The Scroll of Life

The Greek Words for Scroll Used in the Revelation

There are three words translated scroll in the New Testament:

All are used in the Revelation.

Now that we've seen that the transition anticipated in chapter 4 is realized as John witnesses it in chapter 5, we observe the prominent mention of the scroll (even before the first mention of the Lord Christ Himself in chapter 5):

Rev 5.1
I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a little scroll that had been written inside and on the back and had been sealed with seven seals.

The word used here is βιβλίον, a common word for a parchment which is rolled up after being written upon.

Rev 5.1-14
I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a little scroll that had been written within and behind and had been sealed with seven seals. I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the little scroll and to break its seals?” No one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth was able to open the little scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the little scroll to look into it. One of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Behold, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the little scroll and its seven seals.” And I saw in the midst of the throne and the four living beings, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as if it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the [seven] Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took it from the right hand of Him who sits on the throne. When He took the little scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). They sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the little scroll and to open its seals for You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood those from every tribe, language, people and nation. You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; they will reign upon the earth.”

One of the details that we must not miss is this: the Little Scroll was in the right hand of the One who sits on the throne.

[Because there are numerous examples of this language in the Bible, I have devoted a separate appendix on its use: Appendix C: The Right Hand.]

It should go without saying that if the LORD was pleased to inspire John to give this much attention to the Little Scroll in a single chapter, we should pay very close attention to it.

Another notable characteristic of the Little Scroll is that it is also sealed with seven seals (which, of course, means that it is rolled up/closed). It remains sealed (but still closed!) until the beginning of chapter 8!

With this as an introduction, we are ready to review the instances of βίβλος, βιβλίον and βιβλαρίδιον in the Revelation.

[There is a single verse which uses the term βιβλίον in a description:

Rev 6.14a
Heaven was split apart like a little scroll when it is rolled up ...

There are two verbs which make this a very interesting case:

split apart: ἀποχωρίζω, G673: separate, sever, part asunder
rolled up: ἑλίσσω*, G1667: to roll up, fold together

The first verb, ἀποχωρίζω (split), is used only in one other place in the NT:

Act 15.39
And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

Given that ἑλίσσω may mean rolled up or folded together, the strong imagery of Act 15.39 forces us to conclude that at a point in the future, the “fabric of the universe” (my term) will move in two halves that roll up (ἑλίσσω) away from each other (ἀποχωρίζω). This “cosmic separation” of the stars could be (my speculation) the “location” from which the Lord Christ is seen to descend “with the clouds of heaven” (Dan 7.13; Mat 26.64; Act 2.11). It will be as if His great power simply pushed the stars out of His path as He makes His way to the earth! It will be an astonishing event that will cause terror to the people of the earth, just as the Lord Christ told the disciples in the account in Luke:

Luk 21.25-28
“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

*Liddell and Scott Lexicon
American Book Company
New York, Chicago, Cincinnati
Published 1882
Seventh Edition
ppg. 454-455
ἑλίσσω: note how these definitions add to the imagery of the stars being moved out of the way for the Lord Christ’s return in glory. While I provide both the active and the passive/middle voice definitions, the passive voice is used in the text:

Active Voice

1. to turn round or about;
2. generally, to roll;
3. of any rapid motion, esp. of a circular kind;
4. to roll or wind round;
5. metaph. to turn in;
6. one’s mind, revolve;
7. to form winding (e.g., rivers);

Passive/Middle Voice

1. to turn oneself, turn quick round;
2. to and thither, go about;
3. to whirl in the dance;
4. he threw it with a whirl, like a sling;
5. have their heads rolled around with turbans

Note the mentions of “rapid motion”, “quick round”, and “rolled around with turbans”, along with other similar images. Now imagine something as immense as the view of the stars of the universe suddenly being “rolled up” out of the way into two separating masses while the people of the earth look on! No wonder that “men [faint] from fear”.]

Chapter 4 enumerates the other three types of scrolls found in the Revelation (that is, those scrolls that are not the Lamb’s Little Scroll of Life). It details the reason that the scroll detailed in Rev 20 is the same scroll detailed in Rev 5, namely the Lamb’s Little Scroll of Life.