69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! 4
Do not let their names be listed with the godly! 5
4:3 Those remaining in Zion, 6 those left in Jerusalem, 7
will be called “holy,” 8
all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. 9
12:1 “At that time Michael,
the great prince who watches over your people, 12
will arise. 13
There will be a time of distress
unlike any other from the nation’s beginning 14
up to that time.
But at that time your own people,
all those whose names are 15 found written in the book,
will escape.
1 tn The apodosis is not expressed; it would be understood as “good.” It is not stated because of the intensity of the expression (the figure is aposiopesis, a sudden silence). It is also possible to take this first clause as a desire and not a conditional clause, rendering it “Oh that you would forgive!”
2 tn The word “wipe” is a figure of speech indicating “remove me” (meaning he wants to die). The translation “blot” is traditional, but not very satisfactory, since it does not convey complete removal.
3 sn The book that is referred to here should not be interpreted as the NT “book of life” which is portrayed (figuratively) as a register of all the names of the saints who are redeemed and will inherit eternal life. Here it refers to the names of those who are living and serving in this life, whose names, it was imagined, were on the roster in the heavenly courts as belonging to the chosen. Moses would rather die than live if these people are not forgiven (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 356).
4 tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”
5 tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”
6 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”
9 tn Heb “all who are written down for life in Jerusalem.” A city register is envisioned; everyone whose name appears on the roll will be spared. This group comprises the remnant of the city referred to earlier in the verse.
10 tn The Hebrew term may refer to the secret council of the
11 tn The reference here is probably to a civil list (as in Ezra 2:16; Neh 7:64) rather than to a “book of life” (Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Ps 69:29; Dan 12:1). This registry may have been established at the making of David’s census (2 Sam 24:2, 9).
12 tn Heb “stands over the sons of your people.”
13 tn Heb “will stand up.”
14 tn Or “from the beginning of a nation.”
15 tn The words “whose names are” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
16 tn Grk “do not rejoice in this, that.” This is awkward in contemporary English and has been simplified to “do not rejoice that.”
17 tn The verb here is a present imperative, so the call is to an attitude of rejoicing.
18 tn The verb here, a perfect tense, stresses a present reality of that which was a completed action, that is, their names were etched in the heavenly stone, as it were.
19 tn Or “who overcomes.”
20 tn Grk “thus.”
21 tn Or “white robes.”
22 tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek.
23 tn Or “will never wipe out.”
24 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
25 tn Grk “will confess.”
26 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.
28 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
29 tn On this term BDAG 2 s.v. ἄβυσσος 2 states, “netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the θηρίον, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ᾿Αβαδδών (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11…φρέαρ τῆς ἀ. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.”
30 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
31 tn Some translations take the ὅτι (Joti) here as causal: “because he was, and is not, but is to come” (so NIV, NRSV), but it is much more likely that the subject of the ὅτι clause has been assimilated into the main clause: “when they see the beast, that he was…” = “when they see that the beast was” (so BDAG 732 s.v. ὅτι 1.f, where Rev 17:8 is listed).
32 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
33 tn Grk “another book was opened, which is of life.”
34 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the books being opened.
35 tn Grk “from the things written in the books according to their works.”
36 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
37 tn The word “name” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
38 tn Grk “he”; the pronoun has been intensified by translating as “that person.”
39 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
40 tn Here BDAG 552 s.v. κοινός 2 states, “pert. to being of little value because of being common, common, ordinary, profane…b. specifically, of that which is ceremonially impure: Rv 21:27.”
41 tn Or “what is abhorrent”; Grk “who practices abominations.”
42 tn Grk “practicing abomination or falsehood.” Because of the way βδέλυγμα (bdelugma) has been translated (“does what is detestable”) it was necessary to repeat the idea from the participle ποιῶν (poiwn, “practices”) before the term “falsehood.” On this term, BDAG 1097 s.v. ψεῦδος states, “ποιεῖν ψεῦδος practice (the things that go with) falsehood Rv 21:27; 22:15.” Cf. Rev 3:9.
43 tn Grk “those who are written”; the word “names” is implied.