(followers of Nicolas), a sect mentioned in (Revelation 2:6,15) whose deeds were strongly
condemned. They may have been identical with those who held the doctrine of Balaam. They seem
to have held that it was lawful to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication, in
opposition to the decree of the Church rendered in (Acts 15:20,29) The teachers of the Church
branded them with a name which expressed their true character. The men who did and taught such
things were followers of Balaam. (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11) They, like the false prophet of Pethor,
united brave words with evil deeds. In a time of persecution, when the eating or not eating of things
sacrificed to idols was more than ever a crucial test of faithfulness, they persuaded men more than
ever that was a thing indifferent. (Revelation 2:13,14) This was bad enough, but there was a yet
worse evil. Mingling themselves in the orgies of idolatrous feasts, they brought the impurities of
those feasts into the meetings of the Christian Church. And all this was done, it must be remembered
not simply as an indulgence of appetite: but as a part of a system, supported by a “doctrine,”
accompanied by the boast of a prophetic illumination, (2 Peter 2:1) It confirms the view which has
been taken of their character to find that stress is laid in the first instance on the “deeds” of the
Nicolaitans. To hate those deeds is a sign of life in a Church that otherwise is weak and faithless.
(Revelation 2:6) To tolerate them is well nigh to forfeit the glory of having been faithful under
persecution. (Revelation 2:14,15)
Nicolas
(victor of the people), (Acts 6:5) a native of Antioch and a proselyte to the Jewish faith. When
the church was still confined to Jerusalem, he became a convert and being a man of honest report
full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, he was chosen by the whole multitude of the disciples to be
one of the first seven deacons, and was ordained by the apostles. There is no reason except the
simplicity of name for identifying Nicolas with the sect of Nicolaitans which our Lord denounces,
for the traditions on the subject are of no value.
Nicopolis
(city of victory) is mentioned in (Titus 3:12) as the place where St. Paul was intending to pass
the coming winter. Nothing is to be found in the epistle itself to determine which Nicopolis is here
intended. One Nicopolis was in Thrace, near the borders of Macedonia. The subscription (which,
however, is of no authority) fixes on this place, calling it the Macedonian Nicopolis. But there is
little doubt that Jerome’s view is correct, and that the Pauline Nicopolis was the celebrated city of
Epirus. This city (the “city of victory”) was built by Augustus in memory the battle of Actium. It
was on a peninsula, to the west of the bay of Actium.
Niger
(black) is the additional or distinctive name given to the Simeon who was one of the teachers
and prophets in the church at Antioch. (Acts 13:1)
Night
[Day]
Nighthawk
The Hebrew word so translated, (Leviticus 11:10; 14:15) probably denotes some kind of owl.
Nile
(blue, dark), the great river of Egypt. The word Nile nowhere occurs in the Authorized Version
but it is spoken of under the names of Sihor [Sihor] and the “river of Egypt.” (Genesis 15:18) We
cannot as yet determine the length of the Nile, although recent discoveries have narrowed the
question. There is scarcely a doubt that its largest confluent is fed by the great lakes on and south
frankie
(Frankie)
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