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Revelation 22:19

in Revelation 22

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

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

KJV

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

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This verse in Revelation 22

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

The manuscripts

"Book of life" or "tree of life" — and the missing last page

The KJV's "book of life" at the very end of Revelation is not found in any Greek manuscript; it entered the printed Bible because Erasmus's only copy of Revelation was missing its final leaves and he translated the ending back from Latin. What it changes: No doctrine. The book of life is real, and Scripture teaches it plainly elsewhere: Revelation 3:5, Revelation 20:15, Philippians 4:3, Daniel 12:1.

The manuscripts, and the case each way →

And if any man shall take away from the prophecy of this book,.... As he may be said to do, who denies the authority of this book, which has been done by some, and which the Holy Ghost foresaw; or takes it away from, or denies the reading of it to the people, as the Papists do with respect to the whole Scripture; and who wilfully pervert the sense of it, and will not have the things in it, relating to antichrist, to belong to him.

This site's exposition

shall add unto him the plagues

on Revelation 22:18-19

The warning against adding or taking away echoes Moses' own charge over the law at Deuteronomy 4:2 and Solomon's over wisdom at Proverbs 30:6, and here it is spoken first of this book's own words, the plagues and visions John has just recorded. Add unto these things brings the plagues written in the book upon the offender, and take away from the words brings the loss of his part in the tree of life and the holy city, the same city just described in such detail. The warning guards the prophecy's own text as it stood in John's hand; it is not a verdict on later translation or on the discipline of textual criticism, which the exposition keeps distinct from the sin the verse names.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Primasius of Hadrumetum

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 22:19 · Written before 560.

proposed

Solomon said, "Do not add to his words, lest you be rebuked and be found a liar." In this passage he also adds the terror of the plagues so that he might urge and warn not only by the weight of his authority but also …

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

I testify, he says, to everyone who hears these present words; that is, I bear witness not to add anything, lest he bring upon himself the blows spoken here, nor to take away, so that the portion of the tree of life and of the …

A commentator

Apringius of Beja

TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 22:18-19 · Written before 600.

proposed

It is not that he denies that the words that he had spoken were not to be explained. Rather, around that very time in which the saint had his vision, the error of various teachers and heretics began to emerge and to take their rise. …

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Andreas of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 22:18-19 · Written before 614.

proposed

The curse against those who falsify the divine Scriptures is terrible, since the daring insolence of such self-willed persons can deprive them of the blessings of the coming age. In order that we might not suffer that lot, he testifies to us who listen neither …

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy - If he shall reject the book altogether; if he shall, in transcribing it, designedly strike any part of it out.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

But A, B, Aleph, Syriac, Coptic, and ANDREAS omit "and"; then "which are written in this book" will refer to "the holy city and the tree of life." As in the beginning of this book (Re 1:3) a blessing was promised to the devout, obedient student of it, so now at its close a curse is denounced against those who add to, or take from, it.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

If any man shall take away - If any man shall lessen this meaning, curtail the sense, explain away the spirit and design, of these prophecies, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, etc. Thus Jesus Christ warns all those who consider this book to beware of indulging their own conjectures concerning it. I confess that this warning has its own powerful influence upon my mind, and has prevented me from indulging my own conjectures concerning its meaning, or of adopting the conjectures of others. These visions and threatenings are too delicate and awful a subject to trifle with, or even to treat in the most solemn manner, where the meaning is obscure. I must leave these things to time and event, the surest interpreters. No jot or tittle of Christ’s word shall fall to the ground; all shall have its fulfillment in due time. This is termed a revelation, but it is a revelation of symbols; an exhibition of enigmas, to which no particular solution is given, and to which God alone can give the solution.

The words behind it

35 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Deuteronomy 4:2You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.20 worksRevelation 22:2down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.11 worksLuke 11:52Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”9 worksRevelation 3:5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.8 worksPsalms 69:28May they be blotted out of the Book of Life and not listed with the righteous.6 worksRevelation 21:2I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.6 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Hebrews 12:22Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels6 worksRevelation 21:22–27But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.5 worksRevelation 1:3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.5 worksExodus 32:33The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book.4 worksRevelation 3:12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.4 worksRevelation 22:12“Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.4 worksRevelation 3:4–5But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.4 worksActs 8:21You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.4 worksExodus 32:32Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”4 worksRevelation 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”3 worksRevelation 3:21To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.3 worksRevelation 13:8And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Revelation 22:2

    down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month.…

    it leads to

    • Revelation 22:1

      Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

    • 1 Peter 2:24

      He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”

    • Revelation 2:7

      He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the…

    • Ezekiel 47:8–12

      And he said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 4:2

    You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 30:6

      Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and prove you a liar.

    • Deuteronomy 12:32

      See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.

    • Revelation 22:18–19

      I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.

    • Joshua 1:7

      Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that…

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

The Transfiguration, Gustave Doré. Public domain.
The Transfiguration, Gustave Doré. Public domain.
Revelation: the study guide →Read Revelation 22 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 22:18-19; Apringius of Beja, TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 22:18-19; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation and Primasius of Hadrumetum, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 22:19.

Read on in Revelation 22 →