Wahyu 2:12-13

To the Church in Pergamum

2:12 “To ¹  the angel of the church in Pergamum write the following: ² 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ³  the one who has the sharp double-edged sword: ⁴  2:13 ‘I know ⁵  where you live – where Satan’s throne is. Yet ⁶  you continue to cling ⁷  to my name and you have not denied your ⁸  faith in me, ⁹  even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, ¹⁰  who was killed in your city ¹¹  where Satan lives.

[2:12]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

[2:12]  ² tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

[2:12]  ³ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

[2:12]  sn The expression This is the solemn pronouncement of reflects an OT idiom. See the note on this phrase in 2:1.

[2:12]  ⁴ sn On the sharp double-edged sword see 1:16.

[2:13]  ⁵ tc The shorter reading adopted here has superior ms support (א A C P 2053 al latt co), while the inclusion of “your works and” (τὰ ἔργα σου καί, ta erga sou kai) before “where you reside” is supported by the Byzantine witnesses and is evidently a secondary attempt to harmonize the passage with 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15.

[2:13]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast between their location and their faithful behavior.

[2:13]  ⁷ tn The present indicative verb κρατεῖς (kratei") has been translated as a progressive present.

[2:13]  ⁸ tn Grk “the faith”; here the Greek article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “the faith of me” (τὴν πίστιν μου, thn pistin mou) with the genitive “of me” (μου) functioning objectively.

[2:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “martyr.” The Greek word μάρτυς can mean either “witness” or “martyr.”

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “killed among you.” The term “city” does not occur in the Greek text of course, but the expression παρ᾿ ὑμῖν, ὅπου ὁ σατανᾶς κατοικεῖ (par’ Jumin, {opou Jo satana" katoikei) seems to indicate that this is what is meant. See G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 36-38.