the book of the living Or, as R.V., the book of life. The figure is borrowed from the lists or registers of citizens (Jeremiah 22:30; Ezekiel 13:9). God has a book in which the names of those who are to be preserved alive are inscribed. The righteous have their names recorded in it (cp. Habakkuk 2:4). May the names of these malefactors be struck out, or never inserted there! May they be deprived of their privileges as Israelites! May they perish and be utterly forgotten! Cp. Exodus 32:32; Isaiah 4:3; Daniel 12:1. But and this mitigates what would otherwise be the awful character of the imprecation -the book of life" is not here to be understood in the full N.T. sense as -the book of eternal life" (Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:12).

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