Revelation 2:20

Thou sufferest (apei). Late vernacular present active indicative second person singular as if from a form apew instead of the usual apihmi forms. The woman Jezebel (thn gunaika Iezabel). Symbolical name for some prominent woman in the church in Thyatira, like the infamous wife of Ahab who was guilty of whoredom and witchcraft ( 1 Kings 16:31 ; 2 Kings 9:22 ) and who sought to drive out the worship of God from Israel. Some MSS. here (A Q 40 min.s) have sou (thy wife, thy woman Ramsay makes it), but surely Aleph C P rightly reject sou. Otherwise she is the pastor's wife! Which calleth herself a prophetess (h legousa eauthn prophtin). Nominative articular participle of legw in apposition with the accusative gunaika like o martu in apposition with Antipa in 2 Kings 2:13 . Prophti is an old word, feminine form for prophth, in N.T. only here and Luke 2:36 (Anna), two extremes surely. See Acts 21:9 for the daughters of Philip who prophesied. And she teacheth and seduceth (kai didaskei kai planai). A resolution of the participles (didaskousa kai planwsa) into finite verbs (present active indicatives) as in Acts 1:5 . This woman was not a real prophetess, but a false one with loud claims and loose living. One is puzzled to know how such a woman had so much shrewdness and sex-appeal as to lead astray the servants of God in that church. The church tolerated the Nicolaitans and this leader whose primary object was sexual immorality (Charles) and became too much involved with her to handle the heresy.