Revelation 22:19 says:
"And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll." (NIV)
This verse in some modern translations says the 'tree of life'. Other translations say the 'book of life'.
My first question is: can the Greek word for 'tree' be legitimately translated as 'book'?
My second question is: if the tree of life (Rev 22:19) really means the book of life, is the book of life the same thing as the 'lamb's book of life' in Revelation 21:27 which says:
"Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (NIV; Rev 21:27)
My next question is this: does the Greek make clear, or does even the context of the whole of Scripture make clear the precise meaning of this 'book and/or tree of life'? In other words, is the book of life a record of the names of everyone who has ever lived or is it a record ONLY of people who are born again? Or does it record something else?
If everyone who ever lived has their name written in a book of life (the term 'life' here would refer to natural life, not eternal life, which is perhaps possible given the fact that unbelievers only live on earth because God allows it) then maybe if they (the unbeliever) die having rejected Christ, their names get blotted out of the Lamb's Book of Life as implied by Rev 21:27? Alternatively, if the Greek sheds light on whether the Book of Life is a record only of born again people, then it would seem possible for their names to be blotted out of it? I realise this is a complicated subject and the whole of Scripture perhaps needs taking into account to arrive at an objective answer. But if the Greek rendition sheds any meaning on similarities or differences between the Lamb's book of life (Rev 21) and the Book/Tree of life (Rev 22), I might get one step closer to finding an answer. Thanks.