The Meaning of Revelation 2:4 Explained

Revelation 2:4

KJV: Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

YLT: 'But I have against thee: That thy first love thou didst leave!

Darby: but I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love.

ASV: But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Nevertheless  I have  [somewhat] against  thee,  because  thou hast left  thy  first  love. 

What does Revelation 2:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Ephesians , however, were serving Jesus Christ and maintaining orthodoxy as a habit rather than out of fervent love for their Savior (cf. Ephesians 1:15-16). Many commentators, however, took the first love as a reference to the Ephesians" love for one another (cf. Acts 20:35; Ephesians 1:15). [1] Yet the emphasis in all these letters on the congregations" allegiance to Jesus Christ seems to favor the view that love for Him is in view here. Genuine believers are in view. [2] They did what was correct but for the wrong reason. Service and orthodoxy are important, but Jesus Christ wants our love too.
"It is only as we love Christ fervently that we can serve Him faithfully." [3]

Context Summary

Revelation 2:1-7 - Renew Thy First Love
Each of these letters consists of three parts: 1. The introduction, specifying some characteristic from the vision of the preceding chapter, which is appropriate to the need of the church addressed. 2. A description of the condition of the church. 3. A promise to the overcomer, following the successive revelations of God in the Old Testament, which begin with the tree of life and include the manna, the conquest of Canaan, the glory of the Temple, and the reign of Solomon.
We may go far in outward activity for the cause of the Redeemer and yet be threatened with the removal of our candlestick. Full of labor, opposed to wicked men and false teachers, persistently orthodox, not fainting in the day of trial; and yet, if love be wanting, nothing can compensate. Is the complaint true of us, that we have lost our first love? The exuberance of its emotion may have passed with the years, but has it been replaced by a deep, all-constraining, and masterful devotion to our Lord? It is the Spirit's prerogative to shed abroad His love in our hearts and to teach us to love Him. But none of us can acquire that love without perpetually feeding on the Tree of Life, which is the emblem of Himself, Genesis 2:9; Revelation 22:2; Revelation 22:14; Revelation 22:19. [source]

Chapter Summary: Revelation 2

1  What is commanded to be written to the angels, that is, the ministers of the churches of Ephesus,
8  Smyrna,
12  Pergamos,
18  Thyatira, and what is commended and lacking in them

Greek Commentary for Revelation 2:4

This against thee, that [κατα σου οτι]
For the phrase “have against” see Matthew 5:23. The οτι — hoti clause is the object of εχω — echō didst leave First aorist active (kappa aorist, but with ες — ̇es instead of ας — ̇as) of απιημι — aphiēmi a definite and sad departure. [source]
Thy first love [την αγαπην σου την πρωτην]
“Thy love the first.” This early love, proof of the new life in Christ (1 John 3:13.), had cooled off in spite of their doctrinal purity. They had remained orthodox, but had become unloving partly because of the controversies with the Nicolaitans. [source]
Somewhat []
Not in the text, and unnecessary. The following clause is the object of I have. “I have against thee that thou hast left,” etc. “It is indeed a somewhat which the Lord has against the Ephesian Church; it threatens to grow to be an everything; for see the verse following” (Trench). For the phrase have against, see Matthew 5:23; Mark 11:25; Colossians 3:13. [source]
Hast left [ἀφῆκας]
Rev., more correctly, rendering the aorist, didst leave. The verb originally means to send, away or dismiss. See on John 4:3. [source]
First love []
Compare Jeremiah 2:2. The first enthusiastic devotion of the Church to her Lord, under the figure of conjugal love. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Revelation 2:4

Revelation 1:20 Angels [ἄγγελοι]
The exact meaning of the term here is uncertain. The following are the principal interpretations: 1. The officials known as angels or messengers of the synagogue, transferred to the Christian Church. These were mere clerks or readers; so that their position does not answer to that of the angels presiding over the churches. There is, besides, no trace of the transfer of that office to the Christian Church. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
2. Angels proper Heavenly guardians of the churches. This is urged on the ground that the word is constantly used in Revelation of a heavenly being; by reference to the angels of the little ones (Matthew 18:10), and to Peter's angel (Acts 12:15). It is urged that, if an individual may have a guardian angel, so may a Church. Reference is also made to the tutelar national angels of Daniel 10:21; Daniel 12:1. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
But why should the seer be instructed to write to heavenly messengers, with exhortations to repentance and fidelity, and describing them as “rich,” “poor,” “lukewarm,” etc. (Revelation 2:4; Revelation 3:1, Revelation 3:16)?-DIVIDER-
3. The angels are a personification of the churches themselves: the Church being spoken of as if concentrated in its angel or messenger. But in Revelation 1:20, they are explicitly distinguished from the golden candlesticks, the churches. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
4. The rulers ard teachers of the congregation. These are compared by Daniel (Daniel 12:3) to stars. See Malachi 2:7, where the priest is called the messenger (angel) of the Lord; and Malachi 3:1, where the same word is used of the prophet. See also Haggai 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, Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-5. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Dr. Schaff says: “This phraseology of the Apocalypse already looks towards the idea of episcopacy in its primitive form, that is, to a monarchical concentration of governmental form in one person, bearing a patriarchal relation to the congregation, and responsible in an eminent sense for the spiritual condition of the whole … . But even in this case we must insist on an important distinction between the 'angels' of the Book of Revelation and the later diocesan Bishops. For aside from the very limited extent of their charges, as compared with the large territory of most Greek, Roman Catholic, and Anglican Bishops, these angels stood below the Apostles and their legates, and were not yet invested with the great power (particularly the right to confirm and ordain) which fell to the later Bishops after the death of the Apostles … . The angels, accordingly, if we are to understand by them single individuals, must be considered as forming the transition from the presbyters of the apostolic age to the Bishops of the second century” (“History of the Apostolic Church”). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

Revelation 2:3 Didst bear [εβαστασας]
First aorist indicative of βασταζω — bastazō repeated reference to the crisis in Revelation 2:2.And hast not grown weary (και ου κεκοπιακες — kai ou kekopiakes). Perfect active indicative of κοπιαω — kopiaō old verb, to grow weary (Matthew 6:28), play on the word κοπος — kopos late form in ες — ̇es for the regular ας — ̇as (λελυκας — lelukas). like απηκες — aphēkes (Revelation 2:4) and πεπτωκες — peptōkes (Revelation 2:5). “Tired in loyalty, not of it. The Ephesian church can bear anything except the presence of impostors in her membership” (Moffatt). [source]
Revelation 2:3 And hast not grown weary [και ου κεκοπιακες]
Perfect active indicative of κοπιαω — kopiaō old verb, to grow weary (Matthew 6:28), play on the word κοπος — kopos late form in ες — ̇es for the regular ας — ̇as like απηκες — aphēkes (Revelation 2:4) and πεπτωκες — peptōkes (Revelation 2:5). “Tired in loyalty, not of it. The Ephesian church can bear anything except the presence of impostors in her membership” (Moffatt). [source]

What do the individual words in Revelation 2:4 mean?

But I have against you that the love of you - first you have abandoned
Ἀλλὰ ἔχω κατὰ σοῦ ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην σου τὴν πρώτην ἀφῆκες

ἔχω  I  have 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: ἔχω  
Sense: to have, i.e. to hold.
κατὰ  against 
Parse: Preposition
Root: κατά 
Sense: down from, through out.
ὅτι  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
ἀγάπην  love 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀγάπη  
Sense: brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence.
σου  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
τὴν  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
πρώτην  first 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: πρῶτος  
Sense: first in time or place.
ἀφῆκες  you  have  abandoned 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἀφίημι 
Sense: to send away.