69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! 19
Do not let their names be listed with the godly! 20
12:1 “At that time Michael,
the great prince who watches over your people, 21
will arise. 22
There will be a time of distress
unlike any other from the nation’s beginning 23
up to that time.
But at that time your own people,
all those whose names are 24 found written in the book,
will escape.
1 tn Or “who overcomes.”
2 tn Grk “thus.”
3 tn Or “white robes.”
4 tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek.
5 tn Or “will never wipe out.”
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
7 tn Grk “will confess.”
8 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 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.
10 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
11 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.”
12 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
13 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).
14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
15 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.”
16 tn Or “what is abhorrent”; Grk “who practices abominations.”
17 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.
18 tn Grk “those who are written”; the word “names” is implied.
19 tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”
20 tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”
21 tn Heb “stands over the sons of your people.”
22 tn Heb “will stand up.”
23 tn Or “from the beginning of a nation.”
24 tn The words “whose names are” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
25 tn Grk “do not rejoice in this, that.” This is awkward in contemporary English and has been simplified to “do not rejoice that.”
26 tn The verb here is a present imperative, so the call is to an attitude of rejoicing.
27 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.
28 tn Or “faithful fellow worker.” This is more likely a descriptive noun, although some scholars interpret the word σύζυγος (suzugos) here as a proper name (“Syzygos”), L&N 42.45.
29 tn Grk “in the gospel,” a metonymy in which the gospel itself is substituted for the ministry of making the gospel known.