- In the letters to the early Christian churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, reference is made to a synagogue of Satan (Greek: συναγωγή τοῦ Σατανᾶ, synagoge tou satana), in each case referring to a group persecuting the church “who say they are Jews and are not”. ¶ The verse has often been used to justify hatred against all Jews or particular subsets of modern Jews, which academic scholars generally view as ignorant of the biblical context based on the fact that the suspected author of Revelation was likely Jewish.[