Revelation 2:7-8

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

To the Church in Smyrna

2:8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write the following:

“This is the solemn pronouncement of the one who is the first and the last, the one who was dead, but came to life:

Revelation 3:5

3:5 The one who conquers will be dressed like them 10  in white clothing, 11  and I will never 12  erase 13  his name from the book of life, but 14  will declare 15  his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 11:11

11:11 But 16  after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and tremendous fear seized 17  those who were watching them.

Revelation 13:8

13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, 18  everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world 19  in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. 20 

Revelation 13:15

13:15 The second beast 21  was empowered 22  to give life 23  to the image of the first beast 24  so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

Revelation 21:27

21:27 but 25  nothing ritually unclean 26  will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable 27  or practices falsehood, 28  but only those whose names 29  are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22:17

22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.

Revelation 22:19

22:19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life 30  and in the holy city that are described in this book.


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.

tn Or “grant.”

tn Or “stands.”

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 (ÏA). Its addition in 1611, the ÏK 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.

tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

sn The expression This is the solemn pronouncement of reflects an OT idiom. See the note on this phrase in 2:1.

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present between these two phrases.

tn Or “who overcomes.”

10 tn Grk “thus.”

11 tn Or “white robes.”

12 tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek.

13 tn Or “will never wipe out.”

14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

15 tn Grk “will confess.”

16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

17 tn Grk “fell upon.”

18 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

19 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.

20 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

21 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the second beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

22 tn Grk “it was given [permitted] to it [the second beast].”

23 tn Grk “breath,” but in context the point is that the image of the first beast is made to come to life and speak.

24 tn Grk “of the beast”; the word “first” has been supplied to specify the referent.

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

26 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.”

27 tn Or “what is abhorrent”; Grk “who practices abominations.”

28 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.

29 tn Grk “those who are written”; the word “names” is implied.

30 tc The Textus Receptus, on which the KJV rests, reads “the book” of life (ἀπὸ βίβλου, apo biblou) instead of “the tree” of life. When the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus translated the NT he had access to no Greek mss for the last six verses of Revelation. So he translated the Latin Vulgate back into Greek at this point. As a result he created seventeen textual variants which were not in any Greek mss. The most notorious of these is this reading. It is thus decidedly inauthentic, while “the tree” of life, found in the best and virtually all Greek mss, is clearly authentic. The confusion was most likely due to an intra-Latin switch: The form of the word for “tree” in Latin in this passage is ligno; the word for “book” is libro. The two-letter difference accounts for an accidental alteration in some Latin mss; that “book of life” as well as “tree of life” is a common expression in the Apocalypse probably accounts for why this was not noticed by Erasmus or the KJV translators. (This textual problem is not discussed in NA27.)