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Revelation 2:7-9
New Catholic Bible
Revelation 2:7-9
New Catholic Bible
7 “ ‘ “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says[a] to the Churches. To anyone who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.” ’
To Smyrna.[b] 8 “To the angel of the Church in Smyrna,[c] write:
“ ‘These are the words of the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life again:
9 “ ‘ “I know of your hardships and your poverty, but in reality you are rich. I am aware of the slander of those who claim to be Jews but are actually members of the synagogue of Satan.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Revelation 2:7 Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says . . .: this formula concludes each of the seven letters and stresses the role of the Spirit in Christ’s relation with his Church. Anyone who is victorious: i.e., anyone who clings to the faith in the face of persecution. Right to eat from the tree of life: a right lost by our first parents but now restored by Christ who abrogated the decree that excluded human beings from the tree of life. God and humans are restored to the perfect fellowship that existed before the advent of sin.
- Revelation 2:8 Those Jews who did not acknowledge Christ as the one who fulfilled their hope, nor the Church as the true Israel, slandered the Christian community. They were regarded as partisans of the forces of opposition represented by Satan. However, the Christians must take courage, for the trial will last only for ten days, i.e., it will be of short duration—the reward for a life in God is near. Believers will escape the second death, i.e., defeat and definitive perdition at the judgment of God.
- Revelation 2:8 Smyrna: a city closely aligned with Rome that housed a large Jewish population hostile to Christians (see Acts 14:2, 19; 17:5, 13). One of the most famous early martyrs, Polycarp, was bishop of Smyrna.
