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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Revelation 3:8 - 3:8
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
I have set (dedōka). Perfect active indicative of didōmi, “I have given” (a gift of Christ, this open door). See Luk 12:51 for a like use of didōmi.
A door opened (thuran ēneōigmenēn). Perfect (triple reduplication) passive predicate participle of anoigō (Rev 3:7) accusative feminine singular. The metaphor of the open door was a common one (Joh 10:7-9; Act 14:27; 1Co 16:9; 2Co 2:12; Col 4:3; Rev 3:20; Rev 4:1). Probably it means here a good opportunity for missionary effort in spite of the Jewish hostility.
Which (hēn - autēn). Pleonastic vernacular and Hebrew repetition of the personal pronoun autēn (it) after the relative hēn (which). Direct reference to the statement in Rev 3:7.
That (hoti). This conjunction resumes the construction of oida sou ta erga (I know thy works) after the parenthesis (idou - autēn, Behold - shut).
A little power (mikran dunamin). Probably “little power,” little influence or weight in Philadelphia, the members probably from the lower classes (1Co 1:26.).
And didst keep (kai etērēsas). “And yet (adversative use of kai) didst keep” (first aorist active indicative of tēreō) my word in some crisis of trial. See Joh 17:6 for the phrase “keeping the word.”
Didst not deny (ouk ērnēsō). First aorist middle indicative second person singular of arneomai. The issue was probably forced by the Jews (cf. Rev 2:9), but they stood true.