white stone. The stone mentioned here is probably the tessera of ancient times, which was used
variously as a voting ballot or a ticket to public functions. It was also used
when drawing lots in a criminal case; the white stone was a favorable verdict,
i.e. life. Ramsay sees a play on words since Pergamum is the name from which is
derived the word “parchment,” which is quite perishable, whereas the stone is
not. Another interpretation may be that this stone is an entrance ticket into
the promised land or paradise. (J. Massyngberde Ford, Revelation: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary [AYB 38; New
Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008], 399)
