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14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam,[a] who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block[b] before the people[c] of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 2:14 sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.
  2. Revelation 2:14 tn That is, a cause for sinning. An alternate translation is “who instructed Balak to cause the people of Israel to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols…”
  3. Revelation 2:14 tn Grk “sons,” but the expression υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ (huioi Israēl) is an idiom for the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (see L&N 11.58).
  4. Revelation 2:14 tn Due to the actual events in the OT (Num 22-24; 31:16), πορνεῦσαι (porneusai) is taken to mean “sexual immorality.” BDAG 854 s.v. πορνεύω 1 states, “engage in illicit sex, to fornicate, to whore…W. φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα ‘eat meat offered to idols’ Rv 2:14, 20.”

14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you:(A) There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,(B) who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols(C) and committed sexual immorality.(D)

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