Revelation 2:8

II. SMYRNA. The poor in wealth, but rich in faith and works, Revelation 2:8-11.

8. Smyrna From Ephesus, proceeding northward in a straight line, a journey of forty miles would bring our messenger, or rather, we may say, our apostle, on his circuit to Smyrna. He might have gone by sea; but the modern traveller every now and then falls upon traces of the old Roman road from Ephesus to Smyrna. Smyrna was first founded, or at least planned, by Alexander the Great, in consequence of a dream soon after the battle of Granicus. During the vicissitudes of conquest by

Persian, Grecian, and Roman, Smyrna was renowned for the easy servility with which she flattered every new master. Her most admirable harbour, in modern times has secured her pre-eminent prosperity. She is the ordinary point from which the European traveller starts for the interior. Being thus the seaport of Asia Minor, Smyrna is the most modernized of all the seven. “Along the seashore,” says Svoboda, “is a row of houses among which are seen some flagstaffs of all the foreign consuls, and projecting on the water are a number of cafes. The civilized Turks, Greeks, and Armenians have adopted European manners and dress. The European quarter, which extends all along the seashore to the Point, is the most handsome in appearance, with the finest houses, and is beautifully situated. The Turkish and Jewish quarters, which are the poorest, lie on the slope of Mount Pagus.” Two lines of railway have been constructed during the last few years; the one running to Ephesus and Aidin, (Tralles,) and the other to Magnesia and Cassaba, a distance of sixty miles. The climate and scenery are among the finest in the world, and the soil productive, but badly cultivated. Herodotus was not mistaken when he wrote in his book, (1. s. 142,) “These Ionians, to whom the Panionium belongs, have built their cities under the finest climate in the world with which we are acquainted.” The principal merchants, after our own fashion, reside in suburban villages connected with town by railways. Of the founding of Christianity in that place the New Testament gives us no account, and its growth at the writing of this epistle is an indication of the late date of the Apocalypse. Smyrna is celebrated in early Christian history as the place of the episcopate and martyrdom of Polycarp, the pupil of St. John, the teacher of Irenaeus, who, according to both Irenaeus and Tertullian, was ordained by St. John to the episcopate. He may have been the very angel here addressed by St. John. He was martyred in A.D. 168, and at his death declared that he had served a faithful Lord for eighty-six years, bringing the year of his conversion at A.D. 82. But this epistle was probably written thirteen years after that conversion, namely, in A.D. 95. Polycarp might have been bishop within thirteen years after his conversion, and so may have been the angel of this epistle. We seem to see in the high spiritual tone and martyr air of the epistle some indication of Saint Polycarp. The tomb of Polycarp, overshadowed by a cypress tree, is still shown.

Dead… is alive Repeated from the Christophanic self-annunciation of Revelation 1:11-20. It strikingly corresponds with the entire address to this martyr Church. It told the suffering Christian that he was a follower of a martyred Lord, and that holy martyrdom was a gate to a glorious resurrection. The phrase and is alive must not be lowered into and is alive again. It is not that (as Trench supposes) vixit is equivalent to re-vixit. See our note on Revelation 20:5. The meaning is, that such death is no interruption to the true life. The death of the body is only phenomenal; it leaves in continuity that blessed, immortal, true life that comes from Christ.

The large buildings on the reader’s right are barracks for the soldiery. The castle is seen on the heights above the city. The consular residence, with their flags, on the left.