Christ assures the Laodiceans that he loves them, which is precisely the reason why he disciplines them.

Those whom will often be rendered as “The people whom.”

I love: the personal pronoun I is emphatic in the Greek text. The Greek verb phileō carries a warm emotional content; it can also mean “to kiss” (see Mark 14.44). With the meaning “to love” it is not, nor can it be, used in the imperative mode. For the similar verb agapaō see 1.5b; 3.9.

I reprove and chasten: the language is very much like that of Pro 3.12 and Heb 12.6. The first verb occurs in Revelation only here; it means “to rebuke,” “to reprimand,” “to scold,” or “to censure.” It means to tell someone what they have done wrong. The second verb can have the milder sense of “to train” (New Jerusalem Bible), or else “to discipline,” “to correct” (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Translator’s New Testament, Barclay, New International Version, Moffatt, An American Translation, Phillips); it can also have the stronger meaning “to punish,” “to chastise physically” (as in Luke 23.16, 22; 2 Cor 6.9): so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, New American Bible, Revised. One cannot be dogmatic about which is the preferable meaning here, but on the whole it seems that “to punish” fits the context best.

So be zealous and repent: the conjunction so connects this clause to the reason why the Christians of Laodicea must be zealous and repent, and that is to avoid the punishment they will otherwise suffer. The verb be zealous (only here in Revelation) is the opposite of lukewarmness (described in 3.16); it denotes enthusiasm, eagerness. The Greek verb is in the present tense, indicating a continuing attitude; the following repent is in the aorist tense, denoting a once-for-all change of mind (see 2.5). Some translators will wish to follow Revised Standard Version‘s model and begin this final clause with the equivalent of so or “therefore.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .