Revelation 22:19

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:6-19 The Lord Jesus spake by the angel, solemnly confirming the contents of this book, particularly of this last vision. He is the Lord God faithful and true. Also by his messengers; the holy angels showed them to holy men of God. They are things that must shortly be done; Christ will come quickly, and put all things out of doubt. And by the integrity of that angel who had been the apostle's interpreter. He refused to accept religious worship from John, and reproved him for offering it. This presents another testimony against idolatrous worship of saints and angels. God calls every one to witness to the declarations here made. This book, thus kept open, will have effect upon men; the filthy and unjust will be more so, but it will confirm, strengthen, and further sanctify those who are upright with God. Never let us think that a dead or disobedient faith will save us, for the First and the Last has declared that those alone are blessed who do his commandments. It is a book that shuts out form heaven all wicked and unrighteous persons, particularly those who love and make lies, therefore cannot itself be a lie. There is no middle place or condition. Jesus, who is the Spirit of prophecy, has given his churches this morning-light of prophecy, to assure them of the light of the perfect day approaching. All is confirmed by an open and general invitation to mankind, to come and partake freely of the promises and of the privileges of the gospel. The Spirit, by the sacred word, and by convictions and influence in the sinner's conscience, says, Come to Christ for salvation; and the bride, or the whole church, on earth and in heaven, says, Come and share our happiness. Lest any should hesitate, it is added, Let whosoever will, or, is willing, come and take of the water of life freely. May every one who hears or reads these words, desire at once to accept the gracious invitation. All are condemned who should dare to corrupt or change the word of God, either by adding to it, or taking from it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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. It is conceivable that, from the remarkable nature of the communications made in this book, and the fact that they seemed to be unintelligible, John supposed there might be those who would be inclined to omit some portions as improbable, or that he apprehended that when the portions which describe antichrist were fulfilled in distant ages, those to whom those portions applied would be disposed to strike them from the sacred volume, or to corrupt them. He thought proper to guard against this by this solemn declaration of the consequence which would follow such an act. The whole book was to be received - with all its fearful truths - as a revelation from God; and however obscure it might seem, in due time it would be made plain; however faithfully it might depict a fearful apostasy, it was important, both to show the truth of divine inspiration and to save the church, that these disclosures should be in their native purity in the possession of the people of God.

God shall take away his part out of the book of life - Perhaps there is here an intimation that this would be most likely to be done by those who professed to be Christians, and who supposed that their names were in the book of life. In fact, most of the corruptions of the sacred Scriptures have been attempted by those who have professed some form of Christianity. Infidels have but little interest in attempting such changes, and but little influence to make them received by the church. It is most convenient for them, as it is most agreeable to their feelings, to reject the Bible altogether. When it said here that "God would take away his part out of the book of life," the meaning is not that his name had been written in that book, but that he would take away the part which he might have had, or which he professed to have in that book. Such corruption of the divine oracles would show that they had no true religion, and would be excluded from heaven. On the phrase "book of life," see the notes on Revelation 3:5.

And out of the holy city - Described in Revelation 21. He would not be permitted to enter that city; he would have no part among the redeemed.

And from the things which are written in this book - The promises that are made; the glories that are described.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. book—None of our manuscripts read this. A, B, Aleph, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic read, "(take away his part, that is, portion) from the tree of life," that is, shall deprive him of participation in the tree of life.

and from the things—so Vulgate. 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.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Revelation 22:13"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

God shall take away his part out of the book of life; by which is meant eternal election, which is the meaning of the phrase throughout this book, in which whoever are written shall certainly be saved. The worshippers of the beast, or the antichristian party, who are chiefly regarded here, are not written in it, Revelation 13:8 wherefore taking away the part of such, is only taking away that which they seemed to have; see Luke 8:18 and the sense is, that such shall be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death, and will be the portion of all that are not written in the book of life, Revelation 20:15. The Alexandrian copy, one of Stephens's, and the Complutensian edition, read, "the tree of life"; and so do the Syriac and Ethiopic versions; the sense is the same; see John 15:2 and out of the holy city; the new Jerusalem, before described, a part in which is a right to enter into it through the gates, and possess the glories of it: what is mentioned here is only a seeming one, which wicked men may flatter themselves with; and the meaning is, that such shall never enter into it, and enjoy the happiness of it, but shall ever be without, Revelation 21:27

and from the things which are written in this book; the blessings promised to the overcomers in Revelation 2:7 which such as detract from this book shall have no share in. The Alexandrian copy, with some others, and the Syriac version, leave out the copulative "and", and read "which are written", &c. connecting them with the book of life, and holy city, which are written, and spoken of, in this book. The Ethiopic version connects the words with the holy city, only reading them, "which is written", &c. The Jews say of their Talmud, that nothing is to be added to it, or diminished from it (o).

(o) Ganz. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 34. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. out of the book of life] Read from the tree of life.

and from &c.] “and” should be omitted, the sense being, “from the Tree of Life, out of the Holy City, in short, from all the good things written &c.”

Bengel's Gnomen

Revelation 22:19. Ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τῆς πόλεως τὴς ἁγίας, τῶν γεγραμμένων, κ.τ.λ.) See App. Crit. Ed. ii. on this place.[251] The tree of life itself, and the holy city itself, are the first and the last (ch. 2. 3. 22), nay, even the sum of those distinguished privileges, the hope of which is given to the faithful in this book.

[251] AB Amiat. best MS. of Vulg. read τοῦ ξύλου. h Fuld. MS. of Vulg. and Rec. Text read βίβλον. Bh Vulg. and Rec. Text read ἐκ before τῆς πόλεως: so Tisch. A omits it: so Lachm. AB read τῶν γεγραμμένων: but Rec. Text prefixes καί, without good authority.—E.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - 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; from the tree of life; i.e. that mentioned in ver. 2 and in ver. 14, where also the city is mentioned. Even from the things written in this book seems to be the real meaning of the last clause; not merely the tree and city which are written, etc. Just as the evils set forth in the Apocalypse are declared in ver. 18 to be the portion of those who add to the book, so those who take from the book are deprived of those blessings which have been constantly referred to in the book. Revelation 22:19

Vincent's Word Studies

The Book of Life

Read τοῦ ξύλου the tree. So Rev.