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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_1:8
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Rev_1:8 YHWH Himself speaks this verse, affirming the truth of the previous statements about Jesus. It combines four titles for Him with an allusion to a fifth and possibly a sixth. Apparently, Rev_1:8 was God adding His personal affirmation to the above statement by the use of these magnificent names.
1. "I Am," which is an allusion to the Covenant name YHWH (cf. Exo_3:14), a form of the verb "to be." Jesus used this of Himself (cf. Joh_8:56-59). The title "Lord" (kurios) in the NT reflects this OT title.
2. "Alpha and Omega" are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet which assume that God is the beginning and the ending, the controller of history (cf. Isa_44:6; Rev_21:6); this title is also used of Jesus in Rev_1:17; Rev_22:13.
3. "The Lord" is the modern way of translating YHWH (se Special Topic following).
4. "God" in Gen_2:4, YHWH, and Elohim are combined (the LORD God) as a name for deity. El is the general name for god in the Near East, from the root "to be strong."
5. "The One who is the One who was, the One coming" is the phrase used earlier in Rev_1:4, which speaks of the unchanging, ever-living God (cf. Psa_102:27; Mal_3:6; Jas_1:17). This phrase is used of God the Father, YHWH, in Rev_1:4; Rev_1:8 and of Jesus, God the Son, in Rev_1:17-18; Rev_22:13 (cf. Heb_13:8).
6. "The Almighty" which was the OT term, (1) "El-Shaddai," the patriarchal name for God (cf. Exo_6:3) or (2) "YHWH Sabaoth," from the LXX's "The Lord God Almighty. It is found often in this book (i.e., pantokratôr, cf. Rev_4:8; Rev_11:17; Rev_15:3; Rev_16:7; Rev_16:14; Rev_19:6; Rev_19:11; Rev_21:22), but only once in the other NT books (i.e., 2Co_6:18).
One early Greek manuscript, aleph ( à *), and several later manuscripts add the phrase "the beginning and the end" after "the Alpha and the Omega." Scribes inserted it from Rev_21:6, but it is probably not an original part of the inspired original Greek text. The UBS4 rates its exclusion as "certain." See Special Topic below.
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