SEV Biblia, Chapter 2:17
El que tiene oído, oiga lo que el Espíritu dice a las Iglesias. Al que venciere, dar a comer del Man escondido, y le dar una piedrecita blanca, y en la piedrecita un Nombre nuevo escrito, el cual ninguno conoce sino aquel que lo recibe.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Revelation 2:17
Verse 17. The hidden manna] It was a constant tradition of the Jews that the ark of the covenant, the tables of stone, Aaron's rod, the holy anointing oil, and the pot of manna, were hidden by King Josiah when Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans; and that these shall all be restored in the days of the Messiah. This manna was hidden, but Christ promises to give it to him that is conqueror. Jesus is the ark, the oil, the rod, the testimony, and the manna. He who is partaker of his grace has all those things in their spiritual meaning and perfection. And will give him a white stone] I. It is supposed that by the white stone is meant pardon or acquittance, and the evidence of it; and that there is an allusion here to the custom observed by judges in ancient times, who were accustomed to give their suffrages by white and black pebbles; those who gave the former were for absolving the culprit, those who gave the latter were for his condemnation. This is mentioned by Ovid, Metam. lib. xv., ver. xl1: Mos erat antiquus, niveis atrisque lapillis, His damnare reos, illis absolvere culpa.
Nunc quoque sic lata est sententia tristis.
"A custom was of old, and still remains, Which life or death by suffrages ordains: White stones and black within an urn are cast, The first absolve, but fate is in the last." DRYDEN.
II. Others suppose there is an allusion here to conquerors in the public games, who were not only conducted with great pomp into the city to which they belonged, but had a white stone given to them, with their name inscribed on it; which badge entitled them, during their whole life, to be maintained at the public expense. See Pind., Olymp. vii. 159, and the Scholia there; and see the collections in Wetstein, and Rosenmuller's note.
These were called tesserae among the Romans, and of these there were several kinds.
1. Tesserae conviviales, which answered exactly to our cards of invitation, or tickets of admission to a public feast or banquet; when the person invited produced his tessera he was admitted. The mention of the hidden manna here may seem to intimate that there is a reference to these convivial tesserae, whether given to the victor in the public games, entitling him to be fed at the public expense, or to a particular friend, inviting him to a family meal or to a public banquet.
2. There were tesserae inscribed with different kinds of things, such as provisions, garments, gold or silver vessels, horses, mares, slaves, &c.
These were sometimes thrown by the Roman emperors among the crowd in the theatres, and he that could snatched one; and on producing it he received that, the name of which was inscribed on it. But from Dio Cassius it appears that those tesserae were small wooden balls, whereas the tesserae in general were square, whence they had their name, as having four sides, angles, or corners. Illi tessarhn, vel tessaran, vocabant figuram quamvis quadratam, quae quatuor angulos haberet; and these were made of stone, marble, bone, or ivory, lead, brass, or other metal. See Pitiscus.
3. Tesserae frumentariae, or tickets to receive grain in the public distributions of corn; the name of the person who was to receive, and the quantum of grain; being both inscribed on this badge or ticket. Those who did not need this public provision for themselves were permitted to sell their ticket, and the bearer was entitled to the quantum of grain mentioned on it.
4. But the most remarkable of these instruments were the tesserae hospitales, which were given as badges of friendship and alliance, and on which some device was engraved, as a testimony that a contract of friendship had been made between the parties. A small oblong square piece of wood, bone, stone, or ivory, was taken and divided into two equal parts, on which each of the parties wrote his own name, and then interchanged it with the other. This was carefully preserved, and handed down even to posterity in the same family; and by producing this when they traveled, it gave a mutual claim to the bearers of kind reception and hospitable entertainment at each other's houses.
It is to this custom that Plautus refers in his POENULUS, act. v., scen. 2, ver. 80, in the interview between Agorastocles, and his unknown uncle Hanno.
HANNO. - O mi popularis, salve! AGORASTOCLES. - Et tu edepol, quisquis es. Et si quid opus est, quaeso, die atque impera, Popularitatis caussa.
HAN. - Habeo gratiam. Verum ego hic hospitium habeo: Antidamae filium Quaero; commonstra, si novisti, Agorastoclem. Ecquem adolescentem tu hic novisti Agorastoclem? AGOR. - Siquidem tu Antidamarchi quaeris adoptatitium, Ego sum ipsus, quem tu quaeris.
HAN. - Hem! quid ego audio? AGOR. - Antidamae gnatum me esse.
HAN. - si ita est, tesseram Conferre si vis hospitalem, eccam adtuli.
AGOR. - Agedum huc ostende; est par probe: nam habeo domi.
HAN. - O mi hospes, salve multum! nam mihi tuus pater, Pater tuus ergo, hospes Antidamas fuit. Haec mihi hospitalis tessera cum illo fuit.
AGOR. - Ergo hic apud me hospitium tibi praebebitur. Nam haud repudio hospitium, neque Carthaginem: Inde sum oriundus.
HAN. - Di dent tibi omnes quae velis.
HANNO. - Hail, my countryman! AGORASTOCLES. - I hail thee also, in the name of Pollux, whosoever thou art. And if thou have need of any thing, speak, I beseech thee; and thou shalt obtain what thou askest, for civility's sake.
HANNO. - I thank thee, but I have a lodging here; I seek the son of Antidamas. Tell me if thou knowest Agorastocles. Dost thou know in this place the young Agorastocles? AGORASTOCLES. - If thou seek the adopted son of Antidamarchus, I am the person whom thou seekest.
HANNO. - Ha! What do I hear? AGORASTOCLES. - Thou hearest that I am the son of Antidamas.
HANNO. - If it be so, compare, if thou pleasest, the hospitable tessera; here it is, I have brought it with me.
AGORASTOCLES. - Come then, reach it hither: it is the exact counterpart; I have the other at home.
HANNO. - O my friend, I am very glad to see thee, for thy father was my friend; therefore Antidamas thy father was my guest. I divided this hospitable tessera with him.
AGORASTOCLES. - Therefore, a lodging shall be provided for thee with me; I reverence hospitality, and I love Carthage, where I was born.
HANNO. - May all the gods grant thee whatsoever thou wishest! The tessera taken in this sense, seems to have been a kind of tally; and the two parts were compared together to ascertain the truth. Now it is very probable that St. John may allude to this; for on this mode of interpretation every part of the verse is consistent. 1. The word yhfov does not necessarily signify a stone of any kind, but a suffrage, sentence, decisive vote; and in this place seems answerable to the tessera. The tessera which Hanno had, he tells us in his Punic language, was inscribed with the image or name of his god. "Sigillum hospitii mei est tabula sculpta, conjus sculptura est Deus meus. This is the interpretation of the Punic words at the beginning of the above 5th act of the Poenulus, as given by Bochart. 2. The person who held it had a right to entertainment in the house of him who originally gave it; for it was in reference to this that the friendly contract was made. 3. The names of the contracting persons, or some device, were written on the tessera, which commemorated the friendly contract; and as the parts were interchanged, none could know that name or device, or the reason of the contract, but he who received it.
4. This, when produced, gave the bearer a right to the offices of hospitality; he was accommodated with food, lodging, &c., as far as these were necessary; and to this the eating of the hidden manna may refer.
But what does this mean in the language of Christ? 1. That the person is taken into an intimate state of friendship with him. 2. That this contract is witnessed to the party by some especial token, sign, or seal, to which he may have recourse to support his claim, and identify his person. This is probably what is elsewhere called the earnest of the Spirit; see the note on Eph. i. 14, and the places there referred to. He then who has received and retains the witness of the Spirit that he is adopted into the heavenly family, may humbly claim, in virtue of it, his support of the bread and water of life; the hidden manna - every grace of the Spirit of God; and the tree of life-immortality, or the final glorification of his body and soul throughout eternity. 3. By this state of grace into which he is brought he acquires a new name, the name of child of God; the earnest of the Spirit, the tessera, which he has received, shows him this new name. 4. And this name of child of God no man can know or understand, but he who has received the tessera or Divine witness. 5. As his Friend and Redeemer may be found everywhere, because he fills the heavens and the earth, everywhere he may, on retaining this tessera, claim direction, succour, support, grace, and glory; and therefore the privileges of him who overcometh are the greatest and most glorious that can be imagined.
For a farther account of the tessera of the ancients, as well as for engravings of several, see Graevii Thesaur.; Pitisci Lexic.; and Poleni Supplement; and the authors to whom these writers refer.
The Epistle to the Church at Thyatira.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear , etc.] (See Gill on Revelation 2:7). To him that overcometh ; the Balaamites and Nicolaitans, and do not give in to the doctrines and practices of the one, or of the other, whatever persecution and trouble he meets with, and endures on that account: will I give to eat of the hidden manna ; in opposition to eating things sacrificed to idols, refused by him. The allusion is to the manna which the Israelites ate of in the wilderness, which may be called hidden: either because they knew not what it was, when they first saw it; or because it was laid up in a golden pot, and put in the most holy place, where it was secret, and none but the high priest could see it, and who entered there but once a year: or rather, because it was at first, hidden under the dew; for according to the account the Jews give of it, a dew first fell upon the ground, then the manna upon that, and then another dew upon the manna; so that there was a dew under it, and a dew over it; insomuch that it was as if it was laid up, they say, in a box or chests f83 ; and they supposed the manna had respect to things future and do expect it in the times of the Messiah. They say f85 , as the first, so the last Redeemer will cause manna to descend from heaven; and the clouds are by them reckoned the mills which will grind manna for the righteous in the world to come f86 : yea, they speak of amts anm , hidden manna, as the food of the righteous, the very phrase here used. Now this being the food of the children of Israel in the wilderness, is very fitly mentioned here; since the church, in this period of time, in which antichrist arose, was obliged to flee into the wilderness, and there abide during his reign, and where she is nourished with this hidden manna; by which may be meant the Gospel, which is soul quickening, comforting, strengthening, and satisfying food, by which the saints are nourished up unto everlasting life, and which is hid to the world, which the men of it know nothing of; and especially Jesus Christ, the sum and substance of it, may be meant, and that secret spiritual consolation enjoyed in communion with him, and by eating him, or feeding by faith upon him; in what respects Christ may be compared to manna, (see Gill on John 6:32). And he may be said to be hidden, because he is unknown to men, until revealed; and is wholly hidden from carnal and unregenerate men, and is enjoyed only by believers; and it may denote the private way, in which the true church of Christ had communion with him in his word and ordinances in the wilderness, and during the dark times of Popery. Philo the Jew often interprets the manna by the Logos, the Word of God, the most ancient Word of God. And will give him a white stone . The phrase, to add a white stone, with the Latins, is used to give one's approbation of anything; and could it be applied here, might signify the approbation Christ gives of his church and people here, amidst the testimonies they bear, and the persecutions they endure for his name's sake, and that which he will give of them before his Father, angels, and men, at the last day: white stones were used on various accounts. The Grecians used them to mark good or lucky days with them, as they called them; and could the allusion be thought to be to this custom, the sense would be, that Christ promises, to his people that overcome, happy days, after the times of Popish darkness and persecution were over: white stones were also given to the conquerors in the Olympic games, with their names upon them, and the value of the prize they won; and, here applied, may respect the crown of life and glory given to them who are more than conquerors through Christ, with their right and title to it, and the excellency of it. The Romans in judgment used to give their suffrages for condemnation by casting black stones into the urn, and for absolution white stones; to which Ovid has respect, when he says f89 , Mos erat antiquis, niveis atrisque lapillis, His damnare reos, illis absolvere culpa.
And this is thought by many to be referred to here, and may denote, that though the pure members of Christ, and who abhorred and protested against the abominations of the church of Rome, were charged with heresy and schism, and what not, yet Christ would absolve them, and justify them from all those charges. But rather the allusion is to a custom among the Jews, who used to examine the priests and Levites before they went to their service, or to the sanhedrim, to judge and pass sentence, whether their ways and works were right; and if they were as they should be, they gave them adqmd armwj , the stone of the sanctuary: if not, they might not enter on business, as it is said; and of Levi he said, thy Urim and thy Thummim be with thy Holy One, ( Deuteronomy 33:8) f90 . Now on the Urim and Thummim, the stones in the high priest's breastplate, were engraven the names of the children of Israel; and, as the Jews say, the name Jehovah, to which reference may be had in the following clause; and may denote that the church, though in the wilderness, is regarded by Christ, is bore upon his heart and cared for by him; and also its spotless purity in him, and justification by him. And in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth [it] ; by this name may be meant, either the name of Jehovah our righteousness, which is the name both of Christ, and of his church, ( Jeremiah 23:6 33:16), or the name of a child of God, sometimes called a new name; (see Isaiah 56:5 62:2); and so designs the blessing of adoption; this may be said to be a new name, because renewed, manifested to, and put upon the people of God, when they are made new creatures, though provided in predestination, and in the covenant of grace from eternity; and because a renowned and excellent one, better than that of the sons and daughters of the greatest prince on earth; and because a wonderful one, being an instance of amazing love and grace; and is what no man knoweth, but the receiver of it; the Father of these adopted ones is unknown to natural men; and so is Christ, through whom this blessing is bestowed; and the Spirit of God also, who witnesses to it; and the persons that enjoy it, and the blessing itself, and the inheritance to which they are adopted: and this new name being on the white stone, may show that the blessings of justification and adoption, though they are two distinct ones, yet they are inseparable: they go together, and both give a right to the heavenly inheritance; and they are also, as well as the hidden manna, gifts of free grace, and not owing to the works and merit of men, and are given by Christ, and in and through him. At Rome, some white stones have been dug up, some lesser, some greater, with names and letters, and other engravings upon them, which Pignorius has given the figures of; and to such some have thought the allusion here is, and may serve to illustrate this passage. The Ethiopic version, instead of a white stone, reads, a famous book.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 12-17 - The word of God is a sword, able to slay both sin and sinners. It turn and cuts every way; but the believer need not fear this sword; yet thi confidence cannot be supported without steady obedience. As our Lor notices all the advantages and opportunities we have for duty in the places where we dwell, so he notices our temptations an discouragements from the same causes. In a situation of trials, the church of Pergamos had not denied the faith, either by open apostacy or by giving way so as to avoid the cross. Christ commends their stedfastness, but reproves their sinful failures. A wrong view of gospel doctrine and Christian liberty, was a root of bitterness from which evil practices grew. Repentance is the duty of churches an bodies of men, as well as of particular persons; those who sin together, should repent together. Here is the promise of favour to those that overcome. The influences and comforts of the Spirit of Christ, come down from heaven into the soul, for its support. This i hidden from the rest of the world. The new name is the name of adoption; when the Holy Spirit shows his own work in the believer' soul, this new name and its real import are understood by him.
Greek Textus Receptus
ο 3588 εχων 2192 5723 ους 3775 ακουσατω 191 5657 τι 5101 το 3588 πνευμα 4151 λεγει 3004 5719 ταις 3588 εκκλησιαις 1577 τω 3588 νικωντι 3528 5723 δωσω 1325 5692 αυτω 846 φαγειν 5315 5629 απο 575 του 3588 μαννα 3131 του 3588 κεκρυμμενου 2928 5772 και 2532 δωσω 1325 5692 αυτω 846 ψηφον 5586 λευκην 3022 και 2532 επι 1909 την 3588 ψηφον 5586 ονομα 3686 καινον 2537 γεγραμμενον 1125 5772 ο 3739 ουδεις 3762 εγνω 1097 5627 ει 1487 μη 3361 ο 3588 λαμβανων 2983 5723
Vincent's NT Word Studies
17. To eat. Omit.Of the hidden manna (tou manna tou kekrummenou). The allusion may be partly to the pot of manna which was laid up in the ark in the sanctuary. See Exod. xvi. 32-34; compare Heb. ix. 4. That the imagery of the ark was familiar to John appears from chapter xi. 19. This allusion however is indirect, for the manna laid up in the ark was not for food, but was a memorial of food once enjoyed. Two ideas seem to be combined in the figure:
1. Christ as the bread from heaven, the nourishment of the life of believers, the true manna, of which those who eat shall never die (John vi. 31-43; 48-51); hidden, in that He is withdrawn from sight, and the Christian's life is hid with Him in God (Col. iii. 3). 2. The satisfaction of the believer's desire when Christ shall be revealed. The hidden manna shall not remain for ever hidden. We shall see Christ as He is, and be like Him (1 John iii. 2). Christ gives the manna in giving Himself "The seeing of Christ as He is, and, through this beatific vision, being made like to Him, is identical with the eating of the hidden manna, which shall, as it were, be then brought forth from the sanctuary, the holy of holies of God's immediate presence where it was withdrawn from sight so long, that all may partake of it; the glory of Christ, now shrouded and concealed, being then revealed to His people" (Trench).
This is one of numerous illustrations of the dependence of Revelation upon Old Testament history and prophecy. "To such an extent is this the case," says Professor Milligan, "that it may be doubted whether it contains a single figure not drawn from the Old Testament, or a single complete sentence not more or less built up of materials brought from the same source." See, for instance, Balaam (ii. 14); Jezebel (ii. 20); Michael (xii. 7, compare Dan. x. 13; xii. 1); Abaddon (ix. 11); Jerusalem, Mt. Zion, Babylon, the Euphrates, Sodom, Egypt (xxi. 2; 14.:1; xvi. 19; ix. 14; xi. 8); Gog and Magog (xx. 8, compare Ezekiel 38, 39.). Similarly, the tree of life, the sceptre of iron, the potter's vessels, the morning-star (ii. 7,17, 27, 28). Heaven is described under the figure of the tabernacle in the wilderness (xi. 1, 19; vi. 9; viii. 3; xi. 19; iv. 6). The song of the redeemed is the song of Moses (xv. 3). The plagues of Egypt appear in the blood, fire, thunder, darkness and locusts (chapter 8). "The great earthquake of chapter 6. is taken from Haggai; the sun becoming black as sackcloth of hair and the moon becoming blood (chapter 8) from Joel: the stars.
