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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_1:9-11
9I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."
Rev_1:9-20 This is John's vision of the resurrected, ascended, exalted Christ. These same descriptions are used to address the seven churches (chapters 2-3). John shows His identification with the readers by (1) using the term "your brother" and (2) mentioning his own experiences of suffering, the kingdom, and endurance. These key terms — tribulation, the kingdom, and perseverance — are also examples of Jesus' life which the readers, like John, are to emulate (cf. Joh_16:33; Act_14:22; Rom_8:17).
One reason modern western interpreters do not understand the Revelation is because we have never experienced the persecution and trials of the first century Roman world. Revelation is a word to hurting, dying, frightened believers.
Rev_1:9 "fellow partaker in the tribulation" See note at Rev_7:14.
▣ "kingdom" See Special Topic below.
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▣ "perseverance" This word is used in Rev_2:2-3; Rev_2:19; Rev_3:10; Rev_13:10; Rev_14:12. See hyperlink.
▣ "on the island called Patmos" The Romans used these small islands off the coast of Asia Minor to exile political prisoners (cf. Tacitus' Annals, 3.68; 4.30; 15.71). Apparently John was exiled to this small island, 37 miles from Miletus. The island was crescent shaped, facing east, ten miles long and six miles wide.
▣ "because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus" There are two possible interpretations of this phrase. It can refer (1) to John's preaching the gospel or (2) to John's receiving the revelation. We have several historical references to John's political banishment.
1. Tertullian, On the Prescription of Heretics, 36
2. Origen, Homilies on Matthew
3. Clement of Alexandria, The Rich Man's Salvation, 47
4. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, III.20.8-9; and (4) Jerome, Concerning Illustrious Men, 9.
Rev_1:10 "I was in the Spirit" This is a special phrase that marks off the different visions that John received (cf Rev_1:10; Rev_4:2; Rev_17:3; Rev_21:10). It seems to refer to a trance-like state in which a revelation was given (cf. Act_10:10; Act_22:17; 2Co_12:1 ff). This is characteristic of Jewish apocalyptic literature.
▣ "on the Lord's day" This is the only reference in the Bible, referring to Sunday, which uses this phrase. Sunday was referred to as "the first day of the week" in Joh_20:19; Act_20:7 and 1Co_16:2.
▣ "like the sound of a trumpet" This phrase was used in the context of God giving the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai (cf. Exo_19:16). However, because of Rev_1:12 a and Rev_4:1, it may refer to the voice of an angel. Angelic mediation is characteristic of Jewish apocalyptic literature. Revelation speaks more about angels than any other NT book.
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Rev_1:11 "in a book" This is the Greek term biblion. It was used in the sense of a booklet or scroll. It later became a technical term for a codex or book. John was commanded to write down his visions. They are the self disclosures of Deity. They are not for John's personal benefit, but for the Church. One characteristic of apocalyptic literature is that it was a highly structured written genre, not given orally, like OT prophecies. A book or scroll occurs repeatedly in Jewish apocalyptic literature as a way to pass on the message for future readers.
▣ "send it to the seven churches" The order of these churches followed a Roman postal route which began and ended in Ephesus. Paul's circular book known as "Ephesians" may have traveled this same route. God's revelation is never for an individual only, but for the people of God, the body of Christ!
▣ The King James translation adds the phrase "I am the Alpha and the Omega" again, but there is no ancient Greek manuscript support for this phrase in this verse.