those days wherein Antipas |was| my faithful martyr._ Of Antipas we know nothing more than is here stated. “In the _Acta Sanctorum_ (ii. pp. 3, 4) is a martyrology of Antipas from a Greek MS.; but it is full of fable and fiction, which a later age had added to the original story” (Professor Stuart, _in loco_). ¶ _Who was slain among you._ It would seem from this, that, though the persecution had raged there, but one person had been put to death. It would appear also that the persecution was of a local character, since Pergamos is described as “Satan’s seat; ” and the death of Antipas is mentioned in immediate connection with that fact. All the circumstances referred to would lead us to suppose that this was a popular outbreak, and not a persecution carried on under the authority of government, and that Antipas was put to death in a popular excitement. So Stephen (Ac. vii.) was put to death, and so Paul at Lystra was stoned until it was supposed he was dead, Ac. xiv. 19. ¶ _Where Satan dwelleth._ The repetition of this idea――very much in the manner of John――showed how intensely the mind was fixed on the thought, and how much alive the feelings were to the malice of Satan as exhibited at Pergamos. 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, [114]who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to [115]eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to [116]commit fornication. 14. _But I have a few things against thee._ As against the church at Ephesus, ch. ii. 4. The charge against this church, however, is somewhat different from that against the church at Ephesus. The charge there was, that they had “left their first love;” but it is spoken in commendation of them that they “hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes,” ch. ii. 6. Here the charge is, that they tolerated that sect among them, and that they had among them also those who held the doctrine of Balaam. Their general course had been such that the Saviour could approve it; he did not approve, however, of their tolerating those who held to pernicious practical error――error that tended to sap the very foundation of morals. ¶ _Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam._ It is not necessary to suppose that they professedly held to the same opinion as Balaam, or openly taught the same doctrines. The meaning is, that they taught substantially the same doctrine which Balaam did, and deserved to be classed with him. What that doctrine was is stated in the subsequent part of the verse. ¶ _Who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel._ The word _stumbling-block_ properly means anything over which one falls or stumbles, and then anything over which anyone may fall into sin, or which becomes the occasion of one’s falling into sin. The meaning here is, that it was through the instructions of Balaam that Balak learned