Exodus 32:32-33

32:32 But now, if you will forgive their sin…, ¹  but if not, wipe me out ²  from your book that you have written.” ³  32:33 The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me – that person I will wipe out of my book.

Psalms 56:8

56:8 You keep track of my misery. ⁴ 

Put my tears in your leather container! ⁵ 

Are they not recorded in your scroll? ⁶ 

Psalms 69:28

69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! ⁷ 

Do not let their names be listed with the godly! ⁸ 

Isaiah 4:3

4:3 Those remaining in Zion, ⁹  those left in Jerusalem, ¹⁰ 

will be called “holy,” ¹¹ 

all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. ¹² 

Ezekiel 13:9

13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council ¹³  of my people, nor be written in the registry ¹⁴  of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

Luke 10:20

10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that ¹⁵  the spirits submit to you, but rejoice ¹⁶  that your names stand written ¹⁷  in heaven.”

Philippians 4:3

4:3 Yes, I say also to you, true companion, ¹⁸  help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry ¹⁹  along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.

Revelation 3:5

3:5 The one who conquers ²⁰  will be dressed like them ²¹  in white clothing, ²²  and I will never ²³  erase ²⁴  his name from the book of life, but ²⁵  will declare ²⁶  his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 13:8

13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, ²⁷  everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world ²⁸  in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. ²⁹ 

Revelation 20:12

20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then ³⁰  books were opened, and another book was opened – the book of life. ³¹  So ³²  the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. ³³ 

Revelation 20:15

20:15 If ³⁴  anyone’s name ³⁵  was not found written in the book of life, that person ³⁶  was thrown into the lake of fire.

[32:32]  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!”

[32:32]  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.

[32:32]  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).

[56:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “my wandering you count, you.” The Hebrew term נֹד (nod, “wandering,” derived from the verbal root נוֹד, nod, “to wander”; cf. NASB) here refers to the psalmist’s “changeable circumstances of life” and may be translated “misery.” The verb סָפַר (safar, “count”) probably carries the nuance “assess” here. Cf. NIV “my lament”; NRSV “my tossings.”

[56:8]  ⁵ tn Traditionally “your bottle.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word נֹאד (no’d, “leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20). If such a container is metaphorically in view here, then the psalmist seems to be asking God to store up his tears as a reminder of his suffering.

[56:8]  ⁶ tn The word “recorded” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The rhetorical question assumes a positive response (see the first line of the verse).

[69:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”

[69:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”

[4:3]  ⁹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[4:3]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”

[4:3]  ¹² 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.

[13:9]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term may refer to the secret council of the Lord (Jer 23:18; Job 15:8), but here it more likely refers to a human council comprised of civic leaders (Gen 49:6; Jer 6:11; 15:17 Ps 64:3; 111:1).

[13:9]  ¹⁴ 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).

[10:20]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “do not rejoice in this, that.” This is awkward in contemporary English and has been simplified to “do not rejoice that.”

[10:20]  ¹⁶ tn The verb here is a present imperative, so the call is to an attitude of rejoicing.

[10:20]  ¹⁷ 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.

[4:3]  ¹⁸ 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.

[4:3]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in the gospel,” a metonymy in which the gospel itself is substituted for the ministry of making the gospel known.

[3:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “who overcomes.”

[3:5]  ²¹ tn Grk “thus.”

[3:5]  ²² tn Or “white robes.”

[3:5]  ²³ tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek.

[3:5]  ²⁴ tn Or “will never wipe out.”

[3:5]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “will confess.”

[13:8]  ²⁷ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ²⁸ 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.

[13:8]  ²⁹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[20:12]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[20:12]  ³¹ tn Grk “another book was opened, which is of life.”

[20:12]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the books being opened.

[20:12]  ³³ tn Grk “from the things written in the books according to their works.”

[20:15]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:15]  ³⁵ tn The word “name” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[20:15]  ³⁶ tn Grk “he”; the pronoun has been intensified by translating as “that person.”