Smyrna
Ancient city in the west of Asia Minor, about forty miles north of Ephesus. No mention is made of Paul having visited the city; but we know an assembly was gathered there by its being one of the seven churches in Asia, to which addresses were sent through the apostle John. See REVELATION 2. History calls Polycarp the first bishop of Smyrna, and it was there he suffered martyrdom. Christian writers have often pointed out in connection with the allusion to “the synagogue of Satan” in Revelation 2:9, the eagerness with which the Jews sought to aid in the martyrdom of Polycarp.
It was of old an important city, and modern Smyrna is a large town, and many of its inhabitants are professedly Christian (Rev. 1:11; Rev. 2:8). The name means “myrrh.”