After praise comes censure (verses 14-15).
But I have a few things against you: this is like the statement in 2.4, with the addition of a few things. Actually only one thing is mentioned, and that is the complaint against some of the believers in Pergamum.
You have some there: “there are some among you” (Good News Translation) or “some people in your group.”
Hold the teaching of Balaam: hold means to “follow” or “do according to.” The reference is to Numbers 22-24 (see Deut 23.4). Balaam was the seer from Babylonia whom Balak, king of Moab, tried to get to lay a curse on the Israelites. According to one account (Num 31.16) Balaam’s advice led the people of Israel to worship idols and indulge in immoral sexual practices (Num 25.1-3). So he became the first biblical example of a teacher who persuades the people to abandon God and worship idols.
Who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel: the verb taught here does not indicate a formal course of instruction but means “told,” “ordered,” or else, more freely, “who showed Balak how to….” “How” (Good News Translation) may be rendered as “the way” or “the method.” As elsewhere, stumbling block is an act or habit that makes a person fall into sin. The Greek word is skandalon (from which the word “scandal” is derived), which is the trigger peg in an animal trap; so New Jerusalem Bible “who taught Balak to set a trap for the Israelites.” The literal translation the sons of Israel may be misleading; New Revised Standard Version now has “the people of Israel” (see Good News Translation); or “the Israelites” (Revised English Bible). Another way of expressing this clause is “who showed Balak how to cause the people of Israel to sin.”
That they might eat food sacrificed to idols: in Greek this clause may indicate the purpose or the result of Balaam’s advice. It is better to translate as result, “so that they ate.” In some Hebrew sacrifices the animal was not completely consumed by the fire on the altar; only a small part of the animal was burned, and the rest was eaten by the worshipers or else sold. Because the food mentioned here had been dedicated to a pagan god, the Jews considered this meat unclean; and among Christians this became a serious problem (see especially 1 Cor 8.1-13). In some languages this clause may be restructured; for example, “He had them (or, persuaded them to) eat meat from animals that people had sacrificed or, offered on an altar) to idols.” In certain languages idols may be expressed as “carved representations (or, images) of minor (or, lesser) gods (or, deities).”
Practice immorality: usually this is taken quite literally to mean immoral sexual activity. Some, however, take it as a metaphor, as it often is in the Old Testament, meaning idolatry as such; but here the translation should be quite literal. The same charge is made against the Christians in Thyatira (2.20). Sexual immorality here refers to illicit sexual relations between males and females. Ways of expressing this are “having sexual relations with someone else’s spouse” or “sleeping (or, being with) someone who is not one’s own spouse” and is sometimes expressed as “acting like a dog” or some other animal that is considered promiscuous.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• But I must criticize you for a few things that you have done: some people in your group follow the teachings of Balaam, who showed Balak how to cause the people of Israel to sin. Balaam persuaded them to eat the meat of animals that people had sacrificed (or, offered on an altar) to worship carved images. He also caused them to sin by enticing them to commit adultery.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .