Revelation 22:13

 Revelation 22:13

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

a. NASB 1995: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”  [NASB95 New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. NKJV: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified:  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last (the Before all and the End of all). [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Peshitta Eastern Text:  I am Aleph and Tau, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. [HOLY BIBLE FROM THE ANCIENT EASTERN TEXT. Copyright  Ⓒ 1933 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1968 by A.J. Holmon Co.; All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.]

e. ESV: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

g. Comments are welcome.

1. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

a. I [Strong: 1473 ἐγώ egṓ, eg-o'; a primary pronoun of the first person I (only expressed when emphatic):—I, me.]

b. am [Strong: 1510 εἰμί eimí, i-mee'; the first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist (used only when emphatic):—am, have been, × it is I, was.]

c. [Strong: 3588. [to] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [to] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé, Hē, hē, hai, tas.]

d. Alpha [Strong: 1 Α A, al'-fah; of Hebrew origin; the first letter of the alphabet; figuratively, only (from its use as a numeral) the first:—Alpha. Often used (usually ἄν án, before a vowel) also in composition (as a contraction from G427) in the sense of privation; so, in many words, beginning with this letter; occasionally in the sense of union (as a contraction of G260).]

e. and [Strong: 2532 καί kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

f. [Strong: 3588. [to] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [to] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé, Hē, hē, hai, tas.]

g. Omega [Strong: 5598 Ω Ō, o'-meg-ah; the last letter of the Greek alphabet, i.e. (figuratively) the finality:—Omega.]

h. [the] beginning [Strong: 746 ἀρχή archḗ, ar-khay'; from G756; (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concretely) chief (in various applications of order, time, place, or rank):—beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule.]

i. and [Strong: 2532 καί kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

j. [the] end [Strong: 5056 τέλος télos, tel'-os; from a primary τέλλω téllō (to set out for a definite point or goal); properly, the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination (literally, figuratively or indefinitely), result (immediate, ultimate or prophetic), purpose); specially, an impost or levy (as paid):—+ continual, custom, end(-ing), finally, uttermost.]

k. the [Strong: 3588. [ho] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [ho] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé, Hē, hē, hai, tas.]

l. [the] first [Strong: 4413 πρῶτος prōtos, pro'-tos; contracted superlative of G4253; foremost (in time, place, order or importance):—before, beginning, best, chief(-est), first (of all), former.]

m. and [Strong: 2532 καί kaí, kahee; apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:—and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet.]

n. the [Strong: 3588. [ho] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [ho] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé, Hē, hē, hai, tas.]

o. last [Strong: 2078 ἔσχατος éschatos, es'-khat-os; a superlative probably from G2192 (in the sense of contiguity); farthest, final (of place or time):—ends of, last, latter end, lowest, uttermost.]

1). In the Hebrew of Genesis 1 there is an interesting fact that is not translated into the English, that I believe may have something to do with this verse.

a).  In Hebrew which reads right to left it is: “In the beginning created God”. In between the Hebrew words for “God” and “the heavens” are two Hebrew letters, which happen to be the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, “aleph” and “tav”.  Strong’s says this: “# 853 OT Hebrew, 'eth ayth, apparent contracted from ''owth' (226) in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English)”. Blue Letter Bible has this note: “sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.” In this first verse of Scripture all the Hebrew words are translated into English except these two Hebrew letters, which happen to be the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Speaking strictly from an alphabetical and literal sense it could be comparable to A-Z or Alpha-Omega. Because it is not translated into English we don’t see this, but if we did translate it into English it would read something like, “In the beginning God created a-z”.  Because of this, Hebrew tradition teaches that God created the Hebrew alphabet before he created anything else. Perhaps after this initial creation, the Aleph and Tav, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end was applied to the Second Person of the Triune Godhead. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” I am not saying that Christ Jesus, the Alpha and Omega is a created being. I am saying Christ Jesus is clearly identified as the LORD God in Scripture (Micah 5:2; Psalm 90:1, 20.) and I am saying that after the Three Persons of the Godhead created the Hebrew alphabet, it was applied to Christ Jesus, the Second Person of the Godhead.

b). The Wisdom In The Hebrew Alphabet, Rabbi Michael L. Munk, p. 19: “Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch, writes: It is known in Kabbalistic literature that the letters of the Aleph-Beis [Hebrew alphabet] were created first of all. Thereafter, by use of the letters, the Holy One, Blessed is He, created all the worlds. This is the hidden meaning of the first phrase in the Torah, “In the beginning God created [The Hebrew letters, aleph-tav]—that is, God’s first act was to create the letters from [aleph to tav]…”

c). The Wisdom InThe Hebrew Alphabet, Rabbi Michael L. Munk, p. 34: “In the popular idiom, something that is expressed or analyzed in its entirety is said to be covered…from aleph to tav.”