Did the Laodiceans Drink Lukewarm Water? A Hydrological Inquiry into the Temperature Metaphor of Revelation 3:15–16

Year 2023, Issue: 8, 72 - 87, 29.12.2023

Mark Wilson

https://doi.org/10.54577/lycus.1381310

Abstract

Laodicea is the last of the Seven Churches mentioned in the book of Revelation chapters 1–3. This article examines the interpretative issues related to the well-known temperature metaphor found in chapter 3:15–16. The mention of “hot, cold, and lukewarm” has been related to the city’s hydrological situation. First discussed are the early travelers to the site and what they wrote about its water system. In the twentieth century various interpretations arose that suggested its water source was inferior to others in the Lycus valley such as at Hierapolis and Colossae. The excavation of Laodicea beginning in 2003 has revealed much new information about the city’s hydrological situation. The proconsul’s edict about water found at the South Nymphaeum gives further insight into the city’s hydrology. Unfortunately, none of this is being reflected in contemporary discussions of the temperature metaphor in Revelation. After reviewing this new data, the article concludes that the interpretation that the temperature metaphor cannot be related to Laodicea’s hydrological situation.

Keywords

Seven Churches, Laodicea, temperature metaphor, water system, hydrology.

Did the Laodiceans Drink Lukewarm Water? A Hydrological Inquiry into the Temperature Metaphor of Revelation 3:15–16

Abstract

Laodikya, Vahiy kitabının 1-3. bölümlerinde bahsedilen Yedi Kilise'nin sonuncusudur. Bu makale 3:15-16. bölümlerde bulunan iyi bilinen sıcaklık metaforuyla ilgili yorumlayıcı konuları incelemektedir. “Sıcak, soğuk ve ılık” tabirlerinin kullanılması şehrin hidrolojik durumuyla ilişkilendirilmiştir. İlk olarak bölgeye giden ilk gezginler ve onların su sistemi hakkında yazdıkları tartışılıyor. Yirminci yüzyılda, su kaynağının Hierapolis ve Kolossai gibi Lycus Vadisindeki diğer su kaynaklarına göre daha düşük olduğunu öne süren çeşitli yorumlar ortaya çıktı. Laodikya'da 2003 yılında başlayan kazılar, kentin hidrolojik durumu hakkında pek çok yeni bilgiyi ortaya çıkardı. Prokonsülün Güney Nymphaeum'da bulunan suyla ilgili fermanı şehrin hidrolojisi hakkında daha fazla bilgi veriyor. Ne yazık ki bunların hiçbiri Vahiy'deki sıcaklık metaforuyla ilgili çağdaş tartışmalara yansıtılmıyor. Bu yeni veriler incelendikten sonra makale, sıcaklık metaforunun Laodikya'nın hidrolojik durumuyla ilişkilendirilemeyeceği yorumunun sonucuna varıyor.

Keywords

Seven Churches, Laodicea, temperature metaphor, water system, hydrology.

References

• Allom – Walsh 2006 T. Allom – R. Walsh, Thomas Allom’s Constantinople and the Scenery of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, Piscataway, NJ, Ed. M. Wilson, 2006.
• Barber 1851 J. W. Barber, Patmos and the Seven Churches of Asia Together with Places in the Vicinity, Bridgeport, CT, 1851.
• Beale 1999 G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, Grand Rapids, MI, 1999.
• Beckwith 1919. I. T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John, New York, 1919.
• Blaiklock 1951 E. M. Blaiklock, The Seven Churches, London, 1951
• Blount 2009 B. K. Blount, Revelation: A Commentary, Louisville, 2009.
• Cadwallader 2012 A. H. Cadwallader, “Honouring the Repairer of the Baths: A New Inscription from Kolossai”, Antichthon 46, 2012, 150-183.
• Cadwallader 2015. A. H. Cadwallader, Fragments of Colossae: Sifting through the Traces, Adelaide, 2015.
• Chandler 1825. R. Chandler, Travels in Asia Minor and Greece, vol. 1, Oxford, 1825.
• Ersoy – Alatepeli 2016 A. Ersoy – S. Alatepeli, “Water-Related Structures of Ancient Smyrna”, De Aquaeductu atque Aqua Urbium Lyciae Pamphyliae Pisidiae. The Legacy of Sextus Julius Frontinus, Ed. G. Wiplinger, Leuven, 2016, 37-46.
• Fahlbusch 2014 H. Fahlbusch, “The Water Supply System of Ancient Pergamon”, Pergamon, A Hellenistic Capital in Anatolia, Ed. F. Pirson – A. Scholl, Istanbul, 2014, 246-257.
• Fairchild 2017 M. R. Fairchild, “Laodicea’s “Lukewarm” Legacy: Conflicts of Prosperity in an Ancient Christian City”, Biblical Archaeology Review 43.2, 2017, 30-39, 67-68.
• Ford 1975 J. M. Ford, Revelation, Garden City, NY, 1975.
• Graves 2017 D. E. Graves, Jesus Speaks to the Seven of His Churches, Toronto, 2017.
• Guizzi 2019 F. Guizzi, “An Edict of a Proconsul of Asia on the Aqueduct of Laodikeai (114/115CE?)”, 15. Yılında Laodikeia (2003-2018), Ed. C. Şimşek, Istanbul, 2019.
• Guizzi – Nocita 2022. F. Guizzi – M. Nocita, Laodikeia (Laodicea on the Lycus): Greek and Latin Inscriptions Found in the Excavation 2003–2021, Ed. C. Şimşek, Istanbul, 2022. Hamilton 1842 W. J. Hamilton, Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus, and Armenia, vol. 1, London, 1842.
• Hemer 1986 C. J. Hemer, Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in their Local Setting, Sheffield, 1986.
• Koester 2003 C. R. Koester, “The Message to Laodicea and the Problem of its Local Context: A Study of the Imagery in Rev 3.14-22”, New Testament Studies 49/3, 2003, 407-424.
• Koester 2015 C. R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, New Haven, CT, 2015.
• MacFarlane 1832 C. MacFarlane, The Seven Apocalyptic Churches, London, 1832.
• Meinardus 1979 O. F. A. Meinardus, St. John of Patmos and the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse, New Rochelle, NY, 1979.
• Mounce 1977 R. H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, Grand Rapids, MI, 1977.
• Passchief – Sürmelihindi 2019 C. Passchief – Sürmelihindi, “Carbonate Deposits of the Değirmendere Aqueduct”, Der Değirmendere Aquädukt von Ephesos, vol. 2, Ed. G. Wiplinger, Leuven, 2019.
• Paul 2013 I. Paul, “Preaching from the Book of Revelation”, Preaching the New Testament, Eds. I. Paul – D. Wenham, Downers Grove, IL, 2013.
• Porter 1987 S. E. Porter, “Why the Laodiceans Received Lukewarm Water (Revelation 3:15-18),” Tyndale Bulletin 38, 1987, 143-149.
• Ramsay 1904 W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia and their Place in the Plan of the Apocalypse, London, 1904.
• Rudwick – E. M. B. Green 1957-58. M. J. S. Rudwick – E. M. B. Green, “The Laodicean Lukewarmness”, The Expository Times 69/6, 1957-58, 176-178.
• Rycaut 1679 P. Rycaut, The Present State of the Greek and Armenian Churches, Anno Christi, 1678, London, 1679.
• Scardozzi 2020 G. Scardozzi, The Territory of Hierapolis in Phyrgia, Istanbul, 2020.
• Şimşek – Büyükkolancı 2006a C. Şimşek – M. Büyükkolancı, “Laodikeia Antik Kenti Su Kaynakları ve Dağıtım Sistemi”, Adalya 9, 2006, 83-103.
• Şimşek – Büyükkolancı 2006b C. Şimşek – M. Büyükkolancı, “Die aqueduct und das wasserverteilungssystem von Laodikeia ad Lycum”, Cura Aquarum In Ephesos, vol. 1, Ed. G. Wiplinger, Leuven, 2006, 137-146.
• Şimşek 2007 C. Şimşek, Laodikeia (Laodicea ad Lycum), Istanbul, 2007.
• Şimşek 2013 C. Şimşek, Laodikeia (Laodicea ad Lycum), rev. ed., Istanbul, 2013.
• Şimşek 2017 C. Şimşek, “Urban Planning of Laodikeia on the Lykos in the Light of New Evidence”, Landscape and History in the Lykos Valley: Laodikeia and Hierapolis in Phrygia, Eds. C. Şimşek – F. D’Andria, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2017.
• Swete 1911 H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, 3rd ed., London, 1911.
• Weima 2021 J. A. D. Weima, The Sermons to the Seven Churches of Revelation, Grand Rapids, MI, 2021.
• Wiplinger et al. 2019a G. Wiplinger et al., Der Degirmendere Aquädukt von Ephesos, vols. 1 & 2, Leuven, 2019.
• Wiplinger 2019b G. Wiplinger, “De aquaeductu urbis Ephesi: Water for Roman Ephesus”, BABESH Byvanck Lecture, Leuven, 2019, 1-35.
• Wilson 2002 M. Wilson, Revelation, Grand Rapids, MI, 2002.
• Wilson 2018 M. Wilson, “Revelation”, ESV Archaeology Bible, Eds. J. D. Currid – D. Chapman, Wheaton, IL, 2018, 1883-1915.
• M. Wilson 2020 M. Wilson, Biblical Turkey, rev. 4th ed., Istanbul, 2020.
• Wood 1962. P. Wood, “Local Knowledge in the Letters of the Apocalypse”, The Expository Times 73/9, 1962, 263-264.
• Worth 1999. R. Worth Jr., The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse & Greco-Asian Culture, Mahvah, NJ, 1999.
• Yamauchi 1980 E. M. Yamauchi, New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor: Light from Archaeology on Cities of Paul and the Seven Churches of Revelation, Grand Rapids, MI, 1980.