He who conquers: see the comments at 2.7. To avoid the exclusively masculine sense, the translation can use a plural form, “Those who conquer,” or the indefinite “Whoever conquers.” Revised English Bible has “Anyone who is victorious.”

Shall be clad thus in white garments: the meaning is “will wear white clothes like this” or “like them,” that is, as they do. “They will be dressed in white like them.” The passive form of the verb may indicate that God or Christ will dress them. It seems better, though, to understand it as the Greek middle voice: “they will dress themselves.”

I will not blot his name out of the book of life: the verb blot … out means to delete, to erase, to wipe out, to remove—whatever verb is most naturally applied to the process of removing someone’s name from a list or a book. See Revised English Bible “I shall never strike his name off the roll of the living.” The figure the book of life is a familiar one in the Bible and in scriptures of other religions (see also 13.8; 17.8; 20.12, 15; 21.27). It implies that God keeps a (written) record of those who will enjoy the bliss of eternal life. In 17.8 the additional information is given, that those names were entered into the book of life before the creation of the world. For other references to the book of life, see Exo 32.32-33; Psa 69.28; Dan 12.1; Mal 3.16; Phil 4.3. Instead of the abstract phrase of life, a translator may choose to say “of the living (ones)” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). The book of life may be expressed as “the book in which the names of those who really have life (life from God) are written down” or “the book in which God has written down the names of those who will have eternal life.”

I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels: to “confess the name” means to recognize, acknowledge, proclaim a certain relationship with a person. Here the meaning is that at the final Judgment Christ will declare that these people are his, they are his followers, they belong to him (see Matt 10.32; Luke 12.8; 1 John 2.23). An American Translation and Barclay translate “I will acknowledge him as mine”; Bible en français courant has “I will declare before my Father and before his angels that they belong to me.” The literal translation before my Father and before his angels appears to imply two separate events, whereas only one is meant: “before my Father and his angels” Christ will make this declaration. The phrase before my Father and before his angels may also be rendered as “when I stand before my Father and…,” or in certain languages “as I am before the face of my Father and….”

For angel see comments at 1.20.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• The person who conquers the forces of evil will wear white clothes like these do. I will not erase that person’s name from the book in which the names of those who have true life are written down. As I stand before my Father and the beings (angels) who serve him, I will declare that I know this person.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .