Revelation 1:9 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

I John The instruction and preparation of the apostle for the work are described from the 9th to the 20th verse: your brother In the common faith: and companion in tribulation For the same book peculiarly belongs to those who are under the cross. It was given to a banished man; and men in affliction understand and relish it most. Accordingly, it was little esteemed by the Asiatic churches after the time of Constantine; but highly valued by all the African churches; as it has been since by all the persecuted children of God. In the tribulation, and kingdom, and patience of Jesus Christ The kingdom stands in the midst. It is chiefly under various afflictions that faith obtains its part in the kingdom. And whosoever is partaker of this kingdom, is not afraid to suffer for Jesus, 2 Timothy 2:12. I was in the isle that is called Patmos A desolate island in the Archipelago, now called Palmosa, mountainous, but moderately fruitful, especially in wheat and pulse, though defective in other commodities. The whole circumference of the island is about thirty miles; and on one of its mountains stands a town of the same name, having on the top of it a monastery of Greek monks; and on the north side of the town the inhabitants, by tradition, show a house in which the Apocalypse was written, and, not far off, the cave where it was revealed; both places of great esteem and veneration with the Greeks and Latins. To this island, after he had come unhurt out of a caldron of boiling oil, he was banished for the word of God Namely, for preaching it; and for the testimony of Jesus For testifying that he is the Christ: in other words, he was banished for the confession of the gospel. This, according to the testimony of Irenæus, who was the disciple of Polycarp, who had been the disciple of St. John, was in the reign of the Emperor Domitian; and, if we may credit ecclesiastical history, he was here employed in digging in a mine. But the historical evidence produced for this is very uncertain. One thing, however, is certain, that it was in this island he received the wonderful discoveries which make the subjects of this book. There he saw and wrote all that follows. And it was a place peculiarly proper for these visions. He had over against him, at a small distance, Asia and the seven churches; going on eastward, Jerusalem and the land of Canaan; and beyond this, Antioch, yea, the whole continent of Asia. To the west he had Rome, Italy, and all Europe, swimming as it were in the sea; to the south Alexandria and the Nile, with its outlets; Egypt and all Africa; and to the north, what was afterward called Constantinople, on the straits between Europe and Asia. So he had all the three parts of the world which were then known, with Christendom, as it were before his eyes: a large theatre, for all the various scenes which were to pass before him: as if this island had been made principally for this end, to serve as an observatory for the apostle.