Patmos
PATMOS
An island of the Aeagean sea, to which the apostle and evangelist John was banished by Domitian, A. D. 95, Jer 1:9 . It is a rocky and desolate island, about twenty-eight miles in circumference, with a bold and deeply indented shore; and was used by the Romans as a place of banishment for many criminals. It lies between Samos and Naxos, about forty miles west by south from the promontory of Miletus; and contains at present some four thousand inhabitants, mostly Greeks. Its principal port is a deep bay on the northeast side; the town lying on a high and steep hill, the summit of which is crowned by the old and castle-like monastery of St. John. Half way down the hill is a natural grotto, now covered by a Greek chapel, school, etc. In this cave, over-looking the sea and its islands towards his beloved Ephesus, tradition says that John saw and recorded his prophetic visions. The island is now called Patino; and the port Patmo, or San Giovanni di Patino.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Patmos
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Patmos, one of the group of islands named the Sporades, lies in that part of the aegean Sea which the Greeks called the Icarian, and is visible on the right as one sails from Samos to Cos. It is a volcanic island, bare and rocky, 10 miles long from N. to S., and 6 miles wide at the northern end. Its hills command a magnificent view of the surrounding sea and islands. At its centre, where it narrows to an isthmus, between the bay of Scala on the E. and that of Merika on the W., are found the remains of an ancient Hellenic town, which prove that the island was once populous; and the name of Palmosa, which it bore in the Middle Ages, points to another time of prosperity; but Turkish rule has had its usual blighting effect. To-day the isle has 4,000 Greek inhabitants, who are mostly sponge-fishers. The modern town stands on a hilltop, 800 ft. above sea-level, in the southern half of the island. It clusters about the Monastery of St. John-founded by St. Christodulus in a.d. 1088, on the site of an old temple-which has lost most of the treasures of its once valuable library, including the 9th cent. edition of Plato, now in the Bodleian. Monastic piety shows the place where the Revelation was written by St. John, and halfway down the hill is a grotto ( ) the rocks of which are said to have been cleft by the Divine voice.
More important are the internal indications that the book was written amid the sights and sounds of the infinite sea. It has the word 25 times, and it is full of the clashing of waves. No fitter scene could be found for the composition of the Apocalypse than the traditional one, and, if there were any reason to question the story of the authors banishment to the island, one would have to say, si non vero, ben trovato. Nowhere is the voice of many waters more musical than in Patmos; nowhere does the rising and setting sun make a more splendid sea of glass mingled with fire; yet nowhere is the longing more natural that the separating sea-the oceanus dissociabilis of Horace (Od. I. iii. 22)-should be no more.
Small and inhospitable islands were often used as places of banishment (relegatio) in the 1st cent. (Pliny, HN_ IV. xii. 23; Tac. Ann. iii. 68, iv. 30, xv. 71). According to Eusebius (HE_ iii. 18), Jerome (de Vir. Illustr. 9), and others, St. John was exiled to Patmos under Domitian in a.d. 95, and released about 18 months afterwards under Nerva. W. M. Ramsay thinks that, as St. John was not a first-class prisoner, he must have been condemned not only to banishment but to hard labour for life (The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, 1904, p. 82 ff.). At any rate, St. John was in Patmos for () the word of God (Rev 1:9). The meaning of the phrase is much disputed, some holding that it expresses the human cause, others the over-ruling Divine purpose, of his exile. He was banished either because of his loyalty to truth already revealed, or for the reception of truth about to be revealed. The former interpretation probably gives the writers real meaning, but the latter (preferred by B. Weiss and others) contains a thought well worth expressing. While the authorities of Ephesus, moved perhaps by some mysterious impulse to spare the saints life, transported him to the lonely island in order that the city might be freed from his too insistent word and testimony, he was providentially taken into a retreat where he was beside the deep sea and the mighty things. The story of his exile is outlined in two phrases: I was in the isle I was in the Spirit (Rev 1:9-10). The realism was transfigured, and in that aegean where aeschylus heard (Prom. 89 f.), St. John listened to the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters (Rev 19:6).
Literature.-L. Ross, Reisen auf den grichischen Inseln des gischen Meeres, Halle, 1840-1845; V. Gurin, Description de lile de Patmos et de lile de Samos, Paris, 1856; H. F. Tozer, Islands of the aegean, London, 1890, pp. 178-195.
James Strahan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Patmos
Small volcanic island in the AEgean Sea off the coast of Asia Minor, south of Samoa and west of Miletus, famous as the place of Saint John’s exile (Apocalypse 1:9), where it is generally believed he wrote the Apocalypse.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Patmos
A small volcanic island in the Ægean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor, to the south of Samos and west of Miletus, in lat. 37° 20′ N. and long. 26° 35′ E. Its length is about ten miles, its breadth six miles, and its coast line thirty seven miles. The highest point is Hagios Elias (Mt. St. Elias) rising to over 1050 feet. The island was formerly covered with luxuriant palm groves, which won it the name of Palmosa; of these groves there remains but a clump in the valley called “The Saint’s Garden”. The ancient capital occupied the northern (Ruvali) isthmus. The modern town of Patmos lies in the middle part of the island. Above it towers the battlements of St. John’s Monastery, founded in 1088 by St. Christobulus. The Island of Patmos is famous in history as the place of St. John’s exile: “I, John . . . was in the island, which is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9); there according to general belief the Beloved Disciple wrote the Apocalypse, the imagery of which was in part inspired by the scenery of the island. The spot where St. John was favoured with his revelations is pointed out as a cave on the slope of the hill, half way between the shore and the modern town of Patmos.
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Clark, Travels (London, 1818); Murray, Handbook to Asia Minor (London); Tozer, the Islands of the Ægean (London, 1890); Guérin, Description de l’Ile de Patmos (Paris, 1856); Lacroix, Les iles de la Grèce (Paris, 1853); Le Camus, Voyage aux pays bibliques (Paris, 1890); Ross, Reisen auf den griechischen Inseln (Stuttgart, 1840).
CHARLES L. SOUVAY Transcribed by Mary Thomas
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Patmos
(, etymology unknown), a rocky and bare island in that part of the AEgean called the Icarian Sea, about twenty miles south of Samos, and about twenty-four west of the coast of Asia Minor, near Miletus, reckoned as one of the Sporades (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 4:23; Strabo, 10:480). On account of its isolation the island was used, under- the Roman empire, as a place of banishment, which accounts for the exile of the apostle John thither for the testimony of Jesus (Rev 1:9). SEE JOHN. He was here favored with those visions which are contained in the Apocalypse, and to which the place owes its scriptural interest. We may add that Patmos must have been conspicuous on the right when St. Paul was sailing (Act 20:15; Act 21:1) from Samos to Cos.
The island is about twenty-five miles in circumference, has a deeply indented sea-line, and possesses one of the best harbors in the archipelago; lat. 37 17′ N., long. 26 35′ E. On the north-eastern side of the island was a town of the same name with the harbor, and the southernmost point formed the promontory Amazoniun. It is deficient in trees, but abounds in flowering plants and shrubs. Walnuts and other fruit-trees are grown in the orchards; and the wine of Patmos is the strongest and best flavored of any in the Greek islands. Maize and barley are cultivated, but not in a quantity sufficient: for. the use of the. inhabitants, and for the supply of their own vessels and others which often put in at the great harbor for provisions. On the ridge of a hill overlooking the harbor of La Scala stand the ruins of the ancient acropolis, and round its base lies the town, which contains more than half the population of the island. Its inhabitants are about six hundred in number, and between three and four hundred are scattered about the island besides. They subsist by fishing and the poor harvest their fields afford them. They wander away in the autumn months to richer soils, and work as agricultural laborers; or carry on a small commerce, leaving their homes to the care of the women; but this migration has diminished of late years. The educational state of the island is anomalous; the inhabitants are, as they ever have been, ignorant and superstitious, although quiet and peaceable; but the monastery in which Sonnini found eighty monks, only three of whom could read, has now a staff of teachers, who afford their pupils a course of instruction comprising classic Greek, Italian, general literature, and logic. They have a considerable class from the neighboring islands, and even a few from the mainland. Patnpos has been in one respect singularly favored. The Turks have never visited it, none dwell on the island; and the moderate tribute which they exact has been punctually paid, and sent by the islanders themselves to Smyrna. No mosque has ever been erected on the spot rendered sacred by the vision of the Apocalypse. Slavery has been unknown, piracy has never been practiced, and the orderly life of the inhabitants has rendered unnecessary the interference of any other police than that which they supply themselves: their poverty has stood them in good stead. The air of Patmos is pure and wholesome; and the plague, so fatal in the islands round about, has never been known there.
The aspect of the island is peculiarly rugged and bare. Such a scene of banishment for St. John in the reign of Domitian is quite in harmony with what we read of the custom of the period. It was the common practice to send exiles to the most rocky and desolate islands (in asperrimas insularum). See Sueton. Titus 8; Juven. Sat. 1:73. Such a scene, too, was suitable (if we may presume to say so) to the sublime and awful revelation which the apostle received there. It is possible indeed that there was more greenness in Patmos formerly than now. Its name in the Middle Ages was Palmosa. But this has now almost entirely given place to the old classical name in the form Patmo; and there is just one palm tree in the island, in a valley which is called the Saint’s Garden ( ). Here and there are a few poor olives, about a score of cypresses, and other trees in the same scanty proportion.
Patmos is divided into two nearly equal parts, a northern and a southern, by a very narrow isthmus, where, on the east side, are the harbor and the town, On the hill to the south, crowning a commanding height, is the celebrated monastery which bears the name of John the Divine. It was built by Alexius Comnenus, and in the library are a great many printed books. There were in it formerly also 600 MSS.; there are now 240. Two ought to be mentioned here, which profess to furnish, under the title of , an account of St. John after the ascension of our Lord. One of them is attributed to Prochorus, an alleged disciple of St. John; the other is an abridgment of the same by Nicetas, archbishop of Thessalonica. Various places in the island are incorporated in the legend, and this is one of its chief points of interest. There is a published Latin translation in the Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum (1677, tom. 2), but with curious modifications, one great object of which is to disengage St. John’s martyrdom from Ephesus (where the legend places it), and to fix it in Rome. Half-way up the ascent of the mountain on which the monastery stands is the cave or grotto where tradition says that St. John received the revelation, and which is still called . A view of it (said to be not very accurate) will be found in Choiseul-Gouffier (1, pl. 57). In and around it is a small church, connected with which is a school or college, where the ancient Greek literature is said to be well taught and understood. Among the older travelers who have visited Patmos we may especially mention Tournefort and Pococke, and later Dr. Clarke and Prof. Carlisle. See also Turner, Journal of a Tour, 3:98-101; Schubert, Reise ins Morgenland, 1:424-434; Walpole, Turkey, 2:43; and Stanley, Sermons in the East, p. 225. Ross visited it in 1841, and describes it at length (Reisen auf den griechischen Inseln des agaischen Meeres, 2:123-139). Guerin, some years later, spent a month there, and enters into more detail, especially as regards ecclesiastical antiquities and traditions (Description de I’le de Patmos et de l’ Ile de Samos [Paris, 1856], p, 1-120).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Patmos
a small rocky and barren island, one of the group called the “Sporades,” in the AEgean Sea. It is mentioned in Scripture only in Rev. 1:9. It was on this island, to which John was banished by the emperor Domitian (A.D. 95), that he received from God the wondrous revelation recorded in his book. This has naturally invested it with the deepest interest for all time. It is now called Patmo. (See JOHN)
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Patmos
Rev 1:9. One of the Sporades. A small rugged island of the Icarian Sea, part of the Aegean; 20 miles S. of Samos, 24 W. of Asia Minor, 25 in circumference. The scene of John’s banishment (by Domitian), where he “was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” The rocky solitude suited the sublime nature of the Revelation. On a hill in the southern half of the island is the monastery of John the divine, and the traditional grotto of his receiving the Apocalypse. In the middle ages called Palmosa from its palms; now there is but one, and the island has resumed its old name Patmo or Patino. It is unvisited by Turks, without any mosque, and saddled with moderate tribute, free from piracy, slavery, and any police but their own.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Patmos
PATMOS.An island W, of Caria, now called Patino, with an area of 16 sq. miles and a population of about 4000. In the Middle Ages its palms gained for it the title of Palmosa, but it is no longer fertile. Its Cyclopean remains show that it was very early inhabited. It is the traditional place to which St. John was banished by Domitian, and in which he wrote the Apocalypse (Rev 1:3). The Cave of the Apocalypse is still shown in which the Apostle is said to have seen the visions. The chief remaining interest of the island is the monastery of St. John, founded in the 11th century. It once contained a valuable library, from which was purchased in 1814 the 9th cent. Plato now in the Bodleian.
A. E. Hillard.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Patmos
An island in the gean Sea, where the beloved apostle John was banished. (Rev 1:9)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Patmos
patmos (, Patomos; Italian: San Giovanni di Patino): A Turkish island of the group Sporades, Southwest of Samos, mentioned once in the Bible, Rev 1:9, I, John … was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus ( , dia ton logon tou theou ka ten marturian Iesou). The island is 10 miles long, and about 6 broad along the northern coast. It is for the most part rocky. The highest part is Mount Elias, which rises to a height of over 800 ft. As in Greece, and in the adjacent mainland of Asia Minor, the land is treeless. Near the city of Patmos there is a good harbor. A famous monastery, Christodulos, was founded on the island in 1088. Near this is a thriving school, attended by students from all parts of the Archipelago. The population of the island numbers 3,000, almost entirely Greek. The ancient capital was on an isthmus between the inlets of La Scala and Merika. Many ruins can still be seen. The huge walls of Cyclopean masonry, similar to those at Tiryns, attest their great age. In Roman times Patmos was one of the many places to which Rome banished her exiles. In 95 AD, according to a tradition preserved by Irenaeus, Eusebius, Jerome and others, John was exiled here – in the 14th year of the reign of Domitian – whence he returned to Ephesus under Nerva (96 AD). The cave in which he is said to have seen his visions is still pointed out to the traveler. Only a small part of the once valuable library in the monastery of Christodulos is left. Just 100 years ago (1814) Mr. E.D. Clark purchased here the manuscript of Plato which is now in the Bodleian Library, the celebrated Clarkianus, a parchment written in the year 895, and admittedly the best of all for the 1st of the 2 volumes into which the works of Plato were divided for convenience. Patmos is mentioned by Thucydides (iii. 33), by Pliny (NH, iv. 23), and by Strabo (x.5). See also JOHN, THE APOSTLE; REVELATION OF JOHN.
Literature.
Tozer, The Islands of the Aegean (1890), 178-95; Walpole, Turkey (London, 1820), II, 43; E.D. Clark, Travels (London, 1818), VI, 2; Ross, Reisen (Stuttgart, 1840), II; Guerin, Description de l’Ile de Patmos (Paris, 1856).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Patmos
Patmos, a rocky and bare island of the gean Sea, about fifteen miles in circumference, and reckoned as one of the Sporades. On account of its stern and desolate character, the island was used, under the Roman Empire, as a place of banishment, which accounts for the exile of John thither ‘for the testimony of Jesus’ (Rev 1:9) [JOHN THE EVANGELIST]. He was here favored with those visions which are contained in the Apocalypse, and to which the place owes its Scriptural interest.
On approaching the island the coast is found to be high, and to consist of a succession of capes, which form so many ports, some of which are excellent. The only one in use is, however, a deep bay, sheltered by high mountains on every side but one, where it is protected by a projecting cape. The town attached to this port is situated upon a high rocky mountain, rising immediately from the sea; and this, with the Scala below upon the shore, consisting of some shops and houses, forms the only inhabited site of the island.
Patmos is deficient of trees, but abounds in flowering plants and shrubs, Walnuts and other fruit trees are grown in the orchards; and the wine of Patmos is the strongest and best flavored of any in the Greek islands. Maize and barley are cultivated, but not in a quantity sufficient for the use of the inhabitants, and for the supply of their own vessels and others which often put in at the great harbor for provisions. The island now bears the names of Patino and Palmosa, and the inhabitants do not exceed 4000 or 5000, many of whom are emigrants from the neighboring continent.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Patmos
[Pat’mos]
An island to which John was banished by one of the Roman emperors, and where he received the Revelation. Rev 1:9. It is a rocky island in the gean Sea, about 37 15′ N, and is peculiarly rugged, bare, and desolate. On the hill to the south is a monastery called ‘John the Divine.’ In the ascent is a cave or grotto in which John is said to have written the Revelation.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Patmos
G3963
An island in the Aegean Sea. John an exile on.
Rev 1:9
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Patmos
Patmos (pt’mos). Rev 1:9. A little ragged island in the gean Sea, 24 miles west of Asia Minor. It is from 15 to 25 miles in circumference, and is very rocky and barren. The barrenness of the island made it a suitable spot for the banishment of Roman criminals. To it the apostle John was banished by the emperor Domitian, a.d. 95. Its rocky solitude well suited the sublime nature of the Revelation.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Patmos
Pat’mos. Rev 1:9. A rugged and bare island in the Aegean Sea, 20 miles south of Samos, and 24 miles west of Asia Minor. It was the scene of the banishment of St. John, in the reign of Domitian, A.D. 95. Patmos is divided into two nearly equal parts, a northern and a southern, by a very narrow isthmus where, on the east side, are the harbor and the town.
On the hill, to the south, crowning a commanding height, is the celebrated monastery, which bears the name of, “John the Divine.” Halfway up the descent is the cave, or grotto, where tradition says that St. John received the Revelation.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Patmos
a small rocky island in the AEgean Sea, about eighteen miles in circumference; which, on account of its dreary and desolate character, was used by the Roman emperors as a place of confinement for criminals. To this island St. John was banished by the Emperor Domitian; and here he had his revelation, recorded in the Apocalypse.