Editing Nicolaism (section)

===Connection to Balaam===
Other scholars think that the group's name was not based upon an individual's name, but as a compound descriptive word. ''Nico-'' means "victory" in Greek, and ''laos'' means "people" or, more specifically, "the laity". Hence they take the word to mean "lay conquerors" or "conquerors of the lay people".

The name [[Balaam]] is perhaps capable of being interpreted as a Hebrew equivalent of the Greek Nicolas. Some commentators<ref>[[Johannes Cocceius|Cocceius]] (''Cogitat. in Rev''. ii. 6) has the credit of being the first to suggest this identification of the Nicolaitans with the followers of Balaam. He has been followed by the elder [[Campegius Vitringa|Vitringa]] (''Dissertatatio de Argumentum Epistola Petri posterior'' in Hase's ''Thesaurus,'' ii. 987), [[Hengstenberg]] (''in loc''.), Stier (''Words of the Risen Lord'', p. 125 Eng. transl.), and others. [[Joseph Barber Lightfoot|Lightfoot]] (''Hor. Heb.'', in Act. Apost. vi. 5) suggests another and more startling ''[[paronomasia]]''. The word, in his view, was chosen, as identical in sound with  ניכולה, ''Nicolah'', "let us eat", and as thus marking out the special characteristic of the sect.</ref> think that John alludes to this in Revelation 2:14;<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation||2:14|KJV}}.</ref> and [[Campegius Vitringa|C. Vitringa]]<ref>''Obs. Sacr.'' iv. 9.</ref> argues forcibly in support of this opinion. However, Albert Barnes notes:

{{blockquote|Vitringa supposes that the word is derived from νικος, victory, and λαος, people, and that thus it corresponds with the name Balaam, as meaning either ''lord of the people'', or ''he destroyed the people''; and that, as the same effect was produced by their doctrines as by those of Balaam, that the people were led to commit fornication and to join in idolatrous worship, they might be called Balaamites or Nicolaitanes—that is, corrupters of the people. But to this it may be replied,

(a) that it is far-fetched, and is adopted only to remove a difficulty;

(b) that there is every reason to suppose that the word here used refers to a class of people who bore that name, and who were well known in the two churches specified;

(c) that, in  Rev 2:15 , they are expressly distinguished from those who held the doctrine of Balaam,  Rev 2:14—"So hast thou also (και) those that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes."|Albert Barnes, ''New Testament Notes''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/barnes/ntnotes.html|title=Work info: Barnes' New Testament Notes - Christian Classics Ethereal Library|website=www.ccel.org}}</ref>
}}