Revelation 3:4
New International Version
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.

New Living Translation
“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

English Standard Version
Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

Berean Standard Bible
But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.

Berean Literal Bible
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.

King James Bible
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

New King James Version
You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

New American Standard Bible
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

NASB 1995
‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

NASB 1977
‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.

Legacy Standard Bible
But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

Amplified Bible
But you [still] have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes [that is, contaminated their character and personal integrity with sin]; and they will walk with Me [dressed] in white, because they are worthy (righteous).

Christian Standard Bible
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.

American Standard Version
But thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“But I have a few names in Sardis, those who have not defiled their garments, and they walk before me in white and they are worthy.”

Contemporary English Version
A few of you in Sardis have not dirtied your clothes with sin. You will walk with me in white clothes, because you are worthy.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But thou hast a few names in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments: and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy.

English Revised Version
But thou hast a few names in Sardis which did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But you have a few people in Sardis who have kept their clothes clean. They will walk with me in white clothes because they deserve it.

Good News Translation
But a few of you there in Sardis have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so.

International Standard Version
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white clothes because they are worthy.

Literal Standard Version
You have a few names even in Sardis who did not defile their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.

Majority Standard Bible
But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.

New American Bible
However, you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy.

NET Bible
But you have a few individuals in Sardis who have not stained their clothes, and they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy.

New Revised Standard Version
Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.

New Heart English Bible
Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

Weymouth New Testament
Yet you have in Sardis a few who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.

World English Bible
Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that didn’t defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

Young's Literal Translation
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis who did not defile their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
To the Church in Sardis
3Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you. 4But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white. 5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.…

Cross References
Ecclesiastes 9:8
Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.

Jude 1:23
save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

Revelation 1:11
saying, "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

Revelation 3:5
Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.

Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Revelation 4:4
Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on these thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white, with golden crowns on their heads.

Revelation 6:11
Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed.


Treasury of Scripture

You have a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

names.

Revelation 11:13
And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Acts 1:15
And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)

even.

1 Kings 19:18
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Isaiah 1:9
Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Romans 11:4-6
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal…

which.

Revelation 7:14
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:8
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

walk.

Revelation 3:5,18
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels…

Revelation 4:4
And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Revelation 6:11
And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

for.

Matthew 10:11
And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

Luke 20:35
But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

Luke 21:36
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

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Revelation 3
1. The angel of the church of Sardis is reproved and exhorted to repent.
37. The angel of the church of Philadelphia is approved for his diligence and patience;
14. the angel of Laodicea rebuked for being neither hot nor cold.
20. Christ stands at the door and knocks.














(4) The best MSS. commence this verse with "But," or "Nevertheless." The case of the Sardian Church was bad, yet the loving eyes of the faithful witness would not ignore the good. There were a few who had not defiled their garments. These had not succumbed to the oppressive moral atmosphere around them. The words cannot, of course, be understood of absolute purity. Their praise is that, in the deathlike, self-complacent lethargy around, they had kept earnest in the pursuit of holiness, and had not forgotten Him who could cleanse and revive. (Comp. Revelation 7:14.)

They shall walk with me in white.--This "white" is not the white of the undefiled robe; it is the lustrous white of glory, as in the promise in the following verse. (Comp. also Revelation 2:17.)

Verse 4. - But thou hast a few names in Sardis. The "but" (Revised Version) must be added, and the "even" (Authorized Version) omitted, on conclusive evidence. "Names" is here used in the sense of persons (Acts 1:15 and Revelation 11:13, where the Revised Version has "persons"); there is no reference to the totally different use of "to have a name" in ver. 1. Bode remarks, "He knoweth his own sheep by name, as he knew Moses by name, and writeth the names of his own in heaven." These few are like the few righteous in Sodom. Though they consent to abide in the Church, they do not leaven it, nor does their presence save it: "They shall deliver but their own souls by their righteousness" (Ezekiel 14:14, 16, 18, 20). The word for "defile" (μολύνειν) occurs only here, Revelation 14:4, and 1 Corinthians 8:7. Its radical meaning is "to besmear," and so "to befoul." That of μιαίνειν (John 18:28; Titus 1:15; Hebrews 12:15; Jude 1:8) is rather "to stain," which is not necessarily "to befoul." That of κοινοῦν (Matthew 15:11-20; Mark 7:15-23; Acts 10:15; Acts 11:9; Acts 21:28; Hebrews 9:13) is "to make common or profane." In most cases all these three are rendered "defile" in our version. These few in Sardis have kept themselves "unspotted from the world" in which they live. Neither the corruption of heathendom nor the torpor of a moribund Church has infected them. Their contact with a dead body has imparted no life to the body and no defilement to them. There is no need to press the metaphor and give a special meaning to "garments" - whether their souls, or their bodies, or their consciences, or their baptismal robes. The metaphor is implied in "putting on the new man" (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10), "putting on Christ" (Romans 13:14; Galatians 3:27), where the word for "put on" is ἐνδύεσθαι, "to be clothed with." They shall walk with me. In accordance with Christ's high-priestly prayer (John 17:24; comp. Roy. 21:24). In white. This elliptical expression (ἐν λευκοῖς) for "in white robes" occurs in the New Testament only here and John 20:12, and is another small link between the two books. The word "white" (λευκός), excepting in Matthew 5:36 and John 4:35, is in the New Testament always used of heavenly purity and brightness. Thus also Plato, Ξρώματα δὲ λευκὰ πρέποντ ἄν θεοῖς εἴν ('Laws,' 956); and Virgil of the souls in the other world, "Omnibus his hives cinguntur tempora vitta" ('AEneid,' 6:665). (See notes on Revelation 1:14.) As we might expect, the word is specially frequent in Revelation. Of course, the white garments referred to here, vers. 5, 18, and Revelation 4:4, are quite different from the undefiled garments just mentioned. The one is the imperfect purity of struggling saints on earth, the other the perfect purity of glorified saints in heaven. The promise, therefore, is threefold.

(1) They shall walk, i.e. they shall have life and liberty.

(2) They shall have Christ as their constant Companion.

(3) They shall be in unsullied glory. . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
But
Ἀλλὰ (Alla)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

you do have
ἔχεις (echeis)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

a few
ὀλίγα (oliga)
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3641: Puny; especially neuter somewhat.

people
ὀνόματα (onomata)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3686: Name, character, fame, reputation. From a presumed derivative of the base of ginosko; a 'name'.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

Sardis
Σάρδεσιν (Sardesin)
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 4554: Sardis, an ancient city of Lydia in the province of Asia. Plural of uncertain derivation; Sardis, a place in Asia Minor.

who
(ha)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

have not soiled
ἐμόλυναν (emolynan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 3435: To soil, stain, pollute, defile, lit. and met. Probably from melas; to soil.

their
αὐτῶν (autōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

garments,
ἱμάτια (himatia)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 2440: A long flowing outer garment, tunic. Neuter of a presumed derivative of ennumi; a dress.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

because
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

they are
εἰσιν (eisin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

worthy,
ἄξιοί (axioi)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 514: Worthy, worthy of, deserving, comparable, suitable. Probably from ago; deserving, comparable or suitable.

they will walk
περιπατήσουσιν (peripatēsousin)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 4043: From peri and pateo; to tread all around, i.e. Walk at large; figuratively, to live, deport oneself, follow.

with
μετ’ (met’)
Preposition
Strong's 3326: (a) gen: with, in company with, (b) acc: (1) behind, beyond, after, of place, (2) after, of time, with nouns, neut. of adjectives.

Me
ἐμοῦ (emou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

white.
λευκοῖς (leukois)
Adjective - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3022: White, bright, brilliant. From luke; white.


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NT Prophecy: Revelation 3:4 Nevertheless you have a few names (Rev. Re Apocalypse)
Revelation 3:3
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