The interpretation timeline

Rev 3:12

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

9 Patristic witnesses · 2 Medieval witnesses

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Patristic before A.D. 750
Ticonius · d. A.D. 390 A.D. 390
“"And he shall never go out of it." The nations went out from God, and they gave to idols that worship which they owed to God alone. But "all the families of the nations will remember and turn to the Lord and shall worship before him." This refers to those whom he foretold would come "from the synagogue of Satan." For having broken the bond of charity, the schismatics have gone out of the house of God. They are those who have separated themselves from the body of the whole church which is throughout the world and who vainly glory in themselves and firmly believe that they are the whole church, even though they themselves are not everywhere. For when he says that "he shall never go out of it," he shows that at the end of time there will be a struggle. For it will happen that after unity there will be a final struggle in which there will be another separation. And wherever anyone will have been freed, he shall certainly not go out, and he shall remain in the house, not as a slave but as a son. And therefore God allowed those who were saved from the flood in the ark to go out, because until that time there was still time for returning from one's sins. However, at the end of time it will not be allowed one any longer to come out, for whoever at that time will go out, will have not occasion for repentance.”
Historical Christian Faith commentaries database, on Rev 3:12 (COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3:12) PD · Historical Christian Faith commentaries database ↗
Ticonius · d. A.D. 390 A.D. 390
“"And I will write on him the name of my God." That is, we are signed with the name of Christian. "And the name of the city of the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven." The name of the church that daily comes down from God out of heaven, that is, from the church that is reborn by the Lord. He speaks of it as new because of the newness of the Son of man who is the new Jerusalem.… "Indeed, the name which is above every name." However, this name is not new because it refers to the Son of God, who existed before the world and possessed this glory with the Father. Rather, this name is new in regard to the Son of man who died and on the third day rose again and, ascending to the heavens, sits at the right hand of the Father. For it is the Son of man who said "my new name," whom [John] saw "in the midst of the seven lampstands." This Son of man is God "at whose name every knee bows, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."”
Historical Christian Faith commentaries database, on Rev 3:12 (COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3:12) PD · Historical Christian Faith commentaries database ↗
345 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Bede · A.D. 673–735 A.D. 735
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, etc. He who overcomes adversities for my sake will gloriously fear no further loss of adversity in the temple of the Church. These pillars, that is, holy men, now strengthen the Church by supporting it, then will adorn it by standing out, just as those two in the doors of Solomon's temple.”
Historical Christian Faith commentaries database, on Rev 3:12 (Commentary on Revelation) PD · Historical Christian Faith commentaries database ↗
Medieval c. 750 – 1100
Alcuin of York · c. A.D. 735–804 A.D. 804
“He that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. God's temple is the Church, according to this: The temple of God is holy, which you are. [1 Cor. 3:17] Since not only the preachers, but also the good listeners triumph over the old enemy, and in this verse everyone who overcomes is said to become a pillar in God's temple, we are forced to confess that a pillar is the same as the temple, that is the universal Church. In what follows, and he shall go out no more, it is openly shown that the Church, in the younger brother, had once passed from the unity of faith and work it kept in the prophets under the law to the error of perfidy and perverse work; but it was recovered through the killing of the fatted calf. [Luke 15:11-31] Alternatively, all of us, Jews as well as Gentiles, went out in Adam; but after we have been brought in victorious to the second Adam, we are made into a pillar of God's temple, because, overcoming the temptations of the old enemy through the blood of that same Mediator of ours, we are established in the heavenly glory of the saints by that steadfastness in the commandments which we are demonstrated to have lost in the first Adam. But we shall never go out again, because no incitements of the enemy shall tear us away from that common happiness of the heavenly fatherland. Note also that he says he has a God as he speaks according to his humanity. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and my new name. He that hath ears, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. The name of the Father being written on the one who overcomes means that he becomes his Son by adoption of the Spirit. Indeed, with what pen is it written, if not with the grace of the Spirit of both? Whence the apostle: The Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. [Rom. 8:16] As for Jerusalem, it translates to "sight of peace." It is said to come down out of heaven from God because the Church of the elect, which directs its course towards the sight of heavenly peace with the steps of love, went down, as it was predestined to, into the womb of the Virgin together with the Lord, whose body it is; or it is because its number increases every day through heavenly grace. It is called new because, through baptism and love, it is stripped of the oldness of the earthly man and clothed in heavenly newness; whence this: The old things are passed away, and behold all things are made new. [2 Cor. 5:17] So the name of Jerusalem is written on the victor when he joins the number of the saints. As for where we get all this from, it is revealed when it is added and my new name (implying I will write) namely the one that was given in time to the same Mediator, that is "Christ." This is where our dignity and high position comes from, this is the cause of our being called sons of God, New Jerusalem, and Christians. Therefore, where we hear the sum of all salvation, let us at last put a due end to this book.”
Historical Christian Faith commentaries database, on Rev 3:12-13 (COMMENTARY ON REVELATION) PD · Historical Christian Faith commentaries database ↗
470 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
Bonaventure · c. A.D. 1221–1274 1274
“This passage establishes that it was those who were upon Mount Sion who were sealed; also, that one of the angels who were to pour out the bowls — and, fittingly, it was the sixth — showed him the city the measure of which was a hundred and forty-four cubits. Toward the beginning of the Apocalypse, it is said of the sixth angel, that of Philadelphia: "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city, the new Jerusalem," which is mentioned only in the end. There are six times, of which the sixth has three periods and repose. And as Christ came in the sixth time, so it is fitting that the contemplative Church be born at the end. For the contemplative Church and the soul do not differ, except that the soul has within itself that which the Church has within many. For any contemplative soul has some measure of perfection through which to see the visions of God.”
Historical Christian Faith commentaries database, on Rev 3:12 (Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23) PD · Historical Christian Faith commentaries database ↗
Undated date unknown
Apringius of Beja · c. A.D. 600
“[I will write on him the name of my God] so that he might be signed with the divine name and be adorned with the glory of immortality and might receive the name of the divine city of Jerusalem, which is the vision of peace, and so fully enjoy the society of perpetual quiet and security. This is that city which descends out of heaven from God, so that the saints might dwell and repose within it "And my new name." In God nothing is old, because he does grow old with age. But the name of the Lord is always new, always fresh. And if any is named by this name, having been changed by the eternal power, he will obtain eternal life.”
Historical Christian Faith commentaries database, on Rev 3:12 (TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 3:12) PD · Historical Christian Faith commentaries database ↗
Oecumenius · c. A.D. 550
“And he who overcomes, he says, that he will make them to sit with him always in the sight of God; for this is to become the pillar of the divine temple. For the pillar could never go out for any good reason from the place in which it is fixed. I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, and My new name. Through all this, the enjoyment of God and dwelling in goodness and blessedness are fully revealed, whatever they will possess in the age to come. And he says that the name is new, one that has perhaps not yet been heard, which the saints reigning with Christ receive, being called friends (Jn. 15:15), brothers (Heb. 2:11), and servants (1 Cor. 4:1). And indeed, he also receives a new name beyond these things. For some have been recorded in the divine Scripture and have come to the hearing of men; but the new name is nowhere named. And it is not unworthy for him to be called My God, nor are the measures of emptiness or the humility of human nature to be despised. For if he were unworthy, who compelled him to be united with flesh in hypostasis, and thus to weave our salvation? To Him be glory forever and ever.”
Historical Christian Faith commentaries database, on Rev 3:12 (Commentary on Revelation) PD · Historical Christian Faith commentaries database ↗

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