Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear (comp. Revelation 2:5). Like the Ephesians, the Sardians are reminded of the better condition from which they have receded. They are of those "who, when they have heard the Word, straightway receive it with joy; and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while".
The "how," as is shown by the verbs "receive" and "hear," refers to the readiness with which they accepted the gospel, rather than to the power with which it was preached to them. The tenses are instructive: the aorist applies to the hearing at some definite period in their history; the perfect implies the permanent result of the act of reception.
Keep and repent. Keep what thou didst hear. "Keep" is better than "hold fast," to mark the difference between τηρεῖν (Revelation 1:3; Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:3, Revelation 3:8, Revelation 3:10, etc.
), and κρατεῖν (Revelation 2:1, Revelation 2:13, Revelation 2:14, Revelation 2:15, Revelation 2:25; Revelation 3:11, etc.). Here again the tenses should be noted: the present imperative indicates that they are to continue to keep; the aorist, that they are to repent once for all.
We have a similar combination of tenses in" Take these things hence at once; continue to refrain from making my Father's house a house of merchandise" (John 2:16; comp. John 5:8, John 5:11; Acts 12:8; 1 Corinthians 15:34).
"Remember" here and in Revelation 2:5 is with equal fitness the present imperative: "continue to remember." I will come as a thief. The "on thee" after "come," though well supported, is probably not genuine.
Wherever this figure is used in the New Testament of the coming of Christ, the word used is κλέπτης, "a thief," and not ληστής, a "robber" or "bandit." This shows, what is also plain from the context, that secrecy, not violence, is the point of the similitude (comp.
Revelation 16:15; Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). Thou shalt not know what hour; literally, thou shalt in no wise come to know during what kind of an hour. The negative is the strongest form, οὐ μή (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 3:5, Revelation 3:12).
The verb is γινώσκειν, which implies acquisition of knowledge (Revelation 2:23, Revelation 2:24; Revelation 3:9). The pronoun is ποῖος (John 10:32; John 12:33; John 18:32; John 21:19; and especially Matthew 24:42; Luke 12:39); and "hour" is in the accusative (John 4:52).