I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is: in saying where you dwell (“where you live,” “where you have your home”), Christ has in mind not only the city of Pergamum as such, but the conditions—religious, social, and moral—in which the Christians in Pergamum live, especially the emperor worship practiced there (three Roman emperors had temples dedicated to them in Pergamum). The specific feature Christ is aware of is that Satan lives in that city. The beginning of the verse, then, can be translated “I know that you live in the place (or, city) where Satan has his throne.” Since the phrase where Satan’s throne is may only indicate location, it may be better to translate “where Satan is king,” “where Satan rules.” It is possible that Satan’s throne is an allusion to the giant altar to the god Zeus, placed on a cliff some 250 meters above the city. The phrase means not only that Satan rules over Pergamum, but that Pergamum is, so to speak, the capital of his worldwide empire. For Satan see the comments at 2.9; and for throne see 1.4. The word throne occurs some forty-five times in Revelation; in most instances it refers to God’s (and the Lamb’s) throne. A literal translation where Satan’s throne is may not be as understandable as “where Satan rules as king (of the world),” “where Satan is the supreme ruler.” The importance of Satan’s rule is emphasized by the statement at the end of the verse, where Satan dwells.
You hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith: this is one compliment, stated first positively and then negatively. To “hold (fast) the name (of)” means to be true to, to be faithful and loyal to the person named. For name see 2.3. The statement you did not deny my faith means “you did not give up your faith in me,” “you did not stop believing in me,” or “you have always been loyal to me.” The genitive phrase my faith is objective: “faith in me,” not “the faith I have” (see the parallel statement in 3.8, “you … have not denied my name”).
There is much speculation, but nothing for certain is known about Antipas.
My witness, my faithful one: it is not necessary to imitate the form of the Greek, as Revised Standard Version does; “my faithful witness” is a faithful translation (so Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant). The phrase my witness (see 1.5) means not “a witness who belongs to me” but “one who witnesses about me,” not as a witness in court but as a faithful believer who bears witness to Christ by means of words and actions. The Greek word for witness is martus, from which comes the English “martyr.” It may be that here the specialized sense of “martyr” is intended, as it most probably is meant at 17.6 (which see). It is probably better here to follow Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, witness. Other ways of expressing this phrase are “who faithfully told people about me” or “who faithfully showed through his words and actions that he was my follower.”
Who was killed among you: needless to say, you here is plural in the Greek, even though it is singular elsewhere in the letter. The translator should always keep in mind that every one of these seven letters is addressed to an individual, “the angel of the church,” so that all verb forms and pronouns in Greek that apply to the angel are singular. In this context “put to death” or “executed,” as a deliberate action, is better than the general expression “(was) killed.” So one may also say “people executed him,” “people put him to death,” or “… killed him.”
Where Satan dwells: this emphasizes the fact that Satan lives and rules permanently in Pergamum. The verb used here is the same one used at the beginning of the verse, where you dwell.
In many languages it will be helpful to restructure this verse as follows:
• I know that you live in the place (or, city) where Satan rules. You are my loyal followers, and have never stopped believing in me. You believed even during the time when they killed (or, executed) Antipas there where Satan rules. He (Antipas) always showed people through his words and deeds that he was my follower.
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 .
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