Blot

Blot in Scripture carries two primary senses: a moral stain or reproach (Job 31:7; Prov. 9:7), and the divine act of erasure, either of sin in forgiveness or of a person's name from the book of life in judgment. The Hebrew mum denotes a physical or moral blemish, while the verb “to blot out” (machah) is used both for the forgiveness of sin—“blot out my transgressions” (Ps. 51:1, 9)—and for the removal of a name from God's record (Ex. 32:32–33).

Isaiah 44:22 uses the metaphor of a cloud dispersed: “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist.” This positive sense of blotting—complete removal of the record of sin—is taken up in Colossians 2:14, where Paul declares that the written record of debt against us has been “cancelled” (literally, “blotted out”) and nailed to the cross. The contrasting negative use—having one's name blotted from the book of life (Rev. 3:5)—implies the ultimate consequence of apostasy and unbelief.