And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.
3. and hast borne, &c.] Read and hast patience; and didst bear for my Name’s sake, and hast not been weary.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And hast borne – Hast borne up under trials; or hast borne with the evils with which you have been assailed. That is, you have not given way to murmuring or complaints in trial, you have not abandoned the principles of truth and yielded to the prevalence of error.
And hast patience – That is, in this connection, hast shown that thou canst bear up under these things with patience. This is a repetition of what is said in Rev 2:2, but in a somewhat different connection. There it rather refers to the trouble which they had experienced on account of the pretensions of false apostles, and the patient, persevering, and enduring spirit which they had shown in that form of trial; here the expression is more general, denoting a patient spirit in regard to all forms of trial.
And for my names sake hast laboured – On account of me, and in my cause. That is, the labor here referred to, whatever it was, was to advance the cause of the Redeemer. In the word rendered hast labored ( kekopiakas) there is a reference to the word used in the previous verse – thy labor ( kopon sou); and the design is to show that the labor, or trouble there referred to, was on account of him.
And hast not fainted – Hast not become exhausted, or wearied out, so as to give over. The word used here ( kamno) occurs in only three places in the New Testament: Lest ye be wearied, and faint, Heb 12:3; The prayer of faith shall save the sick, Jam 5:15; and in the passage before us. It means properly to become weary and faint from toil, etc.; and the idea here is, that they had not become so wearied out as to give over from exhaustion. The sense of the whole passage is thus rendered by Prof. Stuart: Thou canst not bear with false teachers, but thou canst bear with troubles and perplexities on account of me; thou hast undergone wearisome toil, but thou art not wearied out thereby. The state of mind, considered as the state of mind appropriate to a Christian, here represented, is, that we should not tolerate error and sin, but that we should bear up under the trials which they may incidentally occasion us; that we should have such a repugnance to evil that we cannot endure it, as evil, but that we should have such love to the Saviour and his cause as to be willing to bear anything, even in relation to that, or springing from that, that we may be called to suffer in that cause; that while we may be weary in his work, for our bodily strength may become exhausted (compare Mat 26:41), we should not be weary of it; and that though we may have many perplexities, and may meet with much opposition, yet we should not relax our zeal, but should persevere with an ardor that never faints, until our Saviour calls us to our reward.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. And hast borne] The same things mentioned in the preceding verse, but in an inverted order, the particular reason of which does not appear; perhaps it was intended to show more forcibly to this Church that there was no good which they had done, nor evil which they had suffered, that was forgotten before God.
And hast not fainted.] They must therefore have had a considerable portion of this love remaining, else they could not have thus acted.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And hast borne the contradiction of false teachers, and the persecutions of Jews and pagans; for at this time the second persecution was began by Domitian.
And hast patience; grace (with quietness and submission) to bear the will of God in any sort of evils.
And for my names sake hast laboured; and for me hast laboured actively in propagating the truths of my gospel, as well as passively in the furnace of trials and persecutions.
And hast not fainted; and hast persevered so as thou hast neither been seduced to other doctrine by false teachers, nor lost thy integrity and holiness of conversation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. borne . . . patienceTheoldest manuscripts transpose these words. Then translate as Greek,“persevering endurance . . . borne.” “Thou hast borne”My reproach, but “thou canst not bear the evil” (Re2:2). A beautiful antithesis.
and . . . hast laboured, andhast not faintedThe two oldest manuscripts and oldest versionsread, “and . . . hast not labored,” omitting “and hastfainted.” The difficulty which transcribers by EnglishVersion reading tried to obviate, was the seeming contradiction,”I know thy labor . . . and thou hast not labored.“But what is meant is, “Thou hast not been wearied outwith labor.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And hast borne,…. Not evil men, nor false apostles, but “burdens”, as the Ethiopic version reads, and as the word signifies; meaning afflictions, reproaches, and persecutions, which pressed sore, and lay heavy on these ministers and churches; and yet they bore them with constancy and cheerfulness, and were not moved by them. The Arabic version reads, “and thou hast borne me”; my name and Gospel, among the Gentiles, and carried it from place to place; see Ac 9:15;
and hast patience; which they had from God, as his gift, and which they had in their hearts, and in exercise, and found it useful to them. It was in exercise in a suitable time, and it continued with them; it was not worn out through the length and greatness of their trials.
And for my name’s sake hast laboured: which may refer either to enduring sufferings for Christ’s name’s sake, for his Gospel’s sake, for righteousness sake, for the sake of the elect, and for the sake of the honour, glory, and interest of Christ; or to labouring in the ministry, not for filthy lucre sake, nor for party sake, but for the honour of Christ, and the good of souls; and there never was an interval in which this was more true:
and hast not fainted: so as to sink under the burden borne; to have patience quite tired out; to, be weary of labouring for Christ’s name’s sake; and so as to give out, and quit the service of Christ.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Thou hast (). Continued possession of patience.
Didst bear (). First aorist indicative of , repeated reference to the crisis in verse 2.
And hast not grown weary ( ). Perfect active indicative of , old verb, to grow weary (Mt 6:28), play on the word , late form in –, for the regular – (). like (verse 4) and (verse 5). “Tired in loyalty, not of it. The Ephesian church can bear anything except the presence of impostors in her membership” (Moffatt).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The best texts omit ouj kekmhkav hast not grown weary, and read kai ouj kekopiakev hast not grown weary. The transcribers supposed the verb kopiaw to mean only to labor; whereas it includes the sense of weariness from labor.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And hast borne, and hast patience,” (kai hupomonen echeis kai ebastasas) “And thou hast endurance and didst bear (up),” endure or hold up under burden bearing, 1Co 10:13; 1Co 15:57-58; Heb 10:36-37; 2Co 4:16-17
422) “And for my name’s sake hast labored,” (dia to onoma mou) “Because of my name,” thou hast labored, kept on working in the name of Jesus Christ, Act 1:8; Col 3:17; We are to recognize under all trials that we are “laborers together with (in close affinity with) him,” as members of his body, his church-body or assembly, 1Co 3:9.
3) “And hast not fainted,” (kai ou Kekopiakas) “And hast not grown weary,” fainted, quit, or fallen -by the wayside, as Christians and church members are charged: Gal 6:9; Heb 12:3; Heb 12:5. They had toiled, labored, struggled and endured patiently, in loyalty to Jesus Christ, seeking first (preeminently) to please him in their moral, ethical, and doctrinal stand, all commendable Christian traits, Mat 6:33. They could bear most anything other than impostors in their fellowship.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(3) And hast borne.This verse needs some change to bring it into harmony with the best MSS. It should stand, And hast (or, hadst) patience, and didst bear for My names sake, and didst not weary. In this last word there is a recurrence to the word (kopos) translated labour or toil in Rev. 2:2. They had toiled on to very weariness without wearying of their toil (Gal. 6:9), just as they could not bear the evil and yet had borne reproaches for Christs sake. There is toil, and patience, and abhorrence of evil, and discernment, and again patience, and endurance, and unwearied exertion. What can be wanting here? (Dr. Vaughan.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Hast borne with even those whom thou canst not bear. A contradiction in terms, a truth in facts.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Rev 2:3. And hast borne, “And I know thou hast sustained, with exemplary fortitude, the trouble they have given thee; and hast exercised invincible patience under all thy sufferings and trials in my cause; and thou hast laboured constantly and tenaciously for my name’s sake, and to establish the faith of my people; and hast not fainted under thy toils or tribulations.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 2:3 . As in Rev 2:2 ( , . . .) that is amplified which was briefly indicated by the words , so now, also, the first point of the acknowledgment ( . . . . . ) is developed on a definite side, and that, too, so that not only with the above is again taken up, but also the . . [942] is placed in a significant antithesis to the , and by the [943] it is indicated that the of believers furnished with the right has resulted neither in succumbing nor weariness. Beng.: “I know thy labor; yet thou dost not labor, i.e., shalt not be broken down by labor.” [944]
[942] Cf. Mat 10:22 ; Luk 21:17 ; Joh 15:21 .
[943] Cf. Isa 40:31 ; Psa 6:7 ; Joh 4:6 ; Mat 11:28 .
[944] Cf. Vitr., Wolf., Ew., Ebrard, etc.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Ver. 3. And hast borne ] Bear the false apostles thou couldst not; but hast borne much from them. Morientium nempe ferarum violentiores sunt morsus. Beasts bite hardest when to bite their last.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 2:3 . The tenses as in Rev 2:2 denote a general attitude still existing, the outcome of some special stage of persecution for the sake of the Christian name. , cf. (Rev 2:2 ), a slight play on words; “noui laborem tuum, nec tamen laboras, i.e. , labore non frangeris” (Bengel). Tired in loyalty, not of it. The Ephesian church can bear anything except the presence of impostors in her membership.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
hast, &c. The texts read “and hast patient endurance and didst bear (Rev 2:2) for”, &c.
for . . . sake. App-104. Rev 2:2.
name’s. See Act 6:41.
fainted = wearied. Greek. kamno. Only here; Heb 12:3. Jam 5:15 (sick).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 2:3. ) Thus the Alex. MS. reads. The others also, with great agreement, : there is only the change of for made by the latter, from the rhythm .[28] See App. Ed. ii. on this passage.- is used for , Mat 11:28, 1Co 4:12; also Joh 4:6. Whence in the Septuagint it answers to the words , and especially to . Hesychius, , . The Antanaclasis [See Append. Technical Terms], praised by Wolf, is this: I know thy labour; and yet thou dost not labour, that is, thou art not wearied with labour.
[28] B has : AC, (the Alexandr. form for-): so h Vulg. But Rec. Text, with little authority, adds .-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
hast borne: Psa 69:7, Mic 7:9, Mar 15:21, Luk 14:27, 1Co 13:7, Gal 6:2, Heb 13:13
hast patience: Rev 1:9, Rev 3:10, Psa 37:7, Luk 8:15, Luk 21:19, Rom 2:7, Rom 5:3, Rom 5:4, Rom 8:25, Rom 12:12, Rom 15:4, Rom 15:5, Col 1:11, 2Th 3:5, Heb 6:12, Heb 6:15, Heb 10:36, Heb 12:1, Jam 1:3, Jam 1:4, Jam 5:7-11, 2Pe 1:6
hast laboured: Rom 16:12, 1Co 16:16, 2Co 5:9, 2Co 6:5, 2Co 10:15, 2Co 11:23, Phi 2:16, Phi 4:3, 1Th 1:3, 1Th 2:9, 1Th 5:12, 2Th 3:8, 1Ti 4:10, 1Ti 5:17, Heb 6:10
hast not: Luk 18:1, 2Co 4:1, 2Co 4:16, Gal 6:9, 2Th 3:13, Heb 12:3-5
Reciprocal: Pro 24:10 – thou Isa 40:31 – not faint Zep 3:16 – slack Mat 5:11 – for Mat 10:22 – for Mar 10:29 – for Luk 19:26 – and from Luk 21:17 – for 2Co 12:10 – for Christ’s Col 1:29 – labour 3Jo 1:7 – that Rev 2:19 – patience
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 2:3. Borne and patience are virtually the same as labor and patience in the preceding verse. The main idea is that they had followed such a course for a long time. They had likewise done these things for the Lord’s name’s sake, which denotes a proper motive technically for their labors. Have not fainted means they had been unfaltering in their religious activities.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 3
6. “Hast borne, hast patience, hast labored . . . hast not fainted”–Rev 2:3.
Here is the sphere of tolerance, what to bear and what not to bear. Infirmities and weaknesses can be shared with tolerance, but never to the point of condoning false doctrine, or of upholding false teachers. Of that class Paul said, in Gal 2:5 : “To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.”
In verse 6, they were commended for hating something; some graces had decayed, as in verses 5 and 6, but the hatred of evil had remained, and was extolled.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 2:3. (5) And thou hast patience. The patience spoken of is the stedfast endurance already mentioned in Rev 2:2, but the possession of the grace is enhanced by the use of the verb havethou hast it, it is thine.(6) And thou didst bear because of my name. They had not borne with evil men (Rev 2:2); and yet, in not bearing them, in rejecting them, and in the struggle which was involved in doing so, they had had something to bear; they had borne the burden laid upon them because of the name of Jesus, because of that revelation of the grace and love of God which had been given them in Him (comp. on Joh 14:13-14).(7) And thou hast not grown weary. For the use of the word grow weary, comp. Joh 4:6. In Rev 2:2 they had been commended for their toil; but now a step is taken in advance, they had not grown weary in it. How hard the duty, and how high the grace!
Such are the seven points in which the Ephesian church is commended; and, if we are right in considering them as seven, it will follow that the fourth, didst find them false, is the leading one of the seven; or, in other words, that the chief point of commendation in the state of the Christians at Ephesus is their instinctive discernment and rejection of false teachers, and their zeal for the true doctrine of Christ as handed down by His commissioned and inspired apostles. Around this all else that in their case was worthy of commendation centred. Here was the toil that never wearied, the endurance that never failed, the bearing of that bitter cross which consisted, as it did so largely in the case of our Lord, in contending against the grievous wolves that had entered into Gods heritage, and were snatching and scattering the sheep (Joh 10:12). The first work of Christ, to maintain Gods true revelation of Himself against selfish error, appears in the Ephesian church.