The term ἄγγελος may be used generally of anyone who brings a message or an announcement; it is applied even to birds, such as the nightingale (“a messenger of Zeus,” Soph. El. 149).

More specifically, the word means “envoy,” an ambassador in human affairs who speaks and acts in the place of the one who has sent him (see ἀγγέλλω G33).

The LXX uses the term ἄγγελος well over 300×. It can have the general sense of “messenger,” esp. in the historical books (e.g., Josh 7:22; 1 Sam 16:21), but it also takes on the specialized sense of “angel.”

The word ἄγγελος occurs 175× in the NT and is esp. frequent in the book of Revelation (67×), the Synoptics (51×), and Acts (21×). It is rarely used of human messengers (Luke 7:24; 9:52; Jas 2:25; and a quotation from Mal 3:1 in Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27).

Angels are representatives of the heavenly world and God’s messengers

There is disagreement regarding the identity of “the angels of the seven churches” (Rev 1:20 et al.; for the options see G. R. Osborne, Revelation [2002], 98–99), but most modern scholars believe that the phrase does refer to heavenly beings who look over, and act as representatives of, the congregations.

This is not the private student but the public reader, the ἀναγνώστης or lector, as the sing. ὁ ἀναγινώσκων as opposed to the plural οἱ ἀκούοντες shows.

This practice of reading at public worship was adopted from the Jews: cf. Neh. 8:2; Ex. 24:7; Luke 4:16; Acts 13:15; 2 Cor. 3:15. Amongst the Jews the Scripture lessons from the Law and the Prophets could be read by any member of the congregation, but if any priests or Levites were present they took precedence.

Reads here means ‘reads aloud’, and in view of the context there is no real doubt but that reading in church is meant.

John anticipates the public reading of the epistle he now addresses to “the seven churches which are in Asia” (v. 4), in the presence of the assembled members of each congregation (cf. Col. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:27)

The implied command that the Revelation be read in the churches of Asia suggests that its messages began to be applicable to the church right in John’s day (see on Rev. 1:11).

The church reader (ἀναγνωστης [anagnōstēs], lector) gradually acquired an official position. John expects this book to be read in each of the seven churches mentioned (1:4) and elsewhere. Today

The setting implied is a local congregation. In a time of little literacy, one oral reader (he who reads) addressed many listeners (those who hear it).

The words imply a public, official reading, in full religious assembly for worship.

There are several theories: (1) some have asserted that these were the churches that John had a special ministering relationship with; (2) others have asserted that they form a postal route in the Roman Province of Asia; and (3) the number seven had great significance to the Jews, especially in inter-biblical apocalyptic literature.

In the early church, one person read the Scriptures to the congregation. He was the lector, here referred to lit., as “the messenger of the church” (see note on 2:1).

Since there were, in the Roman province of Asia, more than the seven churches, it seems likely that the seven churches represent the entire church throughout the province, if not the Roman world.

ἀναγινώσκων is the proper word for reading aloud. The apostolic Epistles were thus read, first by the Churches to which they were addressed, then by others in the neighbourhood (Col. 4:16)

That there were more than seven churches in the province of Asia is clear from the fact that two other churches in that region, those at Colossae and at Hierapolis, are also mentioned in the NT (see Col. 1:2; 4:13).

The names of the seven churches of 1:4 are now given, and the particular message to each church comes in chapters 2 and 3 and in the same order, the geographical order going north from Ephesus, then east and south to Laodicea. But apparently the whole book was to be read to each of the seven churches. It would probably also be copied at each church.

The seven churches will each receive the entire scroll, perhaps making a handwritten copy for their own continuing encouragement. The message will be read aloud to the members of the churches.

The order may indicate the route taken by the messenger who was to carry the book [EC, Sw, TH, TNTC]. All seven letters were to be read at each church [NIC]. The seven churches were apparently churches with the most representative spiritual situations [EC].

On that basis it has been suggested that the term ἐκκλησία has its origin in the practice of the herald’s calling people “out of” their homes to meet in public assembly; alternatively, the idea is that of citizens (as opp. to those without civic rights) being summoned out of the general population

One must however keep in mind that, although συναγωγή was orig. a technical term for the Jewish assembly, it came to be regarded in time as the “symbol of the Jewish religion of law and tradition”

The primitive Christian ἐκκλησία understood itself as the herald of the lordship of Christ, which was approaching with the imminently expected parousia and was already being realized in their midst (cf. Cullmann, Early Church, 126ff.).

In Revelation, on the other hand, ἐκκλησία, as in Acts, means the congregation that has grown up, exists, and meets in a partic. place

Some have thought that the ἄγγελος G34 of each church should be understood not only as guardian angel and messenger, but also as the embodiment of the essential characteristics of the congregation and therefore distinct from the historical reality (cf. E. Lohmeyer, Die Offenbarung des Johannes, 2nd ed. [1953], 20).

The identical concluding statement in each letter makes what has been said with ref. to each partic. local church binding for all other ἐκκλησίαι.

Angels. Gr. aggeloi, literally, “messengers,” whether celestial or human. Aggeloi is applied to human beings in Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:24, 27; 9:52; cf. 2 Cor. 12:7. It has been suggested that the “angels” of the seven churches are their respective elders, or overseers, in John’s time, and that the Lord was addressing the messages to them for transmission to their respective congregations. However, except for possibly the “angels” of the seven churches, the word aggeloi never refers to human beings in some 75 instances where John uses it in the Revelation. Whether it does so here is not clear from the context. However, it seems unlikely that God would send messages to literal angels through John, and the identification of these “angels” with the leaders of the churches is therefore to be preferred (cf. GW 13, 14; AA 586).

The word angel means ‘messenger’ and can be used of human messengers (Luke 7:24; 9:52).

So it is suggested that the expression may point to the essential ‘spirit’ of the churches.

The basic structural features shared by the messages are an opening consisting of (a) the command to write “the angel” of a given church; (b) a pronouncement formula “thus says” (tade legei); and (c) descriptions of Christ. This is followed by the main body involving (d) a description and evaluation of the circumstances faced by the church, varied in content but always beginning with “I know …” (oida), and a conclusion which contains (e) a summons to heed what “the Spirit says to the churches” combined with a promise to “the one who conquers” (2:7, 11, 17, 26–29; 3:5–6, 12–13, 21–22).

Nevertheless, noting the oddity of John mediating as a scribe between Christ and heavenly beings, a number of commentators have argued that the “angel” of each congregation must be human, whether messengers or prophets sent from John or local church leaders (e.g., Kiddle 1940: 16–17; Kraft 1974: 51; Müller 1995: 87–89).

Most interpreters, wishing to retain the notion of a church official, have argued that “angel” is the product of literary fiction in which an “angel” is constructed to function as a celestial counterpart to the leader or prophet in each of the congregations (e.g., Schüssler-Fiorenza 1985: 145–46).

He speaks of these as (1) heavenly guardians of the church, (2) human representatives of those churches, generally identified as their bishops or pastors, (3) personifications of the churches themselves, (4) literally human messengers who were perhaps the postmen, or (5) usage of the term in “some complex and elusive way or at differing levels” so that no lexical equivalent tells the whole story.

While the evidence favoring the view that the messengers here are to be equated with the pastors of the churches is also scant, hinging upon use in classical Greek literature and the Septuagint where the word aggelos is used to represent a human messenger rather than a spirit messenger, nevertheless, such an exigency in the use of language would not be out of character in the Apocalypse.

4. The rulers and teachers of the congregation. These are compared by Daniel (12:3) to stars. See Mal. 2:7, where the priest is called the messenger (angel) of the Lord; and 3:1, where the same word is used of the prophet. See also Hag. 1:13. Under this interpretation two views are possible. (a) The angels are Bishops; the word ἄγγελος sometimes occurring in that sense (as in Jerome and Socrates). This raises the question of the existence of episcopacy towards the close of the first century.* (b) The word is used of the ministry collectively; the whole board of officers, including both presbyters and deacons, who represented and were responsible for the moral condition of the churches. See Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Pet. 5:1–5.

the angel of the church. The word for “angel” is angelos [32, 34]; it means “messenger.” I think it has been incorrectly translated “angel” here and in many other translations. Jesus was addressing not a supernatural being, but that person in each community who represented the community before God; he was speaking to a human messenger

One of those roles was to lead the congregation in prayer and to represent the community before God. This person was known as “the messenger of the congregation,” the “shaliakh tsibbur” (cf. m. Berakhot 5:5; Jastrow 2006:1274, 1583).

The Greek word angelos is often translated “messenger”—whether heavenly or earthly. This sense is surely in mind here. Each letter traces the following route:

Jesus → John → messenger →church

Who were these messengers? The best suggestion is that they were pastors. The responsibility of pastors is to “shepherd the flock” entrusted to their care. What could be more pastoral than to convey safely a direct message from Christ, the great Shepherd?

He that hath an ear (ὁ ἐχων οὐς [ho echōn ous]). An individualizing note calling on each of the hearers (1:3) to listen (2:7, 11, 17, 28; 3:3, 6, 13, 22) and a reminiscence of the words of Jesus in the Synoptics (Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8; 14:35), but not in John’s Gospel.

He who has an ear … occurs in each of the letters. It stresses the continuous activity of the Spirit and is a call to attention. There is a similarity in our Lord’s formula (Mark 4:9; etc.) though he uses the plural, while the singular is found in Revelation. The expression is a personal challenge. The plural churches shows that the message is not only for those Asian Christians so long ago but for every one who ‘has an ear’. In each letter Christ is the speaker but we are told what the Spirit says: ‘the word of Christ is the word of the Spirit’ (Beasley-Murray).

It shows that the message is addressed not only to the believers at Ephesus, but to all seven churches [TH], and not only to the seven but to the entire body of believers [EC, ICC, LD, Lns]. It shows that the message was intended for anyone who wanted to hear it [TNTC].

The one “who has an ear” is the church member who both hears and heeds the message as it is read in the congregation

The fact that all the churches are to listen to what is being said to each church highlights the probability that the seven churches represent the totality of the Christian community in the world.

“The one having ears, let him hear” is based on virtually the same wording in the Synoptic Gospels, which itself alludes to Isa. 6:9–10 (cf. also Ezek. 3:27; 12:2; Jer. 5:21; see further below).

For the churches (ἐπι ταις ἐκκλησιαις [epi tais ekklēsiais]). For this use of ἐπι [epi] see 10:11; John 12:16. It is not just for the seven churches (1:4), but for all the churches in the world then and now.

QUESTION—To what does the phrase ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ‘the churches’ refer?

1. It refers to the seven churches of Asia of chapters 2 and 3 [Be, EC, ICC, TH, WBC]. This phrase occurs thirteen times in Revelation and in each place it refers to the seven churches of Asia [WBC]. Although it refers to the seven churches of Asia, the message is intended for the whole church [Be, EC].

2. It refers to the whole Church of believers in general [Hu, Sw]. The seven churches represent all churches everywhere [Hu].

(3) It is also possible that the “you” refers to church authorities or prophets (including John or mediators of his message) who have positions of authority in relation to the churches, either the seven local churches or the church universally considered: “to testify these things to you over the churches.”

This means that the “you” is not identical to “the churches” but refers to prophets communicating to the churches. The primary linguistic evidence supporting a different identification is that the ἐπί indicates that ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις (“the churches”) is more distant from the action described by the infinitive than is the ὑμῖν (“you”).

The noun ἐπίσκοπος (built on σκοπός G5024, “one who watches,” but also “the thing watched”) occurs already in Homer a handful of times with the meaning “one who watches over” and is applied to spies (Il. 10.38), to ship captains in charge of cargo (Od. 8.163), and esp. to the gods who, as witnesses of human covenants, act as overseers or guardians (Il. 22.255).

It was the title of officials (with minor judicial functions) sent from Athens to dependent states to ensure order or to fix their constitutions.

The term usually refers to individuals in various positions of authority (e.g., Num 31:14; Judg 9:28), but in one passage it is used fig. of the power exercised by peace (Isa 60:17).

We are more likely to find such an office foreshadowed in the מְבַקֵּר (pi. ptc. from בָּקַר; see above), i.e., the overseer of the community in Qumran (e.g., 1QS VI, 12, 20; prob. the same as the פָּקִּיד in line 14).

Out of these 22 occurrences of the word group as a whole, 10 are found in Luke-Acts and 3 in 1 Peter (which also has the rare double compound ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος G258, of uncertain meaning, 1 Pet 4:15 [NIV, “meddler”]).

Moreover, the term ἐπίσκοπος is applied to the exalted Christ when he is described as “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Pet 2:25).

Oversight means loving care and concern, a responsibility willingly shouldered; it must never be used for personal aggrandizement. Its meaning is to be seen in Christ’s selfless service, which was moved by concern for the salvation of sinners.

One may infer that “episcopal” supervision is the duty of the fellowship and not of a special priestly order.

Its use with ref. to oversight in the Christian congregations is to be seen in the context of the application of all Christ’s work to the church. In other words, titles of offices in the NT are essentially titles that apply to Christ in the first instance.

The need for pastoral oversight to keep the church in the way of faith was orig. a duty binding on all members. But early on oversight became the task of a special office.

But at first it was prob. synonymous at least with that of shepherd and elder and the ideas associated with them.

The development of the episcopal office marks the transition from the missionary era of the church with its charismatic gifts to an institution with a permanent character. Once the apostles had died out and the teachers and prophets become more rare, it was felt that the expanding church needed a form that would ensure continuity. Monepiscopacy triumphed over shared, collegiate ministry. But the fact that it presented merely one poss. solution is abundantly shown by countermovements in the church’s history

When Paul speaks of the church, which he does in individual letters with different emphases, his starting point is the proclamation of Christ.

The ἐκκλησία appears as the event in which God fulfills his election through a personal call (Rom 8:29–30). For this reason he can speak of the κλητοί, “the called,” when he means the Christian community (e.g., Rom 1:6–7; 1 Cor 1:2; see καλέω G2813).

In any case, it is true that for Paul the ἐκκλησία has its concrete existence as a local, geographic entity. The apostle thus writes, e.g., τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ, “to the church of God that is in Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:2), indicating both that it belongs to God and that it is composed of people in a partic. place (cf. also 1 Thess 1:1).

The fact that a relatively small group in an individual house is called an ἐκκλησία (Phlm 2; 1 Cor 16:19; Rom 16:5; cf. also Col 4:15) indicates that neither the significance of the place nor the numerical size of the assembly determines the use of the term. What counts is the presence of Christ among them (cf. Gal 3:1) and faith nourished by him.

A circular letter therefore to all the churches in the province (both South Galatia and North Galatia if he really laboured there).

This is a circular letter to several congregations. Note the omission of the commendatory words added to the addresses in the two Thessalonian and first Corinthian letters

While the number of churches Paul addresses in Galatians is unknown, the letter suggests they were predominantly Gentiles—that is, non-Jews (Gal 2:8, 14; 4:8–9; 6:13).

The phrase the churches of Galatia indicates this letter was to be read in multiple congregations, as was Revelation (Rv 1:4, 11).

‘The churches of Galatia’ are mentioned again in 1 Cor. 16:1. It has been argued above (pp. 5–18) that the churches addressed here are those of South Galatia, whose founding by Paul and Barnabas is recorded in Acts 13:14–14:23.

It was evidently a circular letter, designed to be taken by a messenger to one of the Galatian churches, then to the next on his itinerary, and so on until each church had heard its contents. If some of the churches wished to make and retain a copy, that could no doubt be done. But Paul apparently did not send several copies, one for each church; his words in 6:11 imply that each church would see the one copy that he sent and take note of the ‘large letters’ that characterized his own handwriting.

the word “church” is used as it is here in Galatians to refer to local congregations of baptized believers who regularly meet for worship and witness.

If the letter is a circular, the question arises as to whether only one copy was sent, or several. If only one copy was sent, presumably the various local churches were expected to hand it on from one to another when read, possibly first making a transcript themselves.

In the second century ἐπισκοπος [episkopos] (Ignatius) came to mean one superior to elders, but not so in the N. T. The two New Testament church officers are here mentioned (bishops or elders and deacons). The plural is here employed because there was usually one church in a city with several pastors (bishops, elders).

The word was originally a secular title, designating commissioners appointed to regulate a newly-acquired territory or a colony.

In the Septuagint it signifies inspectors, superintendents, taskmasters, see 2 Kings 11:19; 2 Chron. 34:12, 17; or captains, presidents, Neh. 11:9, 14, 22.

In the apostolic writings it is synonymous with presbyter or elder; and no official distinction of the episcopate as a distinct order of the ministry is recognized. Rev. has overseers in margin.

Paul makes special mention of the overseers and deacons. Overseers is another term for elders; some translations say “pastor” or “bishop.” These men were the shepherds of the flock who exercised spiritual oversight over the local church (Acts 20:28). Deacons were church leaders that ministered primarily to the physical needs of the people similar to the activities in Acts 6:1–6.

Some commentators (Gnilka, Hawthorne) argue that the terms describe the holders of ecclesiastical office however rudimentary. Others think more of church leaders who exercised a specific responsibility which was assumed by certain Christians in the local church.

The duty of the episkopos in the earlier Pauline churches is clearly set out in Acts 20:28. The word is there translated ‘overseers’ and it is clear that the persons so referred to are those who, in Acts 20:17, are called ‘elders of the church’.

The responsibility of such leaders is that of nourishing and protecting the ‘flock of God’.

They refer to two classes of office bearers [all commentaries except WBC]: to the bishops and the deacons. WBC favors the possibility that ‘bishop’ refers to the office and ‘deacon’ refers to the function of that office: to the overseers who serve

One states that the bishops dealt with internal matters while the deacons dealt with external matters [Bg].

When this epistle hath been read among you (ὁταν ἀναγνωσθῃ παρʼ ὑμιν ἡ ἐπιστολη [hotan anagnōsthēi par’ humin hē epistolē]). Indefinite temporal clause with ὁταν [hotan] (ὁτε ἀν [hote an]) and the first aorist passive subjunctive of ἀναγινωσκω [anaginōskō]. The epistle was read in public to the church (Rev. 1:3).

The most likely meaning is that the so-called Epistle to the Ephesians was a circular letter to various churches in the province of Asia, one copy going to Laodicea and to be passed on to Colossae as the Colossian letter was to be sent on to Laodicea. This was done usually by copying and keeping the original.

Paul himself sends greetings to two other churches via the Colossians: they are to exchange letters with the Laodiceans (cf. 2:1).

Once this letter had been read among the Colossian believers, they were to send it or a copy of it to Laodicea. Paul apparently wrote a letter to the Laodiceans that was also to be read in Colossae.

4:16 Paul makes two requests of the Colossians. The first is that they share his letter with the church in Laodicea. The second is that the Colossian church read the letter that was sent to Laodicea. Both of these letters are apparently relevant to each community and the messages therein conveyed to both churches.

All of Paul’s letters, not just Ephesians (a circular letter), were passed around from church to church and read aloud to the whole congregation. The churches believed that Apostles had a unique, inspired word from God. Their desire to hear all of Paul’s letters written to other churches, and on other occasions, shows how the Bible relates to everyone and every age.

QUESTION—What is meant by ἀναγνωσθῇ ‘has been read’?

It means to be read aloud in public [Ea, EG, Lg, Mrt, My, SSA, TH, TNTC, WBC; TNT]. It refers to the readers’ understanding the message of the author [Lg]. This is an implied command for them to read it [EG]. Paul expected it to be done [WBC]. The implied reader is someone from within the congregation [SSA], the lector [NTC].

QUESTION—What was Paul asking the Colossians to do?

He was asking them to send this epistle, or a copy of it, to Laodicea after it had been read in the assembly in Colosse [Ea, Herm, ICC, My; NJB]. They were to pass it on to Laodicea [EGT, Mrt, NIC, TNTC, WBC; NLT, TNT].