English · KJV

Bede

Late Patristic · AD 500–800 · 6,271 passages across 45 books

Commentary

5,521–5,540 of 6,271
Revelation 3:8

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Because you have a little strength, etc. He shows the reason that this church deserves these gifts, because it does not trust in its own strength but in the grace of Christ the King. It is the praise of the protecting God and the devotion of the Church that the door of victory is opened to one of little faith, and that little strength is strengthened by faith.
Revelation 3:9

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not. He promised this to the whole Church at that time, because not only in Philadelphia did they believe from the synagogue of the Jews, as we find in the Acts of the Apostles.
Revelation 3:10

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Because you have kept my word of patience, etc. Because you have kept my example in enduring adversities, I will in turn keep you from imminent tribulations; not indeed that you will not be tempted, but that you will not be overcome by adversities. And although the Church is always exercised by adversities, here the hour of temptation and the humiliation of the Jews under the time of Antichrist can be signified, so that as in the following in the sixth order often, so also here in the sixth angel the final persecution is designated. In which indeed the evil Jews, deceiving and being deceived, but others, by the teachings of the great prophet Elijah, understanding the law spiritually and incorporated into the members of the Church, are believed to be strongly victorious over the enemy.
Revelation 3:11

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Behold, I come quickly. Hold fast what you have, etc. Lest you grow weary in enduring. For I will quickly help, lest perhaps, if you fail, another receives the reward decreed for you. Thus, the number of saints, which is fixed with God, cannot be shortened by the treachery of growing tares. If indeed a crown is given to another when lost, the place of him who lost what he held is not vacant.
Revelation 3:12 · 4 passages

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

And I will write on him the name of my God. Because indeed by adoption we are called sons of God.
And the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem. He will be associated with the unity of the Church, which by heavenly grace is regenerated into a new life.
And my new name. This is the Christian name, not because it is new to the Son of God, who had this glory before the world was made, but new to the Son of Man who was dead and has risen, and sits at the right hand of God.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, etc. He who overcomes adversities for my sake will gloriously fear no further loss of adversity in the temple of the Church. These pillars, that is, holy men, now strengthen the Church by supporting it, then will adorn it by standing out, just as those two in the doors of Solomon's temple.
Revelation 3:14 · 2 passages

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write. Laodicea is called the beloved tribe of the Lord, or they were in the vomit. For there were those to whom he would say: I will begin to spew you out of my mouth. And to others he says: I rebuke and chasten those whom I love. From the Greek, it is interpreted as the just people.
These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, etc. Amen is truly or faithfully interpreted. Therefore, Christ, who is in the essence of divinity the truth, reminds us that he is made the beginning of the creation of God through the mystery of the Incarnation, so that through these things he conforms the Church to endure sufferings.
Revelation 3:15

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot, etc. You are neither fervent in faith nor entirely unfaithful. If you were still unfaithful, the hope of conversion would still remain for you; but now, because you do not do the will of the Lord that you have known, you will be cast out from the bowels of my Church.
Revelation 3:17

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Because you say, "I am rich and increased with goods," etc. Content with faith alone, you falsely claim the riches of righteousness for yourself, but if you truly desire to be rich, buy the fervor of charity tested in the flame of tribulations, having left everything, and anoint the eyes of your mind not with the stibium of deceptive boastfulness but with the eye salve of divine knowledge. To anoint the eyes with eye salve is to merit the understanding of the holy Scriptures through the execution of good works.
Revelation 3:19 · 2 passages

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Be zealous therefore, and repent. He shows that there were those there who should have been emulated and followed.
Those whom I love, I rebuke and chasten. Do not refuse to suffer adversities, since this is a special sign of being loved by the Lord.
Revelation 3:20 · 2 passages

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

The Lord stands at the doorway and knocks when he pours into our heart the memory of his will, either through the mouth of a man who is teaching [us] or through his own internal inspiration. When his voice is heard, we open the gate to receive [him] when we willingly present our assent to [his] counsels, whether secret or open, and devote ourselves to accomplishing those things that we recognize are to be done. He comes in order to eat with us and we with him. For he dwells in the hearts of his elect through the grace of his love in order to restore them always by the light of his presence. He lives there so that they may advance more and more to heavenly desires, and so that he himself may feed their zeal for heaven, as it were, with a most pleasing banquet.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock, etc. I indeed knock at the door of your heart with the right hand of exhortation, which if you receive willingly, you will be deemed worthy to have me as a dweller and co-heir.
Revelation 3:21 · 2 passages

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne. He says he will make the confessor a participant in power and judgment. He has made us sit together, he says, in the heavenly places in Christ.
As I also conquered, and sat down with my Father on his throne. The Lord, having conquered, sat on the throne with the Father, because after the struggles of the passion, after the victory of the resurrection, He more clearly showed Himself to all that He was equal to the Father's power. Note that in each church, the Lord first reveals His power, then reviews the works of the church, either to be praised or blamed, always intermingled with admonition. Finally, He repays the due reward, which can be understood in the present and in the future, to both parties. When He adds: He who has ears, let him hear, it is undoubtedly fitting to understand the ears of the heart for obedience to the commandments.
Revelation 4:1

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

After this, I looked, and behold, a door open in heaven. After describing the works of the Church, what it was and what it would be like, he recapitulates from the birth of Christ, intending to say the same things differently. For he repeats the entire time of the Church in various figures in this book. Behold, he says, a door open in heaven. Fittingly, he sees a heavenly door about to ascend, to whom high mysteries are promised to be revealed. Or because Christ is the door, he who believes in Him born and suffered ascends to heaven, that is, to the height of the Church, and sees future spiritual events as he says.
Revelation 4:2

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

And immediately I was in the Spirit. And the first voice which I heard. Certainly similar to the previous voice, which had said: What you see, write in a book (Rev. 1).

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