Full Rev 2:12–17. Title echo: "he that hath the sharp two-edged sword" (2:12) re-cites Rev 1:16's vision of the sword proceeding from Christ's mouth. City history: great altar of Zeus, Christ names the city itself "where Satan's throne is"
(2:13, ASV; KJV "Satan's seat"); imperial-cult center; Antipas's martyrdom named (2:13). Commendation: holds fast Christ's name, did not deny the faith even where Antipas was killed. Rebuke: some hold "the teaching of Balaam", compromise with idolatry and fornication (2:14), and the Nicolaitans' teaching alongside it (2:15). Promise: the hidden manna (2:17), Exod 16:33's pot of manna, laid up before Jehovah, prefigures it, plus a white stone with a new name written on it, the renaming motif (Abraham, Jacob, Peter) reaching its eschatological terminus here and at Philadelphia's "my new name"
(3:12; cf. Isa 62:2).