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  • From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Sunday
  • Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 14:47:29 -0500


On Thursday, 13 Apr 2000 16:38:42 EDT, Robert Brenchley wrote:

Harold Holmyard III writes:

>I do not know if the thread has already covered this point, since I
remember discussion of the Lord's day, but many fine commentators believe
that in Rev 1:10 the best interpretation for TNi KURIAKHi hHMERAi is the
Lord's day as Sunday.

Which commentators, and why? We have ambiguous evidence for 'the first day
of the week' in Paul, evidence of Sunday meetings in John; if there is
further evidence of the latter in Revelation, this would begin to establish a
pattern of Sunday observance by 100. I had thought that it began in the
second half of the Second Century, but I confess that I hadn't really looked.

Robert, I checked seven well-known commentators on Revelation, and all
seven held that "the Lord's Day" in Rev 1:10 referred to Sunday. What
follows are mainly quotes from some of them.
Leon Morris, The Book of Revelation, states that "the best suggestion
is that this is the first use of the term for a day of worship, a weekly
commemoration of the resurrection (for the first day of the week as a day
for Christian assembly and worship, cf. John 20:19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor
16:2)."
George Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation, says that the term
"Lord's" in the phrase "the Lord's day" is an adjective KURIAKOS, from the
noun KURIOS, "lord," and it means "belonging to the Lord." Paul uses it in
the well-known phrase, "the Lord's Supper," i.e., the supper which is for
the Lord and in His honor. Such is the meaning of it in the phrase "the
Lord's day." Deissmann has given many illustrations of the use of the term
KURIAKOS in the official state records to denote what belongs to Caesar,
who claimed the title KURIOS, "Lord." We read of "the lord's treasury"
(=the imperial service), "the lord's service" (the imperial service), and
"the lord's finances" (the imperial finances). Is there any relationship
between this use and the Christian "Lord's Day"? Probably yes. In Egypt, in
the time of Ptolemy Euergetes, the twenty-fifth day of each month was
called the king's day in honor of his ascending the throne of his father on
the twenty-fifth day of Dios. This custom spread, so that in various parts
of the nearer Orient (In Asia Minor as well as Egypt) a day in the month
came to be known as Sebaste, i.e., "Augustus' day" (virtually "Caesar's
day"). Some scholars think that Sebaste may have been the name of a day of
the week in some areas. Whether a day of the week or of the month, the
precedent was sufficient for an unknown Christian to claim Sunday as the
day when the true and only KURIOS rose from death to the sovereignty of the
universe. The Lord's day accordingly is the day set apart in celebration of
the accession of Jesus the Lord to the throne of God. As a title it
speedily established itself among Christians, and among early Christian
writings it appears in the Didache (14:1) and in the Letter of Ignatius to
the Magnesians (9:1).
Henry Barclay Swete, Commentary on Revelation, has: "The Lord's day,"
the day consecrated to the Lord, is according to the analogy of writings
some of which are but a few decades later than the Apoc., the day of the
Lord's resurrection (Evan. Petri 9, 11; Melito of Sardis in Eusebius, Hist.
Eccl. 4:26, etc.). Since all the early examples are from Asia Minor, it is
not improbable that the term arose in Asiatic circles; but before the end
of the second century it was used generally (cf. Dionysius of Corinth in
Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. v. 23; Clem. of Alex., Strom vii, 12; and Tertull.,
cor. 3; orat. 23; and anim. 9).
R. H. Charles, The Revelation of St. John, in ICC, says: ". . . and
pass on to the generally accepted, and in the opinion of the present
writer, the right intepretation, which takes these words to mean "on the
Lord's day," i.e., the day consecrated to the Lord." Charles refers to
Sunday.
David Aune, Revelation 1-5, in the Word Biblical Commentary, adds many
further references to early Christian writings. He doubts that "the Lord's
Day" arose in conscious opposition to Caesar's use of KURIAKOS, but he
accepts the Sunday interpretation of Rev 1:10.
Others of the same opinion are Robert H. Mounce, The Book of
Revelation, and Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7. The various authors add
other supportive arguments for this conclusion.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard








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