1Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service. 2The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables. 3Therefore, select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.”
5These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch, 6whom they set before the apostles. When they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7The word of God increased and the number of the disciples greatly multiplied in Jerusalem. A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
8Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines”, and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen. 10They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 11Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, then brought him in to the council, 13and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. 14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” 15All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.
The designation Nicolaitans appears in 2:6 in the letter to Ephesus and also in 2:15 in the letter to Pergamum. Even though the term is not mentioned in the letter to Thyatira, the description of the Jezebel faction in 2:20 suggests that the false teachers in that situation are from the same group. Thus, it is probably a movement within the Christian churches in Asia Minor at the time of John’s writing. The derivation of the name Nicolaitan is uncertain. Some, even among the early church fathers, trace it to Nicolas,1 who is listed as one of the seven deacons in Acts 6:5, but this is unlikely. Etymologically, the term could mean one who conquers and subdues the people. However, the main thrust of who they were comes from the analogy to Balaam in 2:14 and the false practices of eating meat offered to idols and committing acts of sexual immorality (see also 2:20). In essence, these were Christians who practiced a mixed faith as they tried to claim to follow Christ while they also carried out pagan anti-Christian behavior.
The fourth-century A.D. heresiologist, Epiphanius, in his work, the Panarion, identifies the Nicolaitans given in Revelation 2:6 with the deacon Nicolas (Nicolaus), as do other church fathers, such as Irenaeus and Hippolytus. Epiphanius, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Book I (Sects 1-46), trans. Frank Williams (Leiden, Brill, 2009), f.n. 1, p. 83. No certainty attaches to this identification. ↩︎