The Tablet of Destinies and the Book of Life
Intertextuality over the Millennia
The concept of a divine record documenting the fate or activity of humans is nearly as old as human literature itself, first appearing in traditions and texts across the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. One of the earliest examples is the “Tablet of Destinies” found in a diverse range of Mesopotamian and Egyptian literature. Over time, this pattern and subsequent traditions developed into the idea of “Books of Life” and other heavenly books that either determine human destiny or recorded the actions of humans for judgment. In its earliest incarnation, these tablets or books also symbolized authority and conferred kingship (whether divine or human) to their holder.
As cultures developed and began to influence each other, versions of the tablet motif spread and influenced new and developing traditions while also taking on new meanings. By tracing this concept from ancient Mesopotamia, through the Hebrew Bible, into the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament, and then into Rabbinic Judaism, we can see how an enduring myth was absorbed and adapted by diverse communities and their texts. This in turn serves as a detailed and long-lived example of intertextuality - the incorporation, evolution, and development of an idea throughout literature and tradition over millennia.
In the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish, the tablet is called the "Tablet of Destinies", a vitally important object which was seized from the god Enlil by the dragon Tiamat, then taken from Tiamat by Marduk which confirmed his authority over the other gods. A Babylonian hymn to Marduk equates the tablet with mastery of the universe:
Your utterance is unchangeable, your command is not revoked ...
In your hand you hold the Tablet of Destinies
What is written on it cannot be altered. (Enuma Elish Tablet 1)
Other versions, such as the Sumerian Epic of Anzu, emphasize the tablet's role in establishing order in the universe. According to scholar Karen Sonik, the tablet “is described as the means by which rightful power is exercised … which amounts in principle to kingship of the gods”1 by the deity who holds it.
The Tablet of Destinies in his hands, Anzu gazed,
And fixed his purpose, to usurp the Enlil-power.
Anzu often gazed at Durankis’ god, father of the gods,
And fixed his purpose to usurp the Enlil-power.
I shall take the gods Tablet of Destinies for myself,
And control the orders for all the gods,
And shall possess the throne and be master of the rites!
I shall direct every one of the Igigi!
He plotted opposition in his heart
And at the chamber’s entrance from which he often gazed,
He waited for the start of the day.
While Enlil was bathing in the holy water,
Stripped and with his crown laid down on the throne,
He gained the Tablet of Destinies for himself,
Took away the Enlil-power . (Epic of Anzu)
The tablet decrees the destiny not just of individual humans and divine beings but of the entire cosmos. As such, it is often depicted as being worn on the breast of the ruler of the gods. In the standard version of the Babylonian Epic of Creation, it is the goddess Tiamat who wears the tablet before it is seized by Marduk. A hymn to the god Assur states that “the Tablet of Destinies, the lordship of the lands, you bear at your breast.”2 The tablet thus conferred supreme power on whoever possessed it.
In the Hebrew Bible, the idea behind these heavenly books was incorporated and adapted to perform several functions previously carried out by the Tablets of Destiny. In Exodus 32, Moses pleads for God to spare the Israelites after their sin with the golden calf, even offering for his own name to be erased from God's book:
But now, if you will forgive their sin…, but if not, wipe me out from your book that you have written.” The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me—that person I will wipe out of my book. (Exodus 32:32)
This Book of Life represents the register of the righteous who have God's blessing and protection. Being blotted out from it means losing that divine favor and salvation. Similarly, Psalm 69 refers to sinners being deleted from the "scroll of the living" and contrasted to the godly, implying the Book of Life records the righteous:
Hold them accountable for all their sins. Do not vindicate them.
May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living. Do not let their names be listed with the godly. (Psalm 69:27-28)
The Psalms and other texts in the Hebrew traditions also refer to God's "books" documenting human sins and good deeds across time. These books thus appear to include both objective records of deeds done in life and subjective indicators of one's standing with God. The primary function of the Tablets of Destiny - decreeing fates - has evolved into the more complex and multilayered themes of morality, judgement, and salvation symbolized in a shifting metaphor.3
This pattern continued during the development of traditions and literature in the intertestamental period including pseudepigraphal texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The idea became incorporated into the dominant apocalyptic themes that came to life during this era. The pseudepigraphal books composing what is today known as 1 Enoch capture this integration:
Do not believe in your mind or declare in your heart that you are unaware and that you do not witness that every sin is recorded every day in the heavens before the Most High. Understand that all the injustices you commit are recorded every day until your day of judgement. (1 Enoch 98:17)
I saw the Head of Days when He seated himself upon the throne of His glory, And the books of the living were opened before Him: And all His host which is in heaven above and His counselors stood before Him… (1 Enoch 47:3)
This same apocalyptic emphasis is also found in the book of Daniel:
There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time. But at that time your own people, all those whose names are found written in the book, will escape. (Daniel 12:1)
Scholars note that by the time the books of Daniel and 1 Enoch was being written, the theme of heavenly books may have split in two: a “Book of Life” recording the righteous and a “Book of Deeds” containing human actions to be judged.4 This can be seen in the book of Jubilees, first as describes the recording of sin and judgement:
[Joseph] remembered the Lord and the words which Jacob, his father, used to read from amongst the words of Abraham, that no man should commit fornication with a woman who has a husband; that for him the punishment of death has been ordained in the heavens before the Most High God, and the sin will be recorded against him in the eternal books continually before the Lord. (Jubilees 39:6)
… and then as recording an inclusion into a heavenly book of life:
[Levi] was zealous to execute righteousness and judgment and vengeance on all those who arose against Israel. And so they inscribe as a testimony in his favor on the heavenly tablets blessing and righteousness before the God of all … (Jubilees 30:18-19)5
Baynes goes on to note: “In terms of the sub-types of the heavenly book, the book of life is by far the most ubiquitous in the Hebrew scriptures. No other form of the motif comes close to matching the frequency of its occurrence. It corresponds to a census list, but one that records the names of the Lord’s citizens … The last two sub-types of the heavenly book motif, the book of action and the book of deeds, seem to be metaphors taken from writing used as prophetic speech acts and writing in the form of histories and administrative records, respectively.”6
The Dead Sea Scrolls, specifically in the Damascus Document, carries this tradition into a sectarian culture that highly valued one’s place within the in-group. It should not be surprising that this sectarian literature incorporates this value with the theme and expresses it with clarity:
They shall then speak, each to his fellow, acting just with one’s brother, so that their steps become steady in the path of God, and God will pay attention to their words. And he will listen; and it will be written in a book of remembrance before him for those who fear God and think on his name. (Dead Sea Scrolls, Damascus Document)
The recording of deeds along with one’s place in the divine community remains a prominent motif in the New Testament, particularly the Book of Revelation, along with the Gospels, and passing references in the Epistles. Revelation, in particular, carries the apocalyptic and eschatological theme found earlier in Daniel and 1 Enoch:
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. (Revelation 20:12)
The one who conquers will be dressed like them in white clothing, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, but will declare his name before my Father and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)
In the Gospels, we see Jesus utilize this imagery in the context of a “book of life” that records their place in the coming Kingdom of God and serves to emphasize that even over one’s authority over spiritual enemies.
Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names stand written in heaven. (Luke 10:19-20)
One interesting detail to note is that Luke’s gospel does not actually utilize the terminology “book of life” but uses the circumlocution - an alternative name or description - “written in heaven”. Baynes draws on the work of New Testament scholar Joseph Fitzmyer to note that this particular usage lies somewhere between a purely apocalyptic sense as found in Revelation and a more traditional hortatory (encouraging or motivating) speech.7
Likewise, the Apostle Paul makes a passing reference to the idea that is not in an apocalyptic context:
I appeal to Euodia and to Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I say also to you, true companion, help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life. (Philippians 4:2-3)8
In this statement in Philippians (considered a consensus authentic Pauline source) assures that those who remain loyal to their work, even as they endure struggle. This matches the encouraging and hortatory use in the Gospel of Luke, even if only in the briefest of passing references. Paul would also seem to be utilizing this in the same sense as the heavenly “citizenship list” used in past literature as prior to this in the end of chapter 3 he is referring to “citizenship in heaven”. (3:20).
By the time of early Antiquity, when the Mishnah and Talmud were being codified, we find that the concept has developed even further, in the Mishnah via Pirkei Avot and also in the Babylonian Talmud in tractate Rosh Hashanah.
Apply your mind to three things and you will not come into the clutches of sin: Know what there is above you: an eye that sees, an ear that hears, and all your deeds are written in a book. (Pirkei Avot 2:1)
While the Avot maintains what would be considered a more traditional understanding and reading of this concept, it’s in tractate Rosh Hashanah where we see another step of innovation. Along with the conventional reading of a “book of life” for the righteous and a “book of judgment” for the wicked, there is a third book for those who do not fall into either:
Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: This matter is derived from here: “And if not, blot me, I pray You, out of Your book which you have written” (Exodus 32:32). “Blot me, I pray You”; this is the book of wholly wicked people, who are blotted out from the world. “Out of Your book”; this is the book of wholly righteous people, which is special and attributed to God Himself. “Which You have written”; this is the book of middling people.
It is taught in a baraita: Beit Shammai say: There will be three groups of people on the great Day of Judgment at the end of days: One of wholly righteous people, one of wholly wicked people, and one of middling people. Wholly righteous people will immediately be written and sealed for eternal life. Wholly wicked people will immediately be written and sealed for Gehenna, as it is stated: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to eternal life and some to shame and everlasting contempt”. Middling people will descend to Gehenna to be cleansed and to achieve atonement for their sins … (b. Rosh Hashanah 16b)
This tradition was eventually incorporated into the observance of Yom Kippur: every New Year, all names get written in one of these books. But the final decision on which book isn't made until ten days later, on the Day of Atonement.
These ten days between the New Year and the Day of Atonement, called the "ten days of repentance", are a time when people get the chance to make up for their wrongs, hoping their names will end up in the Book of Life with the righteous. Prayers for both the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) often talk about the Book of Life and how true repentance will secure a spot in this book of life. During this period, it's a tradition for people to greet each other with "may you be inscribed for good," wishing each other well for the upcoming year and to remind to repent and aim to do better in the year ahead.9
The “Tablet of Destinies”, “Book of Life”, and other appellations for this concept are a testament to how an idea, perhaps as old as literature itself, can endure through intertextual reflection and common traditions through millennia of religious thought and development. Traces of this motif can be found threaded through diverse textual traditions, yet its evolution across these eras and cultures also reveals conceptual fluidity. As these varied communities encountered and reflected on the motif, they adapted it to their unique sociological, cosmological, and eschatological frameworks, while often retaining the redemptive purpose of its record-keeping.
Sonik, Karen “The Tablet of Destinies and the Transmission of Power in Enūma Eliš” in Dalley, Stephanie (ed.) Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others, Oxford University Press, 2000
Mark, Joshua J. “Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation” World History Encyclopedia, 2018
Paul, Shalom M. “Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society, Vol. 5, Issue 1, 1973
Baynes, Leslie “The Heavenly Book Motif in Judeo-Christian Apocalypses 200 BCE-200 CE”, Brill, 2012
Baynes, Leslie, Ibid, p. 61
Baynes, Leslie, Ibid, p. 138
Meyers, Carol L. “Exodus” Cambridge University Press, 2005