<p>2:15 <em>So have you also some that hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans</em>- &quot;Nicolas&quot; has a similar meaning to 'Balaam', 'victory of the people'. However precisely this group were, they would have been advocating the same mix of Christianity with paganism as noted on :14. <em>Niko</em>, to overcome, is a word often used in these letters to characterize the faithful as 'overcomers'. The Nicolaitans were therefore framing themselves in spiritual terms when in fact they were the very opposite. And we will meet this kind of idea later in Revelation, where e.g. the whore is described with terminology appropriate to the priestly cult, and Babylon appears as Jerusalem.</p>