life (literally or figuratively) · noun — genitive singular feminine
cast
ἐβλήθηeblēthē
G906
to throw (in various applications · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
lake
λίμνηνlimnēn
G3041
a pond (large or small) · noun — accusative singular feminine
fire
πυρός.¶puros
G4442
"fire" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on hi…
Matthew 13:50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
1 John 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
John 3:18-19 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the o…
Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Revelation 20:11–end
The utter destruction of the devil's kingdom very properly leads to an account of the day of judgment, which will determine every man's everlasting state; and we may be assured there will be a judgment when we see the prince of this world is judged, Joh 16:11. This will be a great day, the great day, when all shall appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. The Lord help us firmly to believe this doctrine of the judgment to come. It is a doctrine that made Felix tremble. Here we have a description of it, where observe, 1. We behold the throne, and tribunal of judgment, great and white, very glorious and perfectly just and righteous. The throne of iniquity, that establishes wickedness by a la…
The blissful lot of the righteous is not here specially mentioned as their bliss had commenced before the final judgment. Compare, however, Mat 25:34, Mat 25:41, Mat 25:46.
Next: Revelation Chapter 21
Adam Clarke on Revelation 20:15
Written in the book of life - Only those who had continued faithful unto death were taken to heaven. All whose names were not found in the public registers, who either were not citizens, or whose names had been erased from those registers because of crimes against the state, could claim none of those emoluments or privileges which belong to the citizens; so those who either did not belong to the new and spiritual Jerusalem, or who had forfeited their rights and privileges by sin, and had died in that state, were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the way in which God, at the day of judgment, will proceed with sinners and apostates. Reader, see that thy name be written in the sacred register…
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life,.... Upon the opening of it, Revelation 20:12 as all that worship the beast, and wonder after him, Revelation 13:8 and all wicked men, everyone of them:
was cast into the lake of fire; where are the devil, beast, and false prophet, Revelation 19:20. It is a saying of R. Isaac (m),
"woe to the wicked, who are not written "in the book", for they shall perish in hell for ever and ever:''
and in the Targum on Ezekiel 13:9 it is said of the false prophets,
"that , "in the writing of eternal life" (or in the book of eternal life), which is written for the righteous of the house of Israel, they shall not be written.''
There seems to be…
The Church Fathers
The "Book of Life" is not for jogging God's memory lest he forget. It is a figure of the predestination of those who are to receive eternal life. We are not to imagine that God does not know them and has to read in his books to find out who they are. On the contrary, the Book of Life is precisely his infallible prescience of those inscribed therein, whose very registration there means only that they are foreknown by him.
Whoever did not believe during life and did not open his mouth in confession of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be destroyed along with death and hell because he failed to receive life. Nevertheless, we do not confess that everyone will die or come to punishment. Rather, that will be fulfilled which we read in Daniel, "Some shall rise to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt, so that they might always behold." And what shall they always behold, if not that they are tormented while others are glorified?
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life. That is, who was not judged by God to be alive. Hence, it seems more correct to say, as those who interpret the open books as the consciences of individuals and their revealed works. The book of life, however, is the foreknowledge of God (which cannot be mistaken) concerning those to whom eternal life will be given, in which they are written, that is, foreknown. Having finished the judgment by which he saw the wicked condemned, it remains for him to also speak of the good.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Book — This word has a comprehensive meaning in Scripture. In the Old Testament it is the rendering of the Hebrew word sepher, which properly means a “writing,” and then a “volume” (Ex. 17:14; Deut. 28:58;…
Judgment, The final — The sentence that will be passed on our actions at the last day (Matt. 25; Rom. 14:10, 11; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:7-10). The judge is Jesus Christ, as mediator. All judgment is committed to him…
Antichrist · To be — To be
Book · OF LIFE — OF LIFE
Books · Illustrative of: The record of the church of Christ — Illustrative of: The record of the church of Christ
Hell · Described as: A lake of fire — Described as: A lake of fire
Judgment · 6:2;9:27;10:27; — 6:2;9:27;10:27;
Lake · Of fire — Of fire
Millennium · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Privileges Of Saints · Their names written in the book life — Their names written in the book life
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The expression death and the grave refers to the reality of death; it is the last enemy that God will destroy (see 21:4; 1 Cor 15:26). • The lake of fire portrays the horrible end of God’s enemies who will not experience the “first resurrection” (see Rev 20:5-6; cp. Matt 25:41; Luke 16:24; Jude 1:7).
