to the reading, that woman Jezebel, given in both the Authorised and Revised Versions. The external evidence in its favour is at least equal to that for the common reading. The internal is much superior; and it is almost impossible to doubt that the misinterpretation which supposed the Angel to be the Bishop of the church, and which therefore recoiled from the idea that the Bishops wife could have been a person of the kind here described, formed the chief reason why it was set aside for that commonly adopted. Let us have distinctly impressed upon us that the Angel of Thyatira is the church of that city, and let us remember that the peculiar aggravation of the sin of Ahab in the Old Testament was that he did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up (1Ki 21:25); and we shall at once feel how much more in keeping with the force and vigour of the whole Apocalypse, as well as of the present passage, is the reading thy wife than the reading that woman. The very head and front of the churchs sin was, not that it merely tolerated false teaching and sinful practices in its midst, but that it had allied itself with them. Many, no doubt, had remained pure (Rev 2:24), but the church as a whole was guilty. The Jezebel of the Old Testament, whose story lies at the bottom of the apostles language, was a heathen both by birth and training; and Ahabs marriage with her was the first instance of the marriage with a heathen princess of a king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Thus had Thyatira sinned, had entered for the sake of worldly honour into alliance with the world, and was still continuing the sinful tie. The sentence, thou sufferest thy wife Jezebel, it must be noticed, is complete in itself, thou toleratest, thou lettest alone (comp. Joh 11:48; Joh 12:7; and for the story of Jezebel, 1 Kings 16, 18, 19, 21; 2 Kings 9). Most commentators admit that the name Jezebel is to be understood symbolically; but they are not agreed whether, as so used, it refers to a single person,a false female teacher,or a heretical party within the church. The latter opinion is by much the more probable of the two, although we have before us not so much a regularly constituted party, as separate persons who were themselves addicted to the sins described, and who were endeavouring at the same time to seduce others. In Jer 4:30 we have a similar description of the degeneracy of the Church. The persons thus pointed at were, it must be further noticed, within the Church. They had drawn their erroneous views and sinful practices, it is true, from heathenism, as Jezebel was the daughter of a heathen king, but they were not themselves heathen. They were professing members of the Christian community, for this Jezebel calleth herself a prophetess, not a false prophetess, but one with a divine commission.(2) And she teacheth, etc. The sins into which the persons alluded to sought to betray the church are now mentioned. They are the sins already spoken of in the case of Pergamos; yet there is at the same time an important distinction. At Pergamos the evil came from an outward source, Balaam; at Thyatira from an inward source, Jezebel. The former was a Gentile Prophet; the latter was the wife of the King of Israel. Mark the progress.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Rev 2:20-21. Notwithstanding, I have a few things, &c. Yet, observe, there are some things in thy conduct I take notice of, which deserve blame, and call for reformation, namely, thou sufferest that woman Jezebel Thou givest too much countenance to some evil persons, who, like that wicked woman Jezebel, of old, who defiled Israel with her idolatrous and lewd practices, set themselves to teach, and, on wicked pretences of prophecy and revelation, to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols Both which are contrary to the truth and purity of the doctrine and worship of my gospel. When the description of the imitators or followers of Jezebel in this verse is compared with what was before said of the Nicolaitanes, Rev 2:14-15, the resemblance, says Doddridge, appears so great, that I am induced to believe it is the same heresy which is represented under both these views; namely, the doctrine of those who taught it was lawful to dissemble our religious principles, and occasionally to conform to superstition and idolatry, in order to avoid persecution. And as Jezebel was so infamous an idolatress, and so great a mistress of seducing arts, there was an evident propriety in such a representation, 1Ki 16:31; 1Ki 21:25. Some have fancied this was some female heretic. And I gave her space to repent, &c. Though I have granted these persons a long time to consider the sinfulness of their conduct, and to reform it, yet they are so sunk in depravity and wickedness, that they still remain impenitent and obstinate, and afford no signs or hopes of amendment. So, though repentance is the gift of God, man may refuse it: God will not compel.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 20
Sufferest that woman Jezebel–to teach; that is, the spirit of Jezebel (1 Kings 18:4) to prevail.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit {k} fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
(k) Often in the scripture, by fornication they mean idolatry.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. Rebuke 2:20-23
Evidently a woman claiming to be a prophetess (cf. Luk 2:36; Act 21:9; 1Co 11:5) had been influencing some in this church to join the local trade guilds without which a tradesman could not work in Thyatira. This meant participation in the guild feasts that included immoral acts and the worship of idols. [Note: See Beasley-Murray, pp. 89-90.] Her name may or may not have been Jezebel. I think it was not. [Note: Cf. Newell, p. 54; Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 214; and Aune, p. 213.] Jezebel, Balaam, and the Nicolaitans all sought to lead God’s people into idolatry and sexual immorality. This woman’s behavior reflected that of wicked Queen Jezebel (1 Kings 16 -2 Kings 9) who led Israel into immorality and idolatry by advocating Baal worship (cf. Rev 2:14; Act 15:28-29).
"With her Nicolaitan orientation the prophetess could suggest that since ’an idol has no real existence’ (1Co 8:4), believers need not undergo the privation which would follow from unwillingness to go along with the simple requirements of the trade guild." [Note: Mounce, p. 103.]
God had not brought judgment on her previously so she might repent (2Pe 3:9). Since she refused to change her ways, God would judge her and her followers unless they repented. She might experience a fatal illness (cf. 2Ki 1:4; 1Co 11:29-30), and her followers might experience great tribulation. This could be a reference to the seven-year Tribulation. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 219-21.] But it seems more likely to refer to severe divine discipline similar to what is coming during the Tribulation. Death would also be the punishment of her spiritual children (Rev 2:23), another way of describing her followers (Rev 2:22). The other churches would recognize her punishment as coming from God, who knows all people intimately (cf. Psa 7:9; Pro 24:12; Jer 11:20; Jer 17:10; Jer 20:12).