Revelation 1:11
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last…
These characters, which are repeated here, (See Gill on 1:8); are
left out in the Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, the
Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions; but are very fitly
retained, to point out the person that speaks; to express his
dignity, deity, and eternity; to excite the attention of John, and
to give weight to what he said:
and, what thou seest, write in a book;
that it might remain, and be
read of all men, and be profitable to the churches in the then
present age, and in all future ones:
and send [it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia;
from whence
it appears, that not only the seven following epistles were sent to
the churches, but that after John had written in a book the account
of all the visions that he saw, the whole was sent unto them, for
their use and benefit; and who are particularly named:
unto Ephesus;
which was a city of Ionia, and which Pliny calls F6
the work of the Amazons, and the light of Asia; it was famous for
the temple of Diana, but more so for having a church of Christ in
it: hither the Apostle Paul came and preached, and continued for the
space of two years; where a very famous church was planted by him,
and proper officers appointed, to whom he wrote a very excellent
epistle: this is now a miserable desolate place, not a city, but a
village; and is called by the Turks, Aiasalik: of this place and
church; (See Gill on 18:19),
(See Gill on 20:17);
and unto Smyrna;
another city of Ionia, so called from Smyrna, the
wife of Theseus F7, the builder of it; or from Smyrna, an Amazon
{h}, the relies of whose marble bust are to be seen there to this
day: it lies about forty six miles from Ephesus, and is by the Turks
now called Esmir, and is still a place famous, not for pompous
buildings, but for number of inhabitants, riches, and commerce:
and unto Pergamos;
this was a city of Mysia, situated by the river
Caicus, formerly the seat of the kings of Attalia, and was
bequeathed by Attalus, their last king, to the Romans: it is famous
for being the native place of Galen the physician, and of
Apollodorus the rhetorician, master to Augustus Caesar, and for the
invention of parchment in it, from whence it seems to have its name:
it is now called by the Turks Bergamo, and is almost sixty four
miles from Smyrna:
and unto Thyatira;
a city of Lydia, near the river Lycus, formerly
called Pelopia, and Euhippia, and now, by the Turks, Ak Hissar, or
"the white camp", and is distant from Pergamos about forty eight
miles; (See Gill on 16:14);
and unto Sardis;
this was another city of Lydia, situated at the
side of Mount Tmolus, it was the metropolis of Lydia, and the seat
of King Croesus, and is now called, by the Turks, Sart; and instead
of a famous city, it is now an obscure little village, of mean
houses, and scarce any other inhabitants in it than shepherds and
cow keepers, and is thirty three miles from Thyatira:
and unto Philadelphia;
another city of Lydia, situated at the foot
of Mount Tmolus; it had its name from Attalus Philadelphus, the
builder of it; it is now called, by the Turks, Alah Shahr, or "the
fair city", though there is nothing beautiful or magnificent in it;
it is distant from Thyatira about twenty seven miles:
and unto Laodicea;
another city of Lydia, near the river Lycus,
first named Diospolis, afterwards Rhoas, and is now, by the Turks,
called Eski Hissar, or "the old camp"; and is inhabited by none,
unless it be in the night, by wolves, foxes, and jackals, as our
countryman Dr. Smith affirms, in his "Notitia" of the seven churches
of Asia; from whom I have taken the account of these cities as they
now are, and the rest from Pliny and Ptolomy chiefly.
FOOTNOTES:
F6 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 29.
F7 Herodot. de Vita Homeri. c. 2.
F8 Vid. Hiller. Onomastic. p. 932.
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