Revelation 2:27

2:27 he ¹  will rule ²  them with an iron rod ³ 

and like clay jars he will break them to pieces, ⁴ 

Revelation 3:18

3:18 take my advice ⁵  and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me ⁶  white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness ⁷  will not be exposed, and buy eye salve ⁸  to put on your eyes so you can see!

Revelation 2:13

2:13 ‘I know ⁹  where you live – where Satan’s throne is. Yet ¹⁰  you continue to cling ¹¹  to my name and you have not denied your ¹²  faith in me, ¹³  even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, ¹⁴  who was killed in your city ¹⁵  where Satan lives.

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Grk “will shepherd.”

³ tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 2:9 (with the line introducing the quotation containing a partial allusion to Ps 2:8). See also Rev 12:5, 19:15.

⁵ tn Grk “I counsel you to buy.”

⁶ tn Grk “rich, and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation, repeating the words “Buy from me” to make the connection clear for the English reader.

⁷ tn Grk “the shame of the nakedness of you,” which has been translated as an attributed genitive like καινότητι ζωῆς (kainothti zwh") in Rom 6:4 (ExSyn 89-90).

⁸ sn The city of Laodicea had a famous medical school and exported a powder (called a “Phrygian powder”) that was widely used as an eye salve. It was applied to the eyes in the form of a paste the consistency of dough (the Greek term for the salve here, κολλούριον, kollourion [Latin collyrium], is a diminutive form of the word for a long roll of bread).

⁹ tc The shorter reading adopted here has superior ms support (א A C P 2053 al latt co), while the inclusion of “your works and” (τὰ ἔργα σου καί, ta erga sou kai) before “where you reside” is supported by the Byzantine witnesses and is evidently a secondary attempt to harmonize the passage with 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast between their location and their faithful behavior.

¹¹ tn The present indicative verb κρατεῖς (kratei") has been translated as a progressive present.

¹² tn Grk “the faith”; here the Greek article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

¹³ tn Grk “the faith of me” (τὴν πίστιν μου, thn pistin mou) with the genitive “of me” (μου) functioning objectively.

¹⁴ tn Or “martyr.” The Greek word μάρτυς can mean either “witness” or “martyr.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “killed among you.” The term “city” does not occur in the Greek text of course, but the expression παρ᾿ ὑμῖν, ὅπου ὁ σατανᾶς κατοικεῖ (par’ Jumin, {opou Jo satana" katoikei) seems to indicate that this is what is meant. See G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 36-38.