Revelation 3:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Revelation 3:18
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
"fire" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular neuter
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
thou mayest be rich
πλουτήσῃς,ploutēsēs
G4147
to be (or become) wealthy (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person singular
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
white
λευκὰleuka
G3022
white · adjective — accusative plural neuter
raiment
ἱμάτιαhimatia
G2440
a dress (inner or outer) · noun — accusative plural neuter
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
thou mayest be clothed
περιβάλῃ,peribalē
G4016
to throw all around · verb — second aorist middle subjunctive, 2nd person singular
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
the shame
αἰσχύνηaischunē
G152
shame or disgrace (abstractly or concretely) · noun — nominative singular feminine
of
γυμνότητόςgumnotētos
G1132
nudity (absolute or comparative) · noun — genitive singular feminine
thy
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
nakedness
γυμνότηςgymnótēs
G1132
nudity (absolute or comparative)
do not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
appear
φανερωθῇphanerōthēa
G5319
to render apparent (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd person singular
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
anoint
ἐγχρῖσαιegchrisai
G1472
to rub in (oil) · verb — aorist active infinitive
thine
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
eyes
ὀφθαλμούςophthalmous
G3788
the eye (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative plural masculine
with eyesalve
κολλούριονkollourion
G2854
prob akin to the base of G2853 (κολλάω)) · noun — accusative singular neuter
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
thou mayest see
βλέπῃς.blepēs
G991
to look at (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active subjunctive, 2nd person singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise…
Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without…
Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Malachi 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may…
Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and…
Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Psalms 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Revelation 3:14–end
We now come to the last and worst of all the seven Asian churches, the reverse of the church of Philadelphia; for, as there was nothing reproved in that, here is nothing commended in this, and yet this was one of the seven golden candlesticks, for a corrupt church may still be a church. Here we have, as before,
I. The inscription, to whom, and from whom. 1. To whom: To the angel of the church of Laodicea. This was a once famous city near the river Lycus, had a wall of vast compass, and three marble theatres, and, like Rome, was built on seven hills. It seems, the apostle Paul was very instrumental in planting the gospel in this city, from which he wrote a letter, as he mentions in the epistl…
Gentle and loving irony. Take My advice, thou who fanciest thyself in need of nothing. Not only art thou not in need of nothing, but art in need of the commonest necessaries of existence. He graciously stoops to their modes of thought and speech: Thou art a people ready to listen to any counsel as to how to buy to advantage; then, listen to My counsel (for I am "Counsellor," Isa 9:6), buy of ME" (in whom, according to Paul's Epistle written to the neighboring Colosse and intended for the Laodicean Church also, Col 2:1, Col 2:3; Col 4:16, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge). "Buy" does not imply that we can, by any work or merit of ours, purchase God's free gift; nay the ver…
I counsel thee - O fallen and deceived soul, hear Jesus! Thy case is not hopeless. Buy of me.
Gold tried in the fire - Come and receive from me, without money and without price, faith that shall stand in every trial: so gold tried in the fire is here understood. But it may mean pure and undefiled religion, or that grace or Divine influence which produces it, which is more valuable to the soul than the purest gold to the body. They had before imaginary riches; this alone can make them truly rich.
White raiment - Holiness of heart and life.
Anoint thine eyes - Pray for, that ye may receive, the enlightening influences of my Spirit, that ye may be convinced of your true state, and see where you…
The Church Fathers
Us, moreover, Jesus, the Father's Highest and Great Priest, clothing us from His own store -inasmuch as they "who are baptized in Christ have put on Christ"-has made "priests to God His Father," according to John.
But because there is time of repentance, He says:- "I persuade thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire." That is, that in whatever manner you can, you should suffer for the Lord's name tribulations and passions. "And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve." That what you gladly know by the Scripture, you should strive also to do the work of the same.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich. But what is this gold refined by the spiritual fire? The prophet teaches, saying "the words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined and tested seven times on the earth" (Ps. 11:7), symbolizing the Gospel proclamation. Therefore, ask from me the one who can make you wise and bring you into harmony with God. For by acquiring this, one will shine forth in virtue and both soul and body will be purified. For this is the new and white garment. And he says to anoint your eyes with eye-salve so that you may see. This is directed toward those who have dimmed vision concerning the spiritual light of the Lord, reproving them with the words of Jeremiah: "Behold, your eyes are not good, nor is your heart sound." (Jer. 22:17) Therefore, it advises that one should undergo repentance as a remedy for such hardening, just as the barren fig tree undergoes condemnation and a more dishonorable existence because of its manure. (Luke 13.6:9)
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Laodicea — The city of this name mentioned in Scripture lay on the confines of Phrygia and Lydia, about 40 miles east of Ephesus (Rev. 3:14), on the banks of the Lycus. It was originally called Diospolis and…
Ointment — Various fragrant preparations, also compounds for medical purposes, are so called (Ex. 30:25; Ps. 133:2; Isa. 1:6; Amos 6:6; John 12:3; Rev. 18:13).
White — A symbol of purity (2 Chr. 5:12; Ps. 51:7; Isa. 1:18; Rev. 3:18; 7:14). Our Lord, at his transfiguration, appeared in raiment “white as the light” (Matt. 17:2, etc.).
Anointing · Was applied to: The eyes — Was applied to: The eyes
I counsel thee,.... Christ is a Counsellor, and is every way fit to be one, for he is the all wise God, the Ancient of days, and the Father of his people, and, as Mediator, the Wisdom of God; and he was concerned in the council of peace from everlasting; and when he was here on earth he gave counsel in person, and now he gives it by his Spirit, and by his word and ministers; and the substance of it is, to come to him for grace, life, and salvation; for pardon, peace, and righteousness; for spiritual light and knowledge, and every supply of grace; and his advice is always wholesome, good, and suitable, is hearty, sincere, and faithful, and is freely given, and is wise and prudent; and, being…
Jesus’ prescription for Laodicea required a complete change of attitude from self-reliance to dependence on God. • buy gold from me: Materially, they could buy whatever they wanted, but they needed to acquire the treasures of heaven so they would have spiritual riches through faith in Christ. • purified by fire: While material wealth will not withstand God’s purging by fire (cp. 1 Cor 3:12-15), spiritual wealth has eternal value. • White garments represent spiritual purity. Black wool cloth and garments were prized exports of the city of Laodicea. This famous black wool cloth was a source of Laodicea’s material wealth; it probably represents the Laodiceans’ proud and unredeemed spiritual con…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
