The Nicolaitans are the people whose works and teaching Jesus hates.
You hate the works of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate.
You have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Therefore repent.
Scripture names them twice, both times in the letters to the churches. Ephesus hates their works, and Jesus hates those works too. Pergamum has some who hold their teaching, set beside the teaching of Balaam, food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality. That is the biblical portrait. A later guess tied the name to Nicolaus of Antioch, one of the seven. The text does not say that. What it says is enough. He hates the works. He calls the church to repent of the teaching.
They belong with the seven letters. A hated work is not a small local custom. Ephesus was right to hate it. Pergamum was wrong to hold it.
Ephesus hated the works.
He hates them too.
Pergamum held the teaching.
Repent.
You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
You have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Therefore repent.
Do not build a history the letter does not give. Hate the works He hates. Do not hold the teaching. Repent.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.