Genesis 3:22

3:22 And the Lord God said, “Now ¹  that the man has become like one of us, ²  knowing ³  good and evil, he must not be allowed ⁴  to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

Proverbs 3:18

3:18 She is like ⁵  a tree of life ⁶  to those who obtain her, ⁷ 

and everyone who grasps hold of her will be blessed. ⁸ 

Proverbs 11:30

11:30 The fruit of the righteous is like ⁹  a tree producing life, ¹⁰ 

and the one who wins souls ¹¹  is wise. ¹² 

Ezekiel 47:12

47:12 On both sides of the river’s banks, every kind of tree will grow for food. Their leaves will not wither nor will their fruit fail, but they will bear fruit every month, because their water source flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” ¹³ 

John 6:48

6:48 I am the bread of life. ¹⁴ 

Revelation 2:7

2:7 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, ¹⁵  I will permit ¹⁶  him to eat from the tree of life that is ¹⁷  in the paradise of God.’ ¹⁸ 

Revelation 22:2

22:2 flowing down the middle of the city’s ¹⁹  main street. ²⁰  On each side ²¹  of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds ²²  of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. ²³  Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:14

22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access ²⁴  to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates.

[3:22]  ¹ tn The particle הֵן (hen) introduces a foundational clause, usually beginning with “since, because, now.”

[3:22]  ² sn The man has become like one of us. See the notes on Gen 1:26 and 3:5.

[3:22]  ³ tn The infinitive explains in what way the man had become like God: “knowing good and evil.”

[3:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “and now, lest he stretch forth.” Following the foundational clause, this clause forms the main point. It is introduced with the particle פֶּן (pen) which normally introduces a negative purpose, “lest….” The construction is elliptical; something must be done lest the man stretch forth his hand. The translation interprets the point intended.

[3:18]  ⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[3:18]  ⁶ sn The metaphor compares wisdom to the symbol of vitality and fullness of life. This might be an allusion to Gen 3:22, suggesting that what was lost as a result of the Fall may be recovered through wisdom: long and beneficial life (R. Marcus, “The Tree of Life in Proverbs,” JBL 62 [1943]: 117-20).

[3:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “lay hold of her.”

[3:18]  ⁸ tn The singular participle מְאֻשָּׁר (mÿ’ushar, literally, “he will be blessed”) functions as a distributive singular for a plural subject (GKC 464 §145.l): “each and everyone will be blessed.” Not recognizing this point of syntax, the BHS editors unnecessarily suggest emending this singular form to the plural.

[11:30]  ⁹ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[11:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “tree of life” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) is genitive of product. What the righteous produce (“fruit”) is like a tree of life – a long and healthy life as well as a life-giving influence and provision for others.

[11:30]  ¹¹ tc The Leningrad Codex mistakenly vocalized ש (sin or shin) as שׂ (sin) instead of שׁ (shin) in the term נְפָשׂוֹת (nefashot) which is vocalized as נְפָשׁוֹת (nefasot, “souls”) in the other medieval Hebrew mss and early printed editions of the Masoretic Text.

[11:30]  ¹² tc The MT reads חָכָם (khakham, “wise”) and seems to refer to capturing (לָקַח, laqakh; “to lay hold of; to seize; to capture”) people with influential ideas (e.g., 2 Sam 15:6). An alternate textual tradition reads חָמָס (khamas) “violent” (reflected in the LXX and Syriac) and refers to taking away lives: “but the one who takes away lives (= kills people) is violent” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV). The textual variant was caused by orthographic confusion of ס (samek) and כ (kaf), and metathesis of מ (mem) between the 2nd and 3rd consonants. If the parallelism is synonymous, the MT reading fits; if the parallelism is antithetical, the alternate tradition fits. See D. C. Snell, “‘Taking Souls’ in Proverbs 11:30,” VT 33 (1083): 362-65.

[47:12]  ¹³ sn See Rev 22:1-2.

[6:48]  ¹⁴ tn That is, “the bread that produces (eternal) life.”

[2:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.” The pendent dative is allowed to stand in the English translation because it is characteristic of the author’s style in Revelation.

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “grant.”

[2:7]  ¹⁷ tn Or “stands.”

[2:7]  ¹⁸ tc The omission of “my” (μου, mou) after “God” (θεοῦ, qeou) is well attested, supported by א A C and the Andreas of Caesarea group of Byzantine mss (Ï^A). Its addition in 1611, the Ï^K group, latt, and others, seems to be evidence of a purposeful conforming of the text to 3:2 and the four occurrences of “my God” (θεοῦ μου) in 3:12.

[22:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “its”; the referent (the city, the new Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ²⁰ tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[22:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “From here and from there.”

[22:2]  ²² tn Or “twelve crops” (one for each month of the year).

[22:2]  ²³ tn The words “of the year” are implied.

[22:14]  ²⁴ tn Grk “so that there will be to them authority over the tree of life.”