The Meaning of Revelation 3:19 Explained

Revelation 3:19

KJV: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

YLT: 'As many as I love, I do convict and chasten; be zealous, then, and reform;

Darby: I rebuke and discipline as many as I love; be zealous therefore and repent.

ASV: As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

As many as  I love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten:  be zealous  therefore,  and  repent. 

What does Revelation 3:19 Mean?

Context Summary

Revelation 3:14-22 - "i Stand At The Door And Knock"
It is better to be cold than lukewarm, for in the latter case all that God's love can do for the soul has only produced a moderate result, while if we are cold, our soul has yet to be tried. The Gospel has a better chance with the openly profane and godless than with those who have been brought up under its influence and are so far unaffected. The mischief with men generally is that they do not know themselves, and do not want to know; and they are equally ignorant of the rich stores of blessedness that Christ waits to bestow. We think that we abound in gift and grace, when in Christ's eyes we are most pitiable. Yet, at this moment, He is standing at the door, laden with the gifts of heaven. Admit Him, or at least lift the latch of the will, so that He may push the door back and enter. Do not attempt to deal with the squalor within; He will see to that, and cleanse, keep, and enrich. Do not try to provide supper; He will bring thee His own flesh and blood.
Ponder that last beatitude, which promises to all believers that if they share with Him His age-long conflict against the evil of the world, they shall share His rule and power, which they shall use with Him for the uplift and blessing of mankind. Complete and continually renewed self-surrender to Christ will admit into our hearts the royalty and power of Christ. [source]

Chapter Summary: Revelation 3

1  The angel of the church of Sardis is reproved and exhorted to repent
7  The angel of the church of Philadelphia is approved for his diligence and patience;
14  the angel of Laodicea rebuked for being neither hot nor cold
20  Christ stands at the door and knocks

Greek Commentary for Revelation 3:19

Be zealous [ζηλευε]
Present active imperative of ζηλευω — zēleuō in good sense (from ζηλοσ ζεω — zēlosζηλοω — zeō to boil), in opposition to their lukewarmness, here only in N.T. (elsewhere μετανοησον — zēloō), “keep on being zealous.”Repent (μετανοεω — metanoēson). Ingressive first aorist active imperative of metanoeō f0). [source]
Repent [μετανοεω]
Ingressive first aorist active imperative of metanoeō f0). [source]
As many as I love []
In the Greek order I stands first as emphatic. [source]
Rebuke [ἐλέγχω]
See on John 3:20. Rev., reprove. [source]
Chasten [παιδεύω]
See on Luke 23:16. [source]
Be zealous [ζήλευε]
The verb is akin to ζεστός hotin Revelation 3:16, on which see note. [source]
Repent []
See on Matthew 3:2; see on Matthew 20:29. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Revelation 3:19

Luke 23:16 Chastise [παιδεύσας]
Originally to bring up a child ( παῖς ). Hence, to instruct; so Acts 7:22, of Moses instructed in the wisdom of the Egyptians; and Acts 22:3, of Paul instructed in the law. To discipline orcorrect, as Hebrews 12:6, Hebrews 12:7. The word is not synonymous with punish, since it always implies an infliction which contemplates the subject's amendment; and hence answers to chastise or chasten. So Hebrews 12:10; Revelation 3:19. In popular speech chastise and punish are often confounded. Chasten is from the Latin castus, “pure,” “chaste;” and to chasten is, properly, to purify. This meaning underlies even the use of the word by Pilate, who was not likely to be nice in his choice of words. Instead of punishing him with death, he will chastise him, in order to teach him better. So Wyc., I shall deliver him amended. [source]
John 3:20 Lest his works should be reproved [ἵνα μὴ ἐλεγχθῇ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ]
Rather, in order that his works may not be reproved. Ελέγχω , rendered reprove, has several phases of meaning. In earlier classical Greek it signifies to disgrace or put to shame. Thus Ulysses, having succeeded in the trial of the bow, says to Telemachus, “the stranger who sits in thy halls disgraces ( ἐλέγχει ) thee not” (“Odyssey, xxi., 424). Then, to cross-examine or question, for the purpose of convincing, convicting, or refuting; to censure, accuse. So Herodotus: “In his reply Alexander became confused, and diverged from the truth, whereon the slaves interposed, confuted his statements ( ἤλεγχον , cross-questioned and caught him in falsehood), and told the whole history of the crime” (i., 115). The messenger in the “Antigone” of Sophocles, describing the consternation of the watchmen at finding Polynices' body buried, says: “Evil words were bandied among them, guard accusing ( ἐλέγχων ) guard” (260). Of arguments, to bring to the proof; prove; prove by a chain of reasoning. It occurs in Pindar in the general sense of to conquer or surpass. “Having descended into the naked race they surpassed ( ἤλεγξαν ) the Grecian band in speed (“Pythia,” xi., 75). In the New Testament it is found in the sense of reprove (Luke 3:19; 1 Timothy 5:20, etc.). Convince of crime or fault (1 Corinthians 14:24; James 2:9). To bring to light or expose by conviction (James 5:20; Ephesians 5:11, Ephesians 5:13; John 8:46; see on that passage). So of the exposure of false teachers, and their refutation (Titus 1:9, Titus 1:13; Titus 2:15). To test and expose with a view to correction, and so, nearly equivalent to chasten (Hebrews 12:5). The different meanings unite in the word convict. Conviction is the result of examination, testing, argument. The test exposes and demonstrates the error, and refutes it, thus convincing, convicting, and rebuking the subject of it. This conviction issues in chastening, by which the error is corrected and the erring one purified. If the conviction is rejected, it carries with it condemnation and punishment. The man is thus convicted of sin, of right, and of judgment (John 16:8). In this passage the evil-doer is represented as avoiding the light which tests, that light which is the offspring of love (Revelation 3:19) and the consequent exposure of his error. Compare Ephesians 5:13; John 1:9-11. This idea of loving darkness rather than light is graphically treated in Job href="/desk/?q=job+24:13-17&sr=1">Job 24:13-17. -DIVIDER-
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What do the individual words in Revelation 3:19 mean?

I as many as if might love I rebuke and discipline be zealous therefore repent
ἐγὼ ὅσους ἐὰν φιλῶ ἐλέγχω καὶ παιδεύω ζήλευε οὖν μετανόησον

ὅσους  as  many  as 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: ὅσος  
Sense: as great as, as far as, how much, how many, whoever.
φιλῶ  might  love 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: φιλέω  
Sense: to love.
ἐλέγχω  I  rebuke 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐλέγχω  
Sense: to convict, refute, confute.
παιδεύω  discipline 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: παιδεύω  
Sense: to train children.
ζήλευε  be  zealous 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ζηλεύω 
Sense: to burn with zeal.
μετανόησον  repent 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: μετανοέω  
Sense: to change one’s mind, i.