Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 76:1 (NA 2025)
Article: Neither Cold Nor Hot But Lukewarm: Rethinking The Temperature Metaphor In Revelation 3:15–16
Author: Mark Wilson

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Neither Cold Nor Hot But Lukewarm: Rethinking The Temperature Metaphor In Revelation 3:15–16

Mark Wilson

Professor Extraordinary of New Testament – Stellenbosch University
Director – Asia Minor Research Center, Antalya, Turkey

Abstract

The temperature metaphor in Revelation chapter 3 is used by Jesus to admonish the Laodiceans regarding their spiritual condition. The prevailing understanding of the metaphor centres around the city’s deficient water system, an interpretation no longer tenable because of recent archaeological discoveries. A subsequent interpretation of the metaphor was proposed, but this too is not persuasive. After briefly reviewing the archaeological finds related to Laodicea’s hydrological situation and critiquing the alternate proposal, a fresh hypothesis is introduced for interpreting the temperature metaphor by setting it amidst the material culture of Laodicea and the other six cities in Asia, specifically bathing in a Roman bathhouse.

1. Introduction

One of the most vivid metaphors in the book of Revelation, preached countless times every Sunday, relates to Jesus’s admonition to the Laodiceans: ‘I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. Because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you out of my mouth’ (3:15–16).1 This article will discuss the temperature metaphor that uses three adjectives – cold, hot, and lukewarm (ψυχρός, ζεστός, χλιαρός) – to describe their spiritual condition. It begins by briefly reviewing the archaeological finds regarding Laodicea’s hydrological situation and then

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comparing them to earlier interpretative presumptions about Laodicea’s water system. An alternative proposal advanced by Craig Koester will be evaluated as well. The article will then introduce a fresh hypothesis for interpreting the temperature metaphor in its prophetic message by situating it amidst the material culture of Laodicea and the other six cities in Asia, specifically bathing in a Roman bathhouse.

2. Laodicea’s Water As An Interpretation Of The Temperature Metaphor

2.1 Ramsay

When William M. Ramsay wrote about Laodicea’s water system, his primary concern was its vulnerability to enemy attack, which ‘must have prevented the people from ever feeling secure when threated with attack.’2 Despite Ramsay...