Keluaran 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.

Ezra 2:59

2:59 These are the ones that came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify ⁴  their family connection ⁵  or their ancestry, ⁶  as to whether they really were from Israel):

Ezra 2:62-63

2:62 They ⁷  searched for their records in the genealogical materials, but did not find them. ⁸  They were therefore excluded ⁹  from the priesthood. 2:63 The governor ¹⁰  instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult ¹¹  the Urim and Thummim.

Nehemia 7:62

7:62 the descendants of Delaiah, the descendants of Tobiah, and the descendants of Nekoda, 642.

Nehemia 7:64

7:64 They searched for their records in the genealogical materials, but none were found. They were therefore excluded ¹²  from the priesthood.

Mazmur 69:5

69:5 O God, you are aware of my foolish sins; ¹³ 

my guilt is not hidden from you. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 69:28

69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! ¹⁵ 

Do not let their names be listed with the godly! ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 87:6

87:6 The Lord writes in the census book of the nations, ¹⁷ 

“This one was born there.” ¹⁸  (Selah)

Yesaya 4:3

4:3 Those remaining in Zion, ¹⁹  those left in Jerusalem, ²⁰ 

will be called “holy,” ²¹ 

all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. ²² 

Daniel 12:1

12:1 “At that time Michael,

the great prince who watches over your people, ²³ 

will arise. ²⁴ 

There will be a time of distress

unlike any other from the nation’s beginning ²⁵ 

up to that time.

But at that time your own people,

all those whose names are ²⁶  found written in the book,

will escape.

Hosea 9:3

Assyrian Exile Will Reverse the Egyptian Exodus

9:3 They will not remain in the Lord’s land.

Ephraim will return to Egypt;

they will eat ritually unclean food in Assyria.

Lukas 10:20

10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that ²⁷  the spirits submit to you, but rejoice ²⁸  that your names stand written ²⁹  in heaven.”

Filipi 4:3

4:3 Yes, I say also to you, true companion, ³⁰  help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry ³¹  along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.

Ibrani 12:23

12:23 and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect,

Wahyu 13:8

13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, ³²  everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world ³³  in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. ³⁴ 

Wahyu 20:12

20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then ³⁵  books were opened, and another book was opened – the book of life. ³⁶  So ³⁷  the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. ³⁸ 

Wahyu 20:15

20:15 If ³⁹  anyone’s name ⁴⁰  was not found written in the book of life, that person ⁴¹  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).

[2:59]  ⁴ tn Heb “relate.”

[2:59]  ⁵ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[2:59]  ⁶ tn Heb “their seed.”

[2:62]  ⁷ tn Heb “these.”

[2:62]  ⁸ tn Heb “their records were searched for in the genealogical materials, but were not found.” This passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[2:62]  ⁹ tn Heb “they were desecrated.”

[2:63]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word תִּרְשָׁתָא (tirshata’) is an official title of the Persian governor in Judea, perhaps similar in meaning to “excellency” (BDB 1077 s.v.; HALOT 1798 s.v.; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 395).

[2:63]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to stand.”

[7:64]  ¹² tn Heb “they were desecrated.”

[69:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “you know my foolishness.”

[69:5]  ¹⁴ sn The psalmist is the first to admit that he is not perfect. But even so, he is innocent of the allegations which his enemies bring against him (v. 5b). God, who is aware of his foolish sins and guilt, can testify to the truth of his claim.

[69:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”

[69:28]  sn The phrase the scroll of the living occurs only here in the OT. It pictures a scroll or census list containing the names of the citizens of a community. When an individual died, that person’s name was removed from the list. So this curse is a very vivid way of asking that the enemies die.

[69:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”

[69:28]  sn Do not let their names be listed with the godly. This curse pictures a scroll in which God records the names of his loyal followers. The psalmist makes the point that his enemies have no right to be included in this list of the godly.

[87:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord records in the writing of the nations.”

[87:6]  ¹⁸ tn As noted in v. 4, the translation assumes a contrast between “there” (the various foreign lands) and “in her” (Zion). In contrast to foreigners, the citizens of Zion have special status because of their birthplace (v. 5). In this case vv. 4 and 6 form a structural frame around v. 5.

[4:3]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:3]  ²¹ tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”

[4:3]  ²² 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.

[12:1]  ²³ tn Heb “stands over the sons of your people.”

[12:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will stand up.”

[12:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “from the beginning of a nation.”

[12:1]  ²⁶ tn The words “whose names are” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[10:20]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn The verb here is a present imperative, so the call is to an attitude of rejoicing.

[10:20]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Grk “in the gospel,” a metonymy in which the gospel itself is substituted for the ministry of making the gospel known.

[13:8]  ³² tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[20:12]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[20:12]  ³⁶ tn Grk “another book was opened, which is of life.”

[20:12]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the books being opened.

[20:12]  ³⁸ tn Grk “from the things written in the books according to their works.”

[20:15]  ³⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:15]  ⁴⁰ tn The word “name” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[20:15]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “he”; the pronoun has been intensified by translating as “that person.”