ἐμόλυναν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν
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A . και k xi. 13, see
ς M on Acts 5. O νικῶν 15, εἰς, ΕΠ. Ixx. x , y ἐξαλείψω TO 1 Jude 23
(isa. lxiv
mC/f.lgnat. ΦΥ. σα. ᾱ, Herm.
Sim, viii n Cf. Jos. nt. vi.
Ov. 1, xiii. 8
natural inference drawn in xiii. 8) for predestination, the belief in which formed then as always a vivid inspiration in dis- tress and conflict. For the erasure of names from the civic register, consequent upon their owners condemnation, cf. Dio Chrys. xxxi. 336 6, ὅταν δηµοσίᾳ τινὰ δέῃ τῶν πολιτῶν ἀποθανεῖν ἐπ᾽ ἀδικήματι, πρότερον τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐξαλείφεται; Xen. Hell. ii. 3, 51, and Arist. Pac. 1180. Also Dittenberger’s Sylloge inscript. Graec.” 439° (iv. B.C.) ὃς δ᾽ ἂν δόξηι μὴ Ov φράτηρ ἐσαχθῆναι, ἐξαλειψάτο τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῦ ὁ ἱερεύς, and Orientis Grect Inscr. Sel. 21813" (1. B.C.) ἐξαλείψαντας τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἐκείνον. The special comfort of this verse is intelligible when one reads the prayer offered in con- temporary Jewish worship (cf. Shmone- Esreh xii. Palest. recension): ‘ for apos- tates let there be no hope, may the kingdom of the haughty quickly collapse in our days, and may the Nazarenes and the Minim suddenly perish, may they be blotted out of the book of Life and not enrolled along with the righteous”.
The message to Sardis, the most vehe- ment of the seven,has scme interesting re- semblances to that addressed to Ephesus ; cf. ii. r= ili. I, ii. 5 (pvnp.)=iil. 3, il. 5 (visitation) =iii. 5, il, O=ili. 4. The hope described in ver. 5 is burlesqued by Lucian (Peregr. xl.) who describes his pseudo-Christian hero as seen after death περιπατοῦντα ἐν λευκῇ ἐσθῆτι, φαιδρόν, κοτίνῳ τε ἐστεμμένον. The metaphori- cal references to raiment gain point in view of the local trade in woollen goods and dyed stuffs. ,
Vv. 7-13. The message to Philadelphia.
Ver. 7. ἐν Less than twenty years later an equally favourable account of the local church was given by Ignatius (ad Phil. 3, 5, 10). ἅγιος κ.τ.λ., Jesus is a messiah indeed, one deserving that honoured name and realising its mean- ing. The favourite Johannine term ἀληθινός (=‘‘ true,” in the wider sense
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