Apocalypse 2:17
He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a white counter, and in the counter, a new name written, which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it.
Open Apocalypse 2:17 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Qui habet aurem, audiat quid Spiritus dicat ecclesiis : Vincenti dabo manna absconditum, et dabo illi calculum candidum : et in calculo nomen novum scriptum, quod nemo scit, nisi qui accipit.
- Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
- ὁ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις. τῷ νικῶντι δώσω αὐτῷ τοῦ μάννα τοῦ κεκρυμμένου, καὶ δώσω αὐτῷ ψῆφον λευκήν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ψῆφον ὄνομα καινὸν γεγραμμένον ὃ οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ ὁ λαμβάνων.
Haydock's commentary
On verses 12 to 17
To the Angel of the Church of Pergamus. This Church is exhorted to do penance, and reprehended, as the seat or throne of Satan. It is only said, that the bishop lives where this satanical seat is, that he had not denied the faith, even under the persecution, when St. Antipas suffered martyrdom, of whom see Tillemont in the persecution under Domitian, tom. ii, p. 119, and note 523; and Bollandus, April 11th; though the acts themselves be not of great authority.
Thou hast them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaites, which is compared to that of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a scandal before the children of Israel, by which they were seduced by the women of the Moabites, and fell into the sin of fornication and idolatry. (Numbers xxiv. and xxxi. 16.)
To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna; a happiness in heaven, which the eye hath not seen, &c.
And a white1 stone, with a new name written, as a mark of the happiness promised to all those who shall conquer. An allusion to the custom of giving a white stone to those that were tried and acquitted, and also to persons promoted to a dignity; and a black stone to such as were found guilty. See Acts xxvi. 10. (Witham)
This new name is the eternal recompense, unknown and despised by worldlings, but esteemed by the faithful, who know the excellence of the rewards promised by God. (Calmet)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Irenaeus Against Heresies: Book V, Chapter X. By a comparison drawn
2. But as the engrafted wild olive does not certainly lose the substance of its wood, but changes the quality of its fruit, and receives another name, being now not a wild olive, but a fruit-bearing olive, and is called so; so also, when man is grafted in by faith and receives the Spirit of God, he certainly does not lose the substance of flesh, but changes the quality of the fruit [brought forth, i.e.,] of his works, and receives another name, showing that he has become changed for the better, being now not [mere] flesh and blood, but a spiritual man, and is called such. …
Tertullian On Repentance, Examples from Scripture to Prove the Lord's Willingness to Pardon
This if you doubt, unravel the meaning of “what the Spirit saith to the churches.” He imputes to the Ephesians “forsaken love;” reproaches the Thyatirenes with “fornication,” and “eating of things sacrificed to idols;” accuses the Sardians of “works not full;” censures the Pergamenes for teaching perverse things; upbraids the Laodiceans for trusting to their riches; and yet gives them all general monitions to repentance, under comminations, it is true; but He would not utter comminations to one un repentant if He did not forgive the repentant. The matter were doubtful if He had not withal elsewhere demonstrated this profusion of His clemency. Saith He not, “He who hath fallen shall rise again, and he who hath been a verted shall be con verted?” He it is, indeed, who “would have mercy rather than sacrifices.” The heavens, and the angels who are there, are glad at a man’s repentance. …
St Victorinus of Pettau Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John, From the second chapter
17. “To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone.”] The hidden manna is immortality; the white gem is adoption to be the son of God; the new name written on the stone is “Christian.”
St Jerome The Letters of St. Jerome, To Oceanus
7. How then can you say that all sins are drowned in the baptismal laver if a man’s wife is still to swim on the surface as evidence against him? The psalmist says: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.” It would seem that we must add something to this song and say “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not a wife.” Let us hear also the declaration which Ezekiel the so called “son of man” makes concerning the virtue of him who is to be the true son of man, the Christian: “I will take you,” he says, “from among the heathen…then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness…a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit.” “From all your filthiness” he says, “will I cleanse you.” If all is taken away nothing can be left. …
St Ambrose Concerning Repentance, Chapter X. St. John did not absolutely forbid that prayer should be made for those who “sin unto death,” since he knew that Moses, Jeremiah, and Stephen had so prayed, and he himself implies that forgiveness is not to be denied them
46. How could John say that we should not pray for the sin unto death, who himself in the Apocalypse wrote the message to the angel of the Church of Pergamos? “Thou hast there those that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to put a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrines of the Nicolaitans. Repent likewise, or else I will come to thee quickly.” Do you see that the same God Who requires repentance promises forgiveness? And then He says: “He that hath ears let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna.”