REV 2:9 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) “I know about your suffering and your poverty, but you’re actually rich! I also know how about the slander of those who consider themselves to be Jews, but they’re not true Jews because their master is Satan.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT “I know your affliction and poverty—but you are rich—and the slander of the ones saying themselves to be Jews, but they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

UST “I am aware that people have persecuted you. I am aware that you are poor, although you have everything you need spiritually. I am aware that people are insulting you. Those people claim to be Jews, but they are not acting as if they truly belong to God. When they gather together, they help the devil instead of serving God.

BSB I know your affliction and [your] poverty—though you are rich! And [I am aware of] the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but [are in fact] a synagogue of Satan.

2:9 CT does not include your works and; also in verse 13.

BLB I know your tribulation and poverty--but you are rich--and the blasphemy of those claiming themselves to be Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

AICNT “I know [[your works and]][fn] your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the blasphemy[fn] {from}[fn] those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

2:9, works and: Later manuscripts add. BYZ TR

2:9, blasphemy: Or “slander”

2:9, from: Later manuscripts read “of.” BYZ TR

OEB I know your persecution and your poverty – yet you are rich! I know, too, the slander that comes from those who declare that they are God’s people, [fn]though they are not, but are a congregation of Satan.

2:9 God’s people: Literally “Jews.” These people claimed to be God’s people because they were Jews.

WEBBE “I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET ‘I know the distress you are suffering and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know the slander against you by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

LSV I have known your works, and tribulation, and poverty—yet you are rich—and the slander of those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but [are] a synagogue of Satan.

FBV I know the troubles you are going through, and how poor you are (but you are rich), and the abuse from those who say they are Jews but are not, but belong to Satan's synagogue.

TCNT I know yoʋr [fn]works, yoʋr tribulation, and yoʋr poverty—yet yoʋ are rich! I know the slander of those who declare themselves to be Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

2:9 works, yoʋr tribulation, 𝔐^A,C,K 94.1% ¦ tribulation CT 4.3%

T4T I know that you suffer because of what unbelievers do to you, and that you lack material possessions. But I also know that you are spiritually [MET] rich. I know that people ◄slander/say evil things about► you. They say that they are Jews, but I do not consider that they are Jews. I consider that they belong to the group that Satan controls!

LEB ‘I know your affliction and poverty (but you are rich), and the slander of those _⌊who call themselves Jews_⌋[fn] and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

2:9 Literally “who say themselves to be Jews”

BBE I have knowledge of your troubles and how poor you are (but you have true wealth), and the evil words of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a Synagogue of Satan.

Moff I know your distress and your poverty (but you are rich!): I know how you are being slandered by those who style themselves Jews (no Jews are they, but a mere synagogue of Satan!).

Wymth Your sufferings I know, and your poverty—but you are rich—and the evil name given you by those who say that they themselves are Jews, and are not, but are Satan's synagogue.

ASV I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

DRA I know thy tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich: and thou art blasphemed by them that say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

YLT I have known thy works, and tribulation, and poverty — yet thou art rich — and the evil-speaking of those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but [are] a synagogue of the Adversary.

Drby I know thy tribulation and thy poverty; but thou art rich; and the railing of those who say that they themselves are Jews, and are not, but a synagogue of Satan.

RV I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
(I know thy/your tribulation, and thy/your poverty (but thou/you art rich), and the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. )

SLT I know thy works, and pressure, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and the blasphemy of them saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but the synagogue of the adversary.

Wbstr I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

KJB-1769 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
( I know thy/your works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou/you art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. )

KJB-1611 I know thy works, and tribulation, and pouertie, but thou art rich, and I know the blasphemie of them which say they are Iewes and are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Bshps I knowe thy workes, and tribulation, and pouertie: but thou art riche. And I know the blasphemie of them which cal them selues Iewes, and are not, but (are) the synagogue of Satan.
(I know thy/your works, and tribulation, and poverty: but thou/you art riche. And I know the blasphemy of them which call themselves Yews, and are not, but (are) the synagogue of Satan.)

Gnva I knowe thy workes and tribulation, and pouertie (but thou art riche) and I knowe the blasphemie of them, which say they are Iewes, and are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan.
(I know thy/your works and tribulation, and poverty (but thou/you art riche) and I know the blasphemy of them, which say they are Yews, and are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan. )

Cvdl I knowe thy workes and tribulacion and pouerte, but thou art ryche: And I knowe the blaspheny of them which call them selues Iewes and are not: but are the cogregacion of Sathan.
(I know thy/your works and tribulation and poverty, but thou/you art ryche: And I know the blaspheny of them which call themselves Yews and are not: but are the congregation of Satan.)

TNT I knowe thy workes and tribulacion and poverte but thou art ryche: And I knowe the blaspemy of them whiche call them selves Iewes and are not: but are the congregacion of sathan.
(I know thy/your works and tribulation and poverte but thou/you art ryche: And I know the blaspemy of them which call themselves Yews and are not: but are the congregation of sathan. )

Wycl Y woot thi tribulacioun, and thi pouert, but thou art riche; and thou art blasfemyd of hem, that seien, that thei ben Jewis, and ben not, but ben the synagoge of Sathanas.
(I know thy/your tribulation, and thy/your poverty, but thou/you art riche; and thou/you art blasfemyd of hem, that said, that they been Yews, and been not, but been the synagogue of Satan.)

Luth Ich weiß deine Werke und deine Trübsal und deine Armut (du bist aber reich) und die Lästerung von denen die da sagen, sie sind Juden, und sind‘s nicht, sondern sind des Satans Schule.
(I white your work and your gloom/sorrow/afflictions and your poverty (you(sg) are but rich/wealthy) and the blasphemy from those the there say, they/she/them are Yews, and are not, rather are the Satans school.)

ClVg Scio tribulationem tuam, et paupertatem tuam, sed dives es: et blasphemaris ab his, qui se dicunt Judæos esse, et non sunt, sed sunt synagoga Satanæ.
(Scio tribulationm your(sg), and poverty your(sg), but dives you_are: and to_be_blasphemeds away his, who/which himself they_say Yudahos to_be, and not/no are, but are synagogue Satanæ. )

UGNT οἶδά σου τὴν θλῖψιν καὶ τὴν πτωχείαν (ἀλλὰ πλούσιος εἶ), καὶ τὴν βλασφημίαν ἐκ τῶν λεγόντων Ἰουδαίους εἶναι ἑαυτούς, καὶ οὐκ εἰσίν, ἀλλὰ συναγωγὴ τοῦ Σατανᾶ.
(oida sou taʸn thlipsin kai taʸn ptōⱪeian (alla plousios ei), kai taʸn blasfaʸmian ek tōn legontōn Youdaious einai heautous, kai ouk eisin, alla sunagōgaʸ tou Satana.)

SBL-GNT Οἶδά ⸀σου τὴν θλῖψιν καὶ τὴν πτωχείαν, ἀλλὰ πλούσιος εἶ, καὶ τὴν βλασφημίαν ἐκ τῶν λεγόντων Ἰουδαίους εἶναι ἑαυτούς, καὶ οὐκ εἰσίν, ἀλλὰ συναγωγὴ τοῦ Σατανᾶ.
(Oida ⸀sou taʸn thlipsin kai taʸn ptōⱪeian, alla plousios ei, kai taʸn blasfaʸmian ek tōn legontōn Youdaious einai heautous, kai ouk eisin, alla sunagōgaʸ tou Satana.)

RP-GNT Οἶδά σου τὰ ἔργα καὶ τὴν θλίψιν καὶ τὴν πτωχείαν, ἀλλὰ πλούσιος εἶ· καὶ τὴν βλασφημίαν ἐκ τῶν λεγόντων Ἰουδαίους εἶναι ἑαυτούς, καὶ οὐκ εἰσίν, ἀλλὰ συναγωγὴ τοῦ Σατανᾶ.
(Oida sou ta erga kai taʸn thlipsin kai taʸn ptōⱪeian, alla plousios ei; kai taʸn blasfaʸmian ek tōn legontōn Youdaious einai heautous, kai ouk eisin, alla sunagōgaʸ tou Satana.)

TC-GNT Οἶδά σου [fn]τὰ ἔργα καὶ τὴν θλίψιν καὶ τὴν πτωχείαν—[fn]ἀλλὰ πλούσιος εἶ—καὶ τὴν βλασφημίαν [fn]ἐκ τῶν λεγόντων Ἰουδαίους εἶναι ἑαυτοὺς καὶ οὐκ εἰσίν, ἀλλὰ συναγωγὴ τοῦ Σατανᾶ.
(Oida sou ta erga kai taʸn thlipsin kai taʸn ptōⱪeian—alla plousios ei—kai taʸn blasfaʸmian ek tōn legontōn Youdaious einai heautous kai ouk eisin, alla sunagōgaʸ tou Satana. )

2:9 τα εργα και 𝔐^A,C,K 94.1% ¦ — CT 4.3%

2:9 αλλα πλουσιος 𝔐^A,C,K [97.2%] ¦ πλουσιος δε TR [1.8%]

2:9 εκ 𝔐^K 52.9% ¦ — 𝔐^A,C PCK TR 42.7%

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:8–11: Jesus spoke to the church at Smyrna

In this section, Jesus spoke to the people who believed in him at Smyrna. He saw that they were suffering and poor but strong in their faith. He saw that they were persecuted, and he encouraged them to continue following him. Lastly, he gave a promise for any believer who persevered in his faith.

Other examples of headings for this section are:

The Message to Smyrna (GNT)

Jesus gave a message for the church at Smyrna

Advice to the group of believers at Smyrna

Translate this heading as you did for the message to the church at Ephesus (2:1–7).

2:9a

I know your affliction and your poverty—

I know your^(sing/plur) sufferings/troubles and that you are very poor,
I know how much you suffer and I know how poor you are.

I know your affliction: There is a textual issue in 2:9a: (1) Some early Greek manuscripts have the phrase your afflictions (BSB, RSV, NIV, GNT, NJB, NASB, NLT, GW, CEV, NET, NABRE, REB, ESV, NCV). (2) Some early Greek manuscripts have the phrase your deeds and afflictions (KJV only). It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Greek NT supports it. The Greek word that the BSB translates as affliction means “oppression” or more generally “troubles.” Here the word probably refers to the fact that some people in Smyrna were persecuting the believers there. Other ways to translate this word are:

I know your hardships (NJB)

I know about your suffering (NLT)

I know your troubles (NCV)

your: The pronoun your is singular in the Greek. It refers to the angel of the church as the representative of all the believers there. In many languages it is more natural to use plural pronouns here. See how you translated the pronoun “your” in 2:2.

your poverty: The word poverty indicates that the believers in Smyrna were very poor. They had very little money or goods. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

you are poor (GNT)

you are extremely/very poor

2:9b

though you are rich!

but you are wealthy!
Yet you are spiritually rich because of your great faith!

though you are rich: Here the word rich refers to having many spiritual blessings. The believers could look forward to these rewards in heaven. In the Gospels these rewards are often called “treasure.”

The word rich here does not refer to earthly riches. Jesus used the word rich without explanation to contrast it with the word “poverty” in 2:9a.

In some languages a literal translation would only refer to earthly riches. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
yet you are rich in heaven/spirit
yet you are spiritually rich
Translate literally and explain its meaning in a footnote. For example:
This saying indicates that the believers were rich in heavenly treasures/blessings. They were rich in heaven because of their great faith in God.

2:9c

And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews,

I know the lies told about you by those who falsely claim to be Jews
I know the hurtful/damaging lies that some people have said about you.^(sing/plur) They say that they are Jews following God,

slander: This word refers to lies told for the purpose of hurting someone’s reputation, name, or status. Some people in Smyrna were telling lies to cause others to think that the believers were bad people. In some languages it is necessary or more natural to translate this word using a verb or verb phrase. For example:

lies being told about you

the evil things said against you (GNT)

the bad things some people say about you (NCV)

some people are slandering you

you are slandered (REB)

2:9c–d

those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan: The people referred to here were probably Jews by birth, but they did not believe in Jesus. Satan had influenced them so that they persecuted the believers at Smyrna. So in that way they were not Jews spiritually, because true Jews followed God’s commands. Jesus said that they were a synagogue of Satan.

Jesus used this strong language to emphasize that these people were very wrong to follow Satan. Other ways to translate these words are:

people who falsely claim to be Jews but are really members of the synagogue of Satan (NJB)

those who claim to be Jews but are not; they are a group that belongs to Satan (GNT)

They say they are Jews, but they are not true Jews. They are a synagogue that belongs to Satan. (NCV)

2:9d

but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

but are really a group/synagogue that follows Satan.
but they are actually a group that belongs to Satan.

synagogue: Here the word synagogue refers to the group of misled Jews in Smyrna. The word does not refer to the building where they met. The GNT therefore translates this as:

group

Satan: The word Satan is the Hebrew word used for the leader of all evil spirits. In Hebrew the word means “one who opposes others.” It is similar in meaning to “enemy” but does not necessarily imply hostility or hatred. It is used as a title in the New Testament. So you should spell this word in your language like the Greek or the major language word. If this word is not already known in your area, you may also want to add a descriptive phrase. For example:

Satan, the one who opposes,

Satan, the one who stands against God

If you have translated the Gospels, see how you translated this word in Matthew 4:10, Mark 1:13, Luke 10:18, or John 13:27.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

πλούσιος εἶ

rich ˱you˲_are

Jesus is speaking as if the believers in Smyrna were literally rich, even though he has just acknowledged their poverty. He means that they are spiritually rich because God will reward them for their faithfulness and suffering. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [God will reward you richly]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / irony

καὶ οὐκ εἰσίν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οἶδα σοῦ τήν θλῖψιν καί τήν πτωχείαν ἀλλά πλούσιος εἶ καί τήν βλασφημίαν ἐκ τῶν λεγόντων Ἰουδαίους εἶναι ἑαυτούς καί οὐκ εἰσίν ἀλλά συναγωγή τοῦ Σατανᾶ)

Jesus is speaking as if the people who are slandering the believers in Smyrna are literally not Jews. He means that they are acting as if they were not Jews, since they are persecuting people who sincerely worship the God of Israel. This makes them not Jews in some spiritual sense. Alternate translation: [but who are not acting in the way that Jews should]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

συναγωγὴ τοῦ Σατανᾶ