Patmos, the Place of Exile
Revelation 1:9
Excerpt
In Revelation 1:9 John says that he was on the island of Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” He also indicates that he is a fellow participant in their “tribulations.”
The Roman historian Tacitus informs us that the Romans used some of the Aegean islands as places of banishment and exile during the 1st century (Annals, 3:68; 4:30; 15:71). Thus the language of the author and the evidence of Tacitus, joined to Christian traditions from the 2nd and 3rd centuries about John’s banishment, support the likelihood that Patmos was a place of exile or political confinement.
Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. Baker encyclopedia of the Bible 1988 : 1620. Print.
Comments