Fathers

Revelation 1

Tap a verse to read the Fathers. Press and hold, then drag, to make a card.

This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John, who testified to God’s word and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand. John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood— and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” I John, your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lamp stands. And among the lamp stands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters. He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades. Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lamp stands are seven assemblies.

About · Privacy · Credits · Support VRSZ

What the Fathers say

Revelation 1:13

Eastern Fathers

Oecumenius

And he says that "in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like a son of man"; for if the Lord Himself promises to dwell and walk among the souls that received Him, how would He not be "seen in the midst of the lampstands"? He says that the "Son of Man," Christ, who humbled himself for us "taking the form of a servant," (Philip. 2:7) became the fruit of the womb according to the divine melody (Ps. …

Commentary on Revelation ↗

Dionysius bar Salibi

Clothed in a robe—Covering the feet and complete, or a garment that descends all the way to the feet. The Syrian version calls the robe an ephod. Son of Man—God the Word is called by this name when he became flesh in accordance with what he was made. He is now called Son of Man, although he is God, because he became man without change. Again, he is called Son of Man, because he was the son of that new man who existed before the transgression of the commandment. …

Commentary On The Apocalypse 1:13 ↗

Western Saints

Bede

And girt about the paps with a golden girdle. He calls the two testaments the paps, with which He nourishes the holy body connected to Him. For the golden girdle is the chorus of saints, adhering to the Lord with concordant charity, embracing and keeping the testaments (as the Apostle says) in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephes. IV).

Commentary on Revelation ↗

Bonaventure

These Centers are the "seven golden lamp-stands," and Christ "in the midst of the seven lamp-stands," which are the seven illuminations of wisdom, that is, the metaphysical, the natural, the mathematical, the logical, the ethical, the political, and the theological. These are the "seven eyes" of the Lamb, and the seven days that followed upon the first light.

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 1 ↗

Victorinus of Pettau

"As it were the Son of man walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks." He says, in the midst of the churches, as it is said in Solomon, "I will walk in the midst of the paths of the just," whose antiquity is immortality, and the fountain of majesty. "Clothed with a garment down to the ankles." In the long, that is, the priestly garment, these words very plainly deliver the flesh which was not corrupted in death, and has the priesthood through suffering. …

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John ↗