Thyatira

Thyatira in the Bible

Thyatira appears twice in the New Testament.

• Acts 16:14: During Paul's second missionary journey, Lydia heard Paul by the riverside at Philippi and was baptized. She is introduced as "a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira."
• Revelation 1:11; 2:18–29: Thyatira is the fourth of the seven churches of Asia Minor named in the revelation John received on Patmos. Its letter is the longest of the seven. Christ is introduced as "the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass." The title "Son of God" occurs in Revelation only in this passage. The letter commends the church's charity, faith, service, and patience, and says that its last works are more than the first. It then rebukes the church for tolerating "that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess," who led believers to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. The rest, who do not hold her teaching and have not known "the depths of Satan," are urged to hold fast what they have. To the one who overcomes, Christ promises power over the nations and "the morning star."

Background

Thyatira lay on the route connecting Pergamum and Sardis. It is thought to have been founded as a military outpost by the Seleucid dynasty during the Hellenistic period. In the Roman era it was a thriving center of commerce and industry, and inscriptions recovered from the site attest to numerous trade associations (guilds), including those of dyers and textile workers. Such guilds often held joint sacrifices to patron deities, followed by feasts at which the sacrificial meat was shared. For this reason, scholars suggest that the issue of food sacrificed to idols was likely bound up with the livelihoods of the church's members.

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• Jezebel: Some hold that the name refers to an actual woman who exercised leadership within the church; others regard it as a symbolic name alluding to Ahab's queen (Ahab and Jezebel), who led Israel into idolatry.
• The seven churches as periods of history: Some interpreters, including dispensationalists, read the seven churches as seven eras of church history. In this reading Thyatira is commonly associated with the medieval church. Many commentators, by contrast, regard the seven churches as actual first-century congregations whose messages apply to the church in every age.
• Lydia and the church at Thyatira: A widely repeated tradition holds that Lydia returned to her hometown and founded the church at Thyatira, but Scripture contains no such record. Because the name Lydia is identical to that of the region of Lydia, some view it as an epithet meaning "the Lydian woman."
• Purple cloth: Some hold that the purple was the costly dye obtained from sea snails; others suggest it was a dye made from the root of a plant grown in the region.

In the Korean Church

Thyatira is frequently addressed in sermon series on the "seven churches" of Revelation 2–3. In such preaching, the main themes are the problem of tolerating false teaching within the church and the call to repentance. The site is also commonly included in pilgrimage itineraries that visit the ruins of the seven churches in Turkey.