The Bible mentions Philadelphia just twice, both in connection to the letter in Revelation addressed to the church there (Rev 3:7–13). It is the only one of the seven cities of Revelation that was not a major city in the province of Asia at the time (Trebilco, “Province,” 516). However, it was on the southern highway connecting Pergamum to south Asia Minor, making it strategically important to settlers and military personnel (Hemer, Letters, 154). Among the settlers, there seem to have been diaspora Jews who called the region home (Harland, Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations, 26). This is quite possibly the reason that the writer of Revelation mentions both “synagogue” and “Jews” in Rev 3:9.
