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12 The one who conquers[a] I will make[b] a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it. I[c] will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God),[d] and my new name as well. 13 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Laodicea

14 “To[e] the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following:[f]

“This is the solemn pronouncement of[g] the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator[h] of God’s creation:

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 3:12 tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”
  2. Revelation 3:12 tn Grk “I will make him,” but the pronoun (αὐτόν, auton, “him”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.
  3. Revelation 3:12 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  4. Revelation 3:12 sn This description of the city of my God is parenthetical, explaining further the previous phrase and interrupting the list of “new names” given here.
  5. Revelation 3:14 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.
  6. Revelation 3:14 tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.
  7. Revelation 3:14 tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.sn The expression This is the solemn pronouncement of reflects an OT idiom. See the note on this phrase in 2:1.
  8. Revelation 3:14 tn Or “the beginning of God’s creation”; or “the ruler of God’s creation.” From a linguistic standpoint all three meanings for ἀρχή (archē) are possible. The term is well attested in both LXX (Gen 40:13, 21; 41:13) and intertestamental Jewish literature (2 Macc 4:10, 50) as meaning “ruler, authority” (BDAG 138 s.v. 6). Some have connected this passage to Paul’s statements in Col 1:15, 18 which describe Christ as ἀρχή and πρωτότοκος (prōtotokos; e.g., see R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 124) but the term ἀρχή has been understood as either “beginning” or “ruler” in that passage as well. The most compelling connection is to be found in the prologue to John’s Gospel (1:2-4) where the λόγος (logos) is said to be “in the beginning (ἀρχή) with God,” a temporal reference connected with creation, and then v. 3 states that “all things were made through him.” The connection with the original creation suggests the meaning “originator” for ἀρχή here. BDAG 138 s.v. 3 gives the meaning “the first cause” for the word in Rev 3:14, a term that is too philosophical for the general reader, so the translation “originator” was used instead. BDAG also notes, “but the mng. beginning = ‘first created’ is linguistically probable (s. above 1b and Job 40:19; also CBurney, Christ as the ᾿Αρχή of Creation: JTS 27, 1926, 160-77).” Such a meaning is unlikely here, however, since the connections described above are much more probable.