“Etched or Sketched? Inscriptions and Erasures in the Messages to Sardis and Philadelphia,”...

[JSNT21A (2005) 447-463] DOI: 10.1177/0142064X05055748

Etched or Sketched? Inscriptions and Erasures in the Messages to

Sardis and Philadelphia (Rev. 3.1-13)*

Robert M. Royalty, Jr

Department of Religion Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN 47933, USA

[email protected]

Abstract

This article argues that the image of the 'pillar in the temple' in Rev. 3.12 functions as part of the rhetorical contrast (synkrisis) of Sardis and Philadelphia in Rev. 3.1-13. First, I introduce previously unexamined data to show that Rev. 3.12 functions as a general reference to inscribed columns, rather than as a specific literary or archaeological reference. Second, I argue that the description of the community at Philadelphia as an 'inscribed pillar' contrasts rhetorically to that of Sardis, whose name could be blotted out from the book of life (Rev. 3.5). Finally, deconstruction of these paired tropes undermines the appearance of stability in the messages and reveals the ideological struggles within these early Christian communities inscribed in the Apocalypse.

I

At the end of each of the messages to the seven churches in Rev. 2-3

dictated to John on the island of Patmos, Christ promises the community

some reward for 'those who conquer'.l The promise to the Philadelphias,

the sixth of the seven churches, is that the one who conquers will be 'made

a pillar in the temple of my God' (Rev. 3.12). This conquering one, the

message continues, will never leave the temple and will have written upon

* In honor of John E. Fischer, Professor of Classics, on his retirement from Wabash College.

1. Each message ends with a variation of the present substantival participle of the verb υικαν; see Aune 1997: 124. 'John' and 'Christ' are understood here as characters within a narrative, not concrete historical referents.

© SAGE Publications Ltd 2005,1 Oliver's Yard, 55 City Road, London EC1Y ISP.

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448 Journal for the Study of the New Testament 21A (2005)

it 'the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.'

Although commentators have proposed specific references for this metaphor, I will argue that the pillar here should be read more generally in light of the regular practice of inscribing columns in antiquity. This general practice focuses attention more on the trope than on which particular pillar or temple is referred to. Rhetorically, the promise to the victor to be inscribed on a stone pillar in a temple contrasts with the promise to the victor immediately preceding, to the church in Sardis, whose name will 'not be erased from the Book of Life'. In Revelation it is better to be etched on a pillar than sketched in a book. The favor shown to Philadelphia, however, and the warning to Sardis are both set in a tenuous, even unstable ideological context.2 As argued in this article, the context for the vehement rhetoric of Revelation is the power struggles within the Christian communities of Asia Minor rather than the attack on Greek culture or Roman rule emphasized by most commentators.

First, we need to ask what it means for someone to be 'made a pillar'. This structural metaphor works as well in modern English as it did in ancient Greek. Pillars held up buildings, in particular ancient temples or, in the case of honorific pillars, stand out as monuments in temple or agora complexes.3 The metaphor occurs in early Christian literature, with Paul's possibly sarcastic reference in Gal. 2.9 being the most prominent example, and throughout Greco-Roman literature.4 These passages emphasize the structural aspects of the pillar metaphor. Philo, in Migr. Abr. 124, is illustrative:

Let us pray then that, like a central pillar in a house (coç εν οικία στΰλον),

2. The literature on ideological criticism is extensive. Briefly stated, I am working with a definition of ideology as the relation of ideas to structures of power as developed by Marx and Nietzsche and applied in literary criticism by Jameson (1982) and Eagleton (1991) and in post-structural historical analysis by Foucault (1972). See also Aichele and Bible and Culture Collective 1995. There are also parallels between ideological criticism and the examination of 'everyday reality' in Berger 1966.

3. For examples of free-standing honorific pillars, see Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Ant Rom. 3.22.9; Josephus, Λ«£ 13.211.4; Browning (1979:208) on honorific columns in the Necropolis of Palmyra.

4. See 1 Clem 5.2; 1 Tim. 3.15; Aeschylus, Ag. 897; Euripides, Iph.Taur. 57; Pindar, Od. 2.81-82; Horace, Carm. 1.35.13; Lycophron,̂ f/ex. 281; VitaAesopiG 106; and Philo, Quaest. in Exod. 1.21; Charles 1920:1, 91 and Aune 1997: 241.

ROYALTY Etched or Sketched? 449

there may constantly remain for the healing of our maladies the righteous mind in the soul and in the human race the righteous mind (LCL).

The message to Philadelphia, in contrast, extends the metaphor beyond these common structural associations of the metaphor. This pillar 'will never leave' the temple—drawing on the same meaning as Philo—but also, and most importantly for our purposes, will be inscribed. The message to Philadelphia goes beyond the typical metaphor of a strong, central idea or figure (e.g. the righteous mind, Peter, Paul or Hector) and asks the audience to consider other 'pillar-like' qualities, such as inscription.5 Of the parallels, Rev. 3.12 alone includes inscription in the trope.

A second interpretational problem arises when we note that, while the Philadelphianpillar will stay permanently in the temple of God, John states in Rev. 21.22 that he sees no temple (ναόν ουκ είδον εν αυτή) in the New Jerusalem: 'for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple' (o γαρ κύριος ο θεο$ ο παντοκράτωρ vaos auiris έστιν καί το άρνίον). The message to Philadelphia, moreover, calls attention to this city η κατα-βαίνουσα εκ του ουρανού in which John will see no temple. The permanence of place associated with being a pillar would seem hollow if the temple in which the pillar stood would cease to be. The Philadelphians, however, need not fear. Revelation, written in the context of the Roman destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, reconstructs the notion of'temple' in John's heavenly visions. Temple imagery appears quite often.6 The vision of the heavenly throne room, from which all the events of Rev. 4-22 are viewed by the narrator, draws on a variety of literary and historical traditions, including temple imagery.7 In addition to the numerous images and phrases used in the Apocalypse that originally applied to the Jerusalem Temple, the text explicitly refers to the temple of heaven. This occurs first in 7.15, the multitude that stands before the throne of God (ενώπιον του θρόνου του θεού) and worship in God's temple (καί λατρεύ-ουσιν αυτω ημέρας και νυκτός εν τω ναω αυτού). Revelation 11 refers to

5. For the view that Rev. 3.12 shows that the New Jerusalem is the Christian community itself rather than a huge building, see Roloff 1993:62, Aune 1997:245 and Gundry 1987.

6. In addition to the 'negative' reference in 21.22, the word vaos appears in Rev. 7.15; 11.1, 2, 19; 14.15, 17; 15.5, 6, 8 and 16.1, 17.

7. Charles ( 1920:1,111 ) notes the centrality of the throne for the Apocalypse. The trisagion in Rev. 4.8, a reference to Isa. 6.3 in which Isaiah enters the Holy of Holies, is one of the clearest allusions in the Apocalypse and sets the temple context for this vision and those that follow from heaven. See also Aune 1983a.


both the Jerusalem Temple (τον ναον του θεού, έξωθεν του ναού, 11.1,2) as well as the 'temple of God in the heavens' (b vaos του θεού ο εν τω ουρανω, 11.19). Finally, in 15.5-8, John sees the 'temple of the tent of witnesses' (b vaos xrjs σκην% του μαρτυρίου) open in heaven and the seven angels with the last plagues coming out. Heaven, as John envisions it, is a temple, and in Rev. 21.22 God and the Lamb become a temple for humanity as well. The absence of a physical temple in the New Jerusalem conveys the union of humanity, God and Christ in the heavenly city.

We might ask whether any elision of the message to Philadelphia and Rev. 21.22 moves too quickly to the 'hermeneutics of acceptance ' that would smooth over all difficulties in the biblical text.8 While Rev. 21.22 conveys eschatological union with God, a position in a temple that ceases to exist suggests that this pillar trope in the message to Philadelphia is less stable than a first reading might lead us to believe. It is possible to move towards harmonization of 3.12 and 21.22 as metaphorical apocalyptic language.9

But Rev. 3.12 is nonetheless fairly specific about being an inscribed pillar. This is ultimately an interpretive question that requires us to continue a critical examination of the literary and social-historical information.

The writing on the pillar is central to this examination, but we face here a third exegetical problem. Christ continues to say that Ί will write έπ' άυτον the name of my God and the name of the city of my God'. The phrase έπ' άυτον allows for two interpretations: the writing of the names 'upon him/her', that is upon the conquering Philadelphian, or 'upon it', the OTUXOS itself. Others have argued, based on Rev. 14.1 and 22.4, that the writing is done upon the person, since these describe names on sealed (i.e. belonging to the conquering or chosen) foreheads.10 But Rev. 3.12 clearly suggests that the writing is being done on the pillar, as an inscription. The

8. 'Hermeneutics of acceptance' comes from Pippin 1992; see also Moore 1995 for a fresh approach to Revelation.

9. See Mounce 1977: 121 on the fluidity of apocalyptic language; see also Harrington 1993: 71.

10. Bousset (1896: 268) opts for the writing on the faithful, citing the writing on the forehead in Rev.7.3,14.1,17.5 and 22.4 as well as the gold plate on the high priest's forehead (Exod. 28.38). Charles (1920:1, 91-92) considers both possibilities, assembling more evidence for the writing on the στύλου, including a general reference to the practice of inscribing columns discussed below. Mounce (1998:105 n. 31) argues that the second αυτόν here is the unexpressed subject of εξέλθη, overlooking however that b νικών has been made into a GTÛÀOS, SO that his argument does not hold. Wong (1999: 299) does not examine the Greek but seems to assume that the writing is done 'on them'; so also Roloff (1993: 62). Aune (1997: 242-43) does not take a position.


verb γράφω, often translated as 'write', means to scratch or inscribe on stone as well as to write. The phrase καί εξω ου μη εξέλθη highlights the permanence of place associated with a pillar. Forehead (μέτωπον), moreover, does not occur here in this message. The language is metaphorical in both cases, but it was more common in Greco-Roman antiquity to inscribe pillars than to mark or brand foreheads.1 x In the message to Philadelphia, b νικών is a pillar in the temple, or will be made one, and will be inscribed. Ί will make [him/her] a pillar and I will write upon it the name of my God and the name of the city of my God'. This is not two different promises but one, making b νικών a GTÙÀOS and inscribing it (γράφω) with a series of names.12 But the association of this inscription with the sealing and marking of the Lamb and Beast's followers is not without significance, as we shall see in the next section.

Historical-critical scholars have focused on finding specific historical referents orbiblical allusions in the Apocalypse andon decoding the author's intended meaning.13 An example of this method is the frequent interpretation of 3.12 in light of earthquakes in the Philadelphia area.14 The promise would supposedly be of assurance to a community subject to earthquakes because the pillar would never leave the temple. The interpretation (which would of course have been heard by the entire audience, all of whom were subject to earthquakes, not just the Philadelphians) is forced. Columns and temples could easily fall in earthquakes. The Philadelphians might have appreciated a promise that there would be no more γ ί^ σεισμοί, but that is not what Rev. 3.12 states. In fact, the Apocalypse predicts several earthquakes (6.12-17; 8.8; 11.13; 16.17-21). This search for specific referents also leads scholars to try to figure out exactly which inscribed pillar in which temple John means in Rev. 3.12. In one of the earliest historical-critical treatments, Wilhelm Bousset connected this not with a pillar at all but a statue, set in the confines of the imperial temple by the priest as his

11. The verb γράφω could be translated 'scratch, paint, brand, mark, inscribe, describe, propose or move a law' (LSJ) and was a technical term for writing an inscription. This verb occurs in Rev. 14.1 (γεγραμμένον) but not in 22.4.

12. So also Beale (1999: 295). 13. For Revelation this is particularly the case with the British ' strictly historical

school' in the messages to the seven churches; see Ramsay 1904 and Hemer 2000. Recent comprehensive commentators (Aune and Beale) stay within the biblical histori-cist tradition; Beale in particular seems caught in a biblical echo chamber.

14. The tradition originates with Ramsay 's geographical and historical survey; see Ramsay 1904: 290-91. Following are Mounce (1998: 104), Sweet (1979: 104), Harrington (1993: 71), Beale (1999: 294) and Wong (1999: 299).


final commemorative act.15 Revelation 3.12 has also been explained as a reference to the free-standing pillars Jachin and Boaz in the Temple of Solomon (1 Kgs 7.15-21 ; 2 Chron. 3.15-17),16 the commemorative bronze tablets (δέλται χαλκοί) for Simon Maccabeus set 'on slabs on Mt Zion' (εν στηλαι^ εν δρει Σιων, 1 Mace. 14.26-48)17 and ancient Israelite coronation rites.18 In terms of first-century Christian audiences, these parallels are obscure. Those in the audience with sufficient biblical knowledge, perhaps Jews who had become Christians, could have known about Solomon's pillars (although this Temple was destroyed almost 700 years before the Apocalypse was read), but this could have been a minority among the Greco-Roman Christian communities in the cities of Asia.19 As for Simon Maccabee's tablets, the reference is inaccurate and almost certainly vague for the audience; no Christian writer refers to the Maccabees before Clement of Alexandria.20

These same Asian Christians, however, would have frequently seen inscribed pillars, fixed or free-standing, in temples, markets and elsewhere, intheirowncities oraroundthe eastern Mediterranean world. This common practice is well-attested in the epigraphic record.21 Surviving physical

15. Bousset (1896: 269), followed by Charles (1920: 1.91), Lohmeyer (1970: 37) and Kraft (1974: 82-3). Hemer (2000: 166,268 n. 55) points out that this practice did not commence in Philadelphia until 213 CE; see also Aune (1997: 242), who finds and corrects Bousset's citation.

16. Swete(1911: 57) and Fairer (1964: 81), oddly excluded by Aune (1997:241). 17. Beasley-Murray 1974:102. The NRSV incorrectly translates orriXats as 'pillars'. 18. See Wilkinson 1988 who pushes the search for a concrete reference in Revelation

beyond the obscure; see Aune 1997: 242. 19. Even disciples of John within the Asian churches might not have studied the

scriptures to the extent that that author apparently did. The trajectory of Christianity in Asia Minor suggests increased antagonism towards and distance from the Judaisms of the day (Rev. 2.9; 3.9; Ignatius, Magn. 8-10; Barnabas; Gos. Pet. 17, 25; Melito of Sardis, Depasch.; Justin, Dial.).

20. 1 Mace. 14.26 refers to bronze tablets on στηλαι in the temple area, not an inscription on a οτύλος in the temple. See Goldstein 1976: 486, 500-503, van Henten 2001 and Krentz 2001. Clement refers to the Maccabees in Strom. 1.21.123 and5.14.97. Josephus, of course, discusses the Maccabees in detail, but it is almost impossible that anyone reading the Apocalypse at the end of the first century had access to his writings.

21. For instance, the Teos dedication, Die Inschriften von Ephesos (= Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien 11.1-17.4; Bonn: Rudolf Habaelt, 1972-), 2.239, 240, published in 1964; see Friesen 1993: 31 and n. 8, 31-32. See also Dittenberger, S7G2Supp (2 vols.; Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1903,1905): II, 445 (Temple of Diana, Nemori or Nemi, Italy), 496 (Ephesus), 572 (the agora of Myra, Lycia), 609 (Phaenae, Syria),


examples from the eastern Empire include the Temple of Jupiter Helio-politan (also known as the Acropolis) of Baalbek (211-217 CE), the Temple ofBaal Shaminandthe Necropolis in Palmyra (23-129 CE) and the Temple of Artemis in Sardis (300 BCE), where several column inscriptions, in both Greek and Lydian, were found.22 One of the best preserved examples is the Temple of Zeus at Euromos (Ayakli), close to the cities of the Apocalypse in ancient Caria about 70 km southeast of Miletus (see Bean 1976). This second-century CE temple had a peristyle of 11 χ 6 Corinthian columns, 16 of which survive and 12 of which carry honorary inscriptions for donors Ρ Of these 12 columns, the 5 in the west each have a large, visible inscription including names and titles.24 In addition to epigraphic evidence, Strabo and Pausanias describe the practice.25

This evidence is not cited to prove a reference to some specific temple or column but to do just the opposite. This survey demonstrates the typicality of the practice and hence the common associations for the pillar trope readily available to the audience. The literary and archaeological data is substantial enough to show that the audience, Greco-Roman Christians in urban settings, would have heard Rev. 3.12 as a general reference to inscriptions on columns in temples, rather than a specific biblical reference.26 The image would carry force without anyone consulting 1 Maccabees or 1 Kings.

638, 647, 648, 649, 651 (Palmyra), 665, 696, 697 (Egypt) and 718 (Alexandria). 22. See Ragette 1980: 37-38, Browning 1979:163-67,208, Butler 1925:42,57-72

(the inscription on col. 12, published in Sardis VI. 1: 38). The temple was restored by the Romans 20-117 CE after the earthquake of 17. It included two free-standing pillars at both the eastern and western ends of the cella; see Hanfmann and Frazer 1975: 53-73, 74-87.

23. Inscriptions from Euromos, not including the columns, have been published by Errington(1993).

24. See Anabolu 1964. Names and titles include Leon Quintus, stephanephoros and Typhaina. There is a clear image of two of the western columns, with inscriptions, in Keller 1991.1 visited the Temple to observe these inscriptions in March 2003 and have unpublished photographs of the columns.

25. See Strabo, Geogr. 1.3.4; 3.5.5-6; Pausanias, Descr. 5.20.6-7; 10.11.6. Aune (1997: 243) notes a possible reference from PGM, VIII: 40-41: 'Your true name is inscribed on the sacred pillar [ττμερα στήλη] in the innermost sanctuary at Hermopolis'; a στήλη (LSJ s.v. ; 'block, base, slab, gravestone, boundary marker or post'), however, was not necessarily the same as a οτνλος.

26. Aune's claim (1997:241) that εν τω vaco in Rev. 3.12 excludes any references to free-standing or peristyle pillars is unduly restrictive for what is clearly metaphorical language.


Commentators have noted the practice of inscribing columns in passing, but none to my knowledge have surveyed this evidence.27 Nor have they explored how this common practice would have shaped the meaning of the text for its audience in the cities of Asia Minor. This is significant, because the practice suggests a different methodological approach to the metaphor and message than that taken by most scholars. Rather than speculating on which temple or pillar Rev. 3.12 refers to, we need to consider more carefully the metaphor of inscribing a pillar. Rhetorical interpretation, within the context of the seven messages, takes account of the social associations of this trope. In particular we want to focus on how this metaphor functions rhetorically in the social-ideological context of struggle in John's bid for power within the Asian Christian communities.

II

The promise to Philadelphia to be 'made a pillar' and inscribed with the most powerful names within the Apocalypse—the names of the New Jerusalem, the new name of Christ, and the name of God—is one of the strongestpromises in the seven messages.28 The theological power of these names within the narrative world of the Apocalypse and the symbolic universe of early Christianity was vast indeed. The reward promised in Rev. 3.12, moreover, conveyed status and power within the social world of the early Christian communities. What is carved on this pillar corresponds to inscriptions the audience would see constantly, in particular names: the names of gods, Emperors, proconsuls, priests, city officials and prominent citizens. To have one's name displayed on an inscription was a mark of status. The inscription of the name of a city, moreover, the New Jerusalem, suggests citizenship status.

The inscription of these three names on the pillar in 3.12 is part of the

27. For instance Charles 1920:1, 91. Hemer (2000: 268 η. 55) notes the common practice and cites one example (CIG 3431).

28. The meaning of these names has received extensive commentary; see Ellul 1977: 138-40, Roloff 1993: 62, Beale 1999: 294-95, Wong 1999, 301-302; and esp. Aune 1997: 242-44 (with comparative chart on the form of these names in Rev. 3.12, 21.2 and 21.10). Aune inexplicably treats καί το όνομα μου το καινόν as if it is a new name for the Philadelphian Christian rather than Christ, the speaker, who identifies the 'conquering one' as his own client here. Christ receives several names in Rev. 5.5-6, when ó λέων b εκ Tris φυλ^ Ιούδα, η ρίζα Δαυίδ becomes το άρνίον. Since the Lamb's name is written upon the 144,000 (14.1), this is likely to be Christ's 'new name' (but cf. Wong 1999: 301 n. 12).


major motif in Revelation of identification of allegiance by marking or sealing. In the visions this is expressed by those who are sealed by the Lamb and those marked by the Beast. Names (ονόματα) are important here as well, in particular whose name is written where. The sealing of the 144,000 in Rev. 7.1-8 confers God's seal (σφραγί^, not όνομα) upon the forehead (μέτωπον) of a select group that opposes those who are inscribed with the mark of the Beast (το χάραγμα το όνομα του θηρίου, 13.17) on their right hand or forehead (επί τ % χειρός αυτών τ % δεξιάς η ε πι το μέτωπον αυτών, 13.16). The 144,000 reappear in eh. 14, after the vision of the two beasts, brandishing the names of the Lamb and his father on their foreheads (το όνομα αυτού και το όνομα του πατρός αυτού, 14.1; cf. το όνομα τού θεού and το όνομα μου το καινόν, 3.12). This second appearance of the 144,000 highlights how these marks create two opposing groups in the visions, those belonging to God and the Lamb and those following Satan and the Beast. The seal of God and the mark of the Beast as signs of religious loyalty are examples of 'polemical parallelism' in the narrative world of the Apocalypse.29 The mark of the beast mimics the seal of God just as the first Beast mimics the Lamb, from the numbers of heads to the healed wound. The explicit conflict between these two inscribed groups continues from 13.7-8 to the end of the Apocalypse. Those who accept the mark of the Beast will be singled out by God and the angels for torment by fire, sulfur, sores and the lake of fire (14.9, 11; 16.2; 19.20; 20.4). The visions of the Apocalypse also portray the consequences of wearing the seal of God. The saints of God are conquered by the first Beast (13.7) and are killed by the second Beast for refusing to worship the image of the first Beast (13.15). The loyalty of those who refuse the mark of the Beast is rewarded by allowing them to reign with Christ for a thousand years (20.4).

The visions of John from the heavenly throne room clearly contrast the two sides in the cosmic battle: those aligned with God and the Lamb and those associated with Satan and the two Beasts.30 This literary conflict in the visions suggests an ideological conflict within the Asian communities. The seven messages to the Asian cities confirm this divide—indeed, they provide the social-historical context for the struggles envisioned by John. The Christian communities of Asia, as 'Christ' describes them in the

29. See Barnett 1989 and Boring 1989: 161. 30. Satan hands his power to the Beast in 12.18-13.1. Satan's allies include, along

with those who accept the mark of the Beast, the 'kings of the earth'; see esp. Rev. 18.9 and 19.19.


messages, have been divided into John's supporters, those who conquer (νικάν, 2.7, 11, 17, 26; 3.5, 12, 21) and endure (υπομονή, 1.9; 2.2, 3, 19; 3.10)—and John's enemies, those who do not.

These criteria become more concrete when we place the acts of conquering or enduring within the context of the moral exhortation of the seven messages. The hostility to Rome in the Apocalypse has been well-explored by scholars, but the conflict with other Christian teachers and prophets has been less-emphasized.31 Alignment with or against the authority of John and his prophetic circle is the distinguishing mark of the seven messages and the ideological point on which each church's praise or blame turns.32

Several of the 'bad' churches are condemned for accepting or supporting one of John's opponents, presumably all Christian, such as the 'Nicolaitans' orthewomanprophet-teacherwhom John, as 'Christ', slanders as 'Jezebel' (Rev.2.6,14-16,20-25).33Furthermore,Ephesusis commended specifically for expelling 'false apostles' (2.2). Laodicea, moreover, is condemned for its lack of involvement in these intra-Christian struggles (see Royalty 1998: 164-76). The dualistic conflict in the visions has a social-historical anchor in the messages. While in the visions these two camps adhere to the Lamb and the Beast, the division in the seven messages is ideologically determined by loyalty to John or to opposing teachers such as the 'false apostles', the 'Nicolaitans', or 'Jezebel'.

This ideological divide is the immediate social-rhetorical context for the Philadelphian inscription. The Philadelphians are one of the better εκκλησία ι within the seven, perhaps the best in John's view, for 'keeping the word' (έτηρησό^ μου τον λόγον, 3.8,10) and for not denying Christ's name. An important feature of the message is Christ granting them dominance over 'the synagogue of Satan'.34 The other church that has struggled with such a group, and that will also prevail against them, are the Smyrnaens (Rev. 2.8-11). Like the Smyrnaens, who suffer from apparent poverty and are warned of imprisonment, the Philadelphians have but little power (μικράν δύναμιν, Rev. 3.8). Among the seven, only the Smyrna and Philadelphia

31. For the development of scholarship on this point of view, see Aune 1981, Schüssler Fiorenza 1991: 132-39, Royalty 1998, Carey 1999 and Duff 2001.

32. On the prophetic circle, see Aune 1983b. 33. The Asian communities tolerate or support these opponents; John and Jezebel

have had at least one prophetic encounter within the εκκλησία itself. Thus they should be understood as Christian opponents.

34. Jews, the Romans and Christian opponents are connected in the Apocalypse as a 'satanic' opposition to John and his circle; see Royalty 1998: 209-10, 223-25.


communities neither receive blame for unworthy actions nor have an explicit threat in their messages.35 Their messages portray them as wholly supportive of John's authority. Their conflict with some undefined Jewish groups in these cities is also ideologically commendatory within the narrative.

The inscription of powerful names on the pillar in Rev. 3.12, then, functions within this ideological context as part of the praise of a church that has supported John's authority andstruggled against one of his 'satanic' opponents, the 'so-called Jews'. They are inscribed with powerful names (ονόματα), just as the 144,000 bear the name of the Lamb and his Father (Rev. 14.1). Both image and meaning in the message to Philadelphia contrasts rhetorically to the previous message to Sardis (Rev. 3.1-6). Written or inscribed names are the link.36 While the names of the Philadelphians who conquer are etched on pillars in the heavenly temple, the names of the conquering Sardisians are sketched, and perhaps erased (εξαλείφω), from the Book of Life. The 'promise to the victor' in the message to Sardis reads that 'he who conquers [b νικών] I will clothe in white robes, and I will not blot your name [και ου μη εξαλείψω το όνομα αυτού] out of the book of life' (Rev. 3.5). This is a mixed message. White robes are strongly positive images in the Apocalypse and are often associated with God and Christ (1.12-16; 19.11-16; 20.11).37 But the second half of this 'promise to the victor' in Sardis is much more ambivalent. Indeed, it is a threat that would have had deep associations among the audience.38

The 'book of life', which holds names of the saved or redeemed, was a very common motif in biblical and Jewish literature.39 There were also Greco-Roman parallels: names of citizens were recorded in the καταλόγου, or register of citizens, in Hellenistic cities. Depending on the context and associations of the particular auditor of Rev. 3.5, this phrase could suggest expulsion, exile, imprisonment, execution, eternal judgment or death.40

35. See Rev. 2.20-25; 3.2-3; the ambiguous churches such as Ephesus or Pergamum are also threatened (Rev. 2.5, 16).

36. The word όνομα occurs eleven times in the seven messages, eight of which are in the messages to Sardis and Philadelphia; see Beale 1999:280 on names in Rev. 3.1-5.

37. See also 4.4,6.11 and 7.9,13. The one problematic white figure is the first white horse (6.2); see Kerkeslager 1993 and Aune 1998: 389-90, 393-95.

38. Contra Beale (1999: 279-82), whose reading is constrained by theological concerns with 'loss of actual salvific life'.

39. See Aune 1997: 223-25, for multiple references and parallels. 40. Aune 1997:223-25. Biblical parallels suchasExod. 32.32-35 orPs. 69.29 suggest

divine retribution and death; Dan. 7.10 and 12.1 describe eschatological judgment; and


The threat is veiled, to be sure—ου μη εξαλείψω is emphatic—but it is a threat nonetheless. A 'promise to the victor' that actually threatens execution or divine judgment fits well in a message to a community that has a name of being alive but is in fact dead (Rev. 3.1). Sardis is an ambivalent community in the Apocalypse, including both those 'who have not soiled their clothes' (and who will be dressed in white, 3.4) and those who need to wake up and repent, lest Christ come upon them like a thief in the night (3.2-3). In light of our social-rhetorical examination of the ideology of the messages, we see that their error is ideological ambivalence as much as theological laxity. This mixture of loyalties—some to John and his prophets while others to his opponents—is not acceptable to John.

Of particular importance here in Rev. 3.5 for our understanding of the inscription in the message to Philadelphia is εξαλείφω. This word was a technical term for the removal of a citizen from the καταλόγου (Aune 1997: 223-25). But the word does not only apply to written names. With its linguistic cousins αλείφω and απαλείφω, εξαλείφω had the sense of erasing, plastering over or wiping out inscriptions as well as written documents, and even the metaphorical sense of destroying something or someone.41 The line between the two forms of official documents should not be drawn too finely. Inscriptions, which functioned as the permanent and public records of legal decrees, would first be written on paper, wood or some other temporary means and then inscribed in stone in a public place (Fischer 2001). Changes might be made to inscriptions while they were in this temporary form. Changes could also be made once they had become inscriptions on tablets, statue bases or columns in agora and temple; for instance the effacement of Domitian's name after the Roman Senate's decree οι damnatio memoriae.42

Taken together, the messages to Sardis and Philadelphia evoke the common practice of writing and then inscribing official proclamations or decrees. But within the social world of the Asian Christian communities,

Hellenistic parallels (e.g. Xenophon, Hell. 2.3.51) describe execution. 41. See LS J «s.v. αλείφω, απαλείφω and εξαλείφω, all three of which include erasing.

For εξαλείφω, see Andocides 1.76; Aristophanes, Eq. 877; Aristotle, Ath. pol. 36.2; Demosthenes 39.39; Euripides, Hel. 262; Lysias, 1.48; 30.2; Xenophon, Hell. 2.3.51 (εκ του καταλόγου). The verb could have more violent metaphorical connotations; see Aeschylus, Cho. 503; Thucydides 3.57. Inscriptions include IG l 3 84 (line 22), SEG 45.42 (line 5) and 24.151 (line 24).

42. For a clear example see the photograph of the Keretapa inscription, Plate V in Friesen 1993: 31.


all such documents could be altered or erased. Usually this was done before inscription, but altering inscriptions was not uncommon. This technical sense of εξαλείφω not only increases the implied threat to the Sardisians but also contrasts directly to the pillar trope in the message to the Philadelphians. Those whose names are sketched in the book of life seem to occupy a much more tenuous position than those who will become pillars in the heavenly temple, etched with the names of God, the Lamb and certificates of citizenship in the New Jerusalem. Christ warns the half-dead Sardisians that names enrolled in a book can easily be wiped out, while names inscribed on a pillar in the temple suggest a permanence that accords with a church whose crown cannot be taken away (3.11).43

The rhetorical contrast (synkrisis) between the two cities includes an explicit distinction between what happens to ο νικών that highlights the tenuousness of the promise, or the reality of the threat, to Sardis. The ideology of the messages, however, is a double-edged sword (Rev. 1.16). Threatening to erase the names from the book of life in the message to Sardis also undermines the permanency in the inscribed Philadelphian pillars. The names of God and Christ would never be erased in the Apocalypse, of course (see 1.8,17; 21.6; 22.13), but could εξαλείφω apply to the Philadelphians as well as the Sardisians? Or the audience in general? The verb is what Derrida called 'the hinge' (la brisure), a crack that reveals the discontinuity and instability in the language (la langue) (see Derrida 1976: 66-73). Instability in these victor-promises becomes part of the reading experience of the ancient auditor (οι άκούοντε^) as well as the modernreader. Promises to 'good' communities are contextualized within threatening messages. Those who 'conquer' could be struck out and their names erased from the book of life if they oppose the author and his circle's ideology, which is voiced in the messages as 'Christ's' words against opposing teachers and prophets.

Tenuous, contingent promises, moreover, are typical of the text. Revelation 21-22 describes fantastic rewards as the inheritance for those who conquer (b νικών, 21.7; cf. 3.12). A series of threats and vice-lists in the conclusion and epilogue of the Apocalypse echo the threats issued in the seven messages, reminding the audience of those excluded from the New Jerusalem as well as the promises to the victors in the messages (see Royalty 1998: 223-25). The speech of God from the throne in 21.7-8

43. Permanence and stability are read from Rev. 3.12 by numerous commentators: Bousset (1896:268), Farrer (1964: 81), Harrington (1993:71-73), Mounce (1998:104-105) and Beale (1999: 293-95).


reintroduces the division between b νικών and those who do not conquer, who are then condemned to the second death (b θάνατος b δεύτερος). Revelation 21.27 reminds the audience that only those written in the book of life (εν τω βιβλίω τ % ζωή$) will enter the city, referring back to the message to Sardis (εκ τ % βίβλου τ % ζωή$) and generalizing the threat of 3.5 to all auditors and readers of the Apocalypse. Revelation 22.15 lists those outside the city who are condemned in contrast to those who have 'washed their robes' (ττλύνοντε$ Tas στόλος αυτών), recalling the white robes promised to the one who conquers in Sardis (εν ιματίου λευκοί) and reminding the audience that no one is ever completely safe from erasure, expulsion and destruction until the final end of the Apocalypse.

These concluding threats and vice-lists in Rev. 21-22 highlight exactly what is at stake in the promise to the victor in the messages to Sardis and Philadelphia. While the Apocalypse inscribes violent opposition to Roman rule and Greco-Roman culture, the context in which the Sardisians 'soil their clothes' and the Philadelphians endure is the ideological struggle within theChristian communities themselves. These names and inscriptions anticipate the visionary division between those sealed by the Lamb and those marked by the Beast. We see, however, in the messages that this binary divisionbetween the opposing groups has a specific social-ideological context. The point of comparison here, the rhetorical synkrisis of the two cities, is their adherence to John's apocalyptic worldview, with its attendant theological and ideological commitments. The ambivalent 'promises' such as 3.5, in conjunction with the concluding threats and vice-lists, are socially and ideologically situated in the conflicts between John and his apocalyptic prophetic circle and the other Christian teachers and prophets among the Asian cities, such as 'Jezebel', who have opposed him.

A rhetorical-ideological approach to the 'promise to the victor' in the messages to Sardis and Philadelphia shows how the contrast between names etched or sketched conveys the stakes in accepting the ideology of the Apocalypse and opposing those who do not. Names could be erased from the Book of Life, but inscriptions could also be removed from stone pillars. While permanent laws and decrees were inscribed in stone, these too could be changed, as stone masons could add to, alter or delete from decrees (cf. Rev. 22.18-19). The promise to the Philadelphians, like so much else in the Apocalypse, is illusory and ultimately contingent on John's interpretation of divine favor.


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