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Revelation 2:2

in Revelation 2

I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false;

KJV

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

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This verse in Revelation 2

Commentary

12 notes on this verse
I know thy works,.... The good works, both of ministers and churches; no evil works are mentioned, nor anything complained of in this church but an abatement of the fervour of her first love.

This site's exposition

Him who holds the seven stars

on Revelation 2:1-3

Ephesus hears from Him who holds the seven stars and walks among the seven golden lampstands, the picture of 1:13 and 1:16. The church is praised for your labor, and your perseverance and for testing those who falsely claim to be apostles.

This site's exposition

tested and exposed as liars

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the word for tolerate is the word for bearing burdens in Galatians 6:2. The weak are to be borne, and those who falsely claim to be apostles are tested and exposed as liars. John Gill finds nothing against Ephesus but its first love.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience." In the first epistle He speaks thus: I know that thou sufferest and workest, I see that thou art patient; think not that I am staying long from thee. "And that thou canst not bear them that are evil, and who say that they are Jews and are not, and thou has found them liars, and thou hast patience for My name's sake."

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

He says, I know your works and your labor and your patience, "and nothing of the good things you do has escaped my notice." (Job 34:21) The one who formed the hearts of you all, who understands all your works (Ps. 32:15), and who says …

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Alcuin of York

COMMENTARY ON REVELATION · Written before 804.

proposed

And unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he, who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience. In this …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

I know your works, and your labor, etc. I see you, he says, diligently performing good works and patiently enduring the intolerable wrongs of the wicked; examining carefully the words and deeds of false apostles, you have not in any way wished to yield to …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

This may more immediately relate to the ministry of this church, which had been laborious and diligent. Those that are stars in Christ's hand had need to be always in motion, dispensing light to all about them.
4 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is not enough that we be diligent, but we must be patient, and endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ. Ministers must have and exercise great patience, and no Christian can be without it.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The Greek means "labor unto weariness." patience--persevering endurance. bear--evil men are a burden which the Ephesian Church regarded as intolerable. We are to "bear (the same Greek, Ga 6:2) one another's burdens" in the case of weak brethren; but not to bear false brethren. tried--by experiment; not the Greek for "test," as 1Jo 4:1.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

I know thy works - For the eyes of the Lord are throughout the earth, beholding the evil and the good; and, being omnipresent, all things are continually open and naked before him.
I know thy works - The common formula with which all the epistles to the seven churches are introduced. It is designed to impress upon them deeply the conviction that he was intimately acquainted with all that they did, good and bad, and that therefore he was abundantly qualified to dispense rewards or administer punishments according to truth and justice. It may be observed that, as many of the things referred to in these epistles were things pertaining to the heart - the feelings, the state of the mind - it is implied that he who speaks here has an intimate acquaintance with the heart of man, a prerogative which is always attributed to the Saviour. See Joh 2:25. But no one can do this who is not divine; and this declaration, therefore, furnishes a strong proof of the divinity of Christ. See Psa 7:9; Jer 11:20; Jer 17:10; 1Sa 16:7; 1Ki 8:39. And they labor - The word used here (κόπος kopos) means properly “a beating,” hence wailing, grief, with beating the breast; and then it means excessive labor or toil adapted to produce grief or sadness, and is commonly employed in the New Testament in the latter sense. It is used in the sense of trouble in Mat 26:10, “Why trouble ye (literally, why give ye trouble to) the woman?” (compare also Mar 14:6; Luk 11:7; Luk 18:5; Gal 6:17); and in the sense of labor, or wearisome toil, in Joh 4:38; 1Co 3:8; 1Co 15:58; 2Co 6:5; 2Co 10:15; 2Co 11:23, 2Co 11:27, et al. The connection here would admit of either sense. It is commonly understood, as in our translation, in the sense of labor, though it would seem that the other signification, that of trouble, would not be inappropriate. If it means labor, it refers to their faithful service in his cause, and especially in opposing error. […]

The words behind it

30 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 John 4:1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.41 works2 Peter 2:1–3Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.28 works1 Thessalonians 5:21but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.20 works2 Corinthians 11:13–15For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.17 worksRevelation 3:8I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.15 works2 Timothy 2:19Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”13 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Thessalonians 1:3and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.12 worksGalatians 1:7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.11 works1 John 2:21–22I have not written to you because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you have it, and because no lie comes from the truth.10 worksPsalms 1:6For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.10 worksRevelation 2:19–21I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first.9 worksRevelation 3:1“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of the One who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead.9 worksHebrews 6:10For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.9 worksEphesians 4:14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.9 worksPsalms 139:21Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?9 worksRevelation 2:6But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.8 worksRevelation 2:9I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.8 worksRevelation 2:13–15I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.8 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 John 4:1

    Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:21

      but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

    • 2 Peter 2:1

      Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…

    • 1 Timothy 4:1

      Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

    • 2 John 1:7

      For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

  • Through

    Revelation 3:8

    I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not…

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 16:9

      because a great door for effective work has opened to me, even though many oppose me.

    • Colossians 4:3

      as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

    • Revelation 3:7

      To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut,…

  • Through

    1 Thessalonians 5:21

    but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

    it leads to

    • 1 John 4:1

      Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
Revelation: the study guide →Read Revelation 2 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alcuin of York, COMMENTARY ON REVELATION; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John.

Read on in Revelation 2 →