Many languages have different forms for the singular and the plural second person pronouns and corresponding verb forms. In this letter the formal addressee is “the angel of the church,” singular, whereas the actual addressees are the members of the various churches, plural. Translators must decide whether or not they can follow the Greek of these letters and use the second person singular. In some languages (such as Spanish, Portuguese, French) the second person plural is normally used. In languages that have the same form for the singular and the plural (such as English), it may be well, after the address “to the angel of the church…,” to start the letter itself with something like “I know what you Christians in Ephesus have done….”
I know can be variously translated as “I am aware of” or “It has come to my attention.”
Your works: here and elsewhere (2.19; 3.1, 8, 15) works are not just specific deeds but the manner of life, the behavior of these people: “I know the life that you have lived” (Barclay), which is more inclusive than “I know what you have done” (An American Translation, Phillips, Good News Translation). Some, like Biblia Dios Habla Hoy and Bible en français courant, say “all that you have done.” The rest of the verse and verse 3 cite specific matters included in this opening general statement.
Your toil: here toil means their persistent and painful struggles to maintain their Christian profession. Bible en français courant has “the pain you have taken.” The general “how hard you have worked” (Good News Translation, Phillips) may not be specific enough; the terms used should not imply working hard for a living. Consequently something like “I know how hard you have worked as Christians (or, as believers in Jesus Christ),” “I know that you have had a difficult time in following Christ as you should,” or “… in doing your Christian duties.”
For patient endurance see 1.9. As elsewhere in this book (2.3, 19; 3.10; 14.12) this is the endurance of suffering and persecution that Christians were experiencing, and were to experience in the future.
Notice that in Greek the possessive pronoun your comes only after patient endurance, so that toil and patient endurance are governed by the one pronoun and may be taken to refer not to two separate matters but to two aspects of the one characteristic being praised: “I know how patient you have been as you have worked hard at your Christian duties.” Most translations, however, take it for granted that two distinct qualities are being praised: the first one is taken up in the rest of verse 2 and the second one in verse 3. Some ancient manuscripts and early versions have the possessive your after toil also.
And how you cannot bear evil men: Good News Translation begins a new sentence here, repeating “I know that”; New Revised Standard Version does the same. “To bear” means to tolerate, to put up with. Cannot bear is expressed idiomatically in certain languages as “don’t have a big heart towards” or “have a small heart towards.” It means that one opposes the people indicated.
These evil men include all kinds of people, men and women alike, whom the (true) believers in Ephesus could not tolerate, and of whom the “false apostles” are a specific example. It is not possible to identify them with certainty. Most commentators take them to be the same as the Nicolaitans in verse 6 (see also 2.14, 20-24) and identify them as teachers, in or out of the churches, who were spreading false doctrines. Most languages are quite rich in words and expressions for “bad” people, and no particular caution is needed except to make sure that the term used refers to bad moral or spiritual qualities, not to shameful physical characteristics or disgraceful social behavior.
But have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not: the verb “to test” means to apply certain procedures in order to determine the truth or falsity of a claim. The kind of test to be applied varies according to the situation. In the case of the people who claimed to be apostles, the test probably involved noticing their behavior and their teachings, and perhaps seeking information about them from other churches. Another way of translating tested those who … is “tried to find out the genuineness (or, validity) of those who….” Here apostles is not used in the restricted sense of the twelve apostles of Jesus, but in the broader sense of people sent to be traveling Christian teachers, like Paul and Barnabas, who were genuine apostles (and see also the false apostles on whom Paul pours such scorn in 2 Cor 11.5, 13; 12.11). In some languages apostles in this context may be translated as “Christ’s messengers.”
And found them to be false: as a result of such tests, the people at Ephesus had decided that the claims of these people to be authentic apostles were lies. New American Bible, Revised has a good translation, “and discovered that they are impostors” (so also An American Translation). One may also say “and found that they were not what they said they were,” or even “and found that they were lying.”
It is recommended that, unlike Revised Standard Version, this verse be divided up into two or three complete sentences, like New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, and other modern translations.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• I know how you have lived your life. I know how very hard you have worked as Christians and how you have put up with difficulties. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people. You have tried to find out the genuineness of those people who say that they are Christ’s messengers (or, apostles), and you have found that they are lying.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .