Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 3:20

ἀκούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου καί. These words, attested by all MSS. and versions, are absent from four quotations of Origen, one of Hilary and one of Epiphanius.

ἀνοίξῃ. א reads ἀνοίξω.

εἰσελεύσομαι. With AP; Tisch[141] reads καὶ εἰσελεύσομαι with אB2.

[141] Tischendorf: eighth edition; where the text aud notes differ the latter are cited.

20. ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν καὶ κρούω. The Lord expresses His affection, from which He has intimated that the Laodiceans are not excluded, by this figure of intense and condescending tenderness. It is intended to remind the readers of Song of Solomon 5:2 : but the figure of the lover’s midnight visit is too delicate to bear being represented, as here, with a mixture of the thing signified with the image, especially since the visit is not to the Church, personified as a single female, but to any individual, and of either sex; so it is toned down into a visit from a familiar friend.

ἐάν τις�. It is implied that anyone is sure to hear His knock, and be roused to ask who is there: but only those who love Him will know His voice (as Rhoda did St Peter’s, Acts 12:14) when He says “It is I.”

δειπνήσω. The blessing promised is a secret one to the individual. There can thus hardly be a reference to the Holy Eucharist, which is shared publicly by the whole Church.

μετ ̓ αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς μετ ̓ ἐμοῦ. The sense is, “I will take all he has to give Me, as though I had need of it, and benefited by it (cf. Matthew 25:37-40): but at the same time, it will really be I that give the feast, and he that receives it.” There can hardly be a better illustration than a quaint and touching legend, given in a little book called Patranas, or Spanish Stories, with the title “Where one can dine, two can dine.”

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Revelation 3:20

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