Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 2:17

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it." — Revelation 2:17 (ASV)

To him that overcometh.—The promise should read as follows: To him that conquereth will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name graven, which no man knoweth, but he who receiveth it.

On this promise we may notice:

1. that it is appropriate: those who refused to indulge the fleshly appetite are promised gratifications far higher, and hidden from the gaze of sense;
2. that the allusions are not all easy to understand.

The allusion to the manna is indeed obvious. Israel ate manna in the wilderness and died; the Father gives the true bread from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die. The Son is that Bread of Life. As it is written, He that eateth Him, even he shall live by Him (John 6:35, John 6:48, John 6:57).

He will live, even though, like Antipas, he dies; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses, but in the moral qualities that make up his character. Spiritual gifts are the food of these moral qualities, and these gifts are through Christ.

But the promise is of hidden manna. Is the allusion to the pot of manna that had been laid up in the ark? There is no doubt that the Jews long cherished the belief that the ark and sacred treasures of the Temple had not perished. There was a fondly held tradition that they had been buried by Jeremiah in a safe and secret spot on the mountain where Moses climbed and saw the heritage of God, until the time that God shall gather His people again together, and show them His mercy (2 Maccabees 2:4, 2 Maccabees 2:7).

This “hidden manna,” so longed for by an afflicted race, may have suggested the use of the word “hidden”; but the sacred writer sought to bring out the spiritual truth that the fountains of Christian life are hidden (Colossians 3:3), for, as Scripture says, the world knoweth us not. Like the fire in the Interpreter’s house, though men may try to quench it, a hidden hand secretly pours in the oil that sustains the flame. More difficult is the meaning of the white stone, graven with the new name.

Some see in it an allusion to the Urim and Thummim, and therefore take it to indicate the “priestly dignity of the victorious Christian.” In favor of this, it may be noted that it gives unity to the blessing. Manna and the precious stones worn by the high priest are both wilderness and Jewish illustrations. Against it, however, must be set the fact that the word here rendered “stone” is never so applied, as a different word is used both in the LXX and in this book to denote a precious stone.

Another suggestion, which is perhaps less encumbered with difficulty, is that the reference is to the stone or pebble of friendship, called tessera hospitalis, engraved with some legend or device, and which gave to its possessor a claim of hospitality from the one who gave it. Some such tickets admitted those invited into heathen temples on festival days, when the meat that had been offered as a sacrifice formed part of the feast.

The stone is called white; but the word does not imply that it is a stone of white color, but that it is shining, glistering white. On the stone is graven a new name. The giving of new names is not uncommon in the Bible; for example, Abraham, Israel, Boanerges, Peter. The new name expressed the step that had been taken into a higher, truer life, and the change of heart and elevation of character consequent upon it.

Such individuals are known in the world by their daily life, their business, their character; they are known above by the place they hold and the work (the true nature of which is quite unknown to the world) they are doing in the great war against evil.

No one knows the characteristics of the growth of character, the spiritual conflict in which the work is done, and the features of that change that has been and is being effected, except the one who experiences the love, the grace, and the tribulation by which his spiritual life has grown.