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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

SMYRNA

Location of one of the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation (Rv 1:11; 2:8-11). It is the modern Izmir, located in Turkey.

Smyrna was inhabited at least 3,000 years before Christ. The Aeolian Greeks were replaced by the Ionians. The city, along with Miletus and Ephesus to the south, flourished under Ionian dominance. The city was conquered by the Lydians, whose capital was Sardis. The site was left in ruins for nearly three centuries until its refounding by Alexander the Great in 334 BC at a site farther south along the gulf. Although built by the energy of the Seleucids, the city recognized the coming dominance of Pergamum and entered into an alliance with its king. Later, with remarkable foresight, she transferred her allegiance to Rome, and in 195 BC built a temple in which Rome was worshiped as a deity. As a reward for Smyrna’s early commitment to the rising Roman influence, the city prospered under Roman rule, partly as a rival to Pergamum and partly as a rival to the prosperous island of Rhodes. Because they had been an ally of the Romans, the people of Smyrna thought it would be to their credit to build (in AD 26) a temple in which the Roman emperor would be honored. This city became the seat of the Caesar cult that afflicted the church so seriously during the latter half of the first century.

Revelation 2:8 speaks of the city as being “dead and then alive,” a possible allusion to the period of 300 years when it lay devastated until revived by Alexander and the Macedonians. Ancient writers, including Appollonius and Aristides, spoke of Smyrna as having the “crown of life.” This was a way of describing the hilltop behind the city as if it crowned Smyrna on top, with its feet at the seashore. The promise of “the crown of life” to the Smyrnean believers probably plays off this image. This promise was given to those believers in Smyrna who would remain faithful through persecution. The reference to the “synagogue of Satan” (Rv 2:9) and to the devil putting them in prison (v 10) reflects the tribulation probably experienced under the Roman emperor Domitian (c. AD 95). It became a crime punishable by death to refuse to worship the image of the Roman emperor as “lord.” Many Christians were compelled to choose between “Caesar as Lord” or “Jesus as Lord.” To choose Jesus was to choose martyrdom.