Revelation 1:8

Revelation 1:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
• New International Version (NIV)“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
• New King James Version (NKJV)“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Context of Revelation 1:8

6and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! Amen. 7(Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him. This will certainly come to pass! Amen.) “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God – the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come – the All-Powerful! 9I, John, your brother and the one who shares with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

Revelation 1:8 word by word

Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ὦ λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ παντοκράτωρ.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• amεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• Alphaὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Alphaα, ἈλφαA · AlphaG1
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• Omegaω, ὮμέγαŌ · OmegaG5598
• the beginningἀρχήarchē · beginningG746
• the endingτέλοςtelos · goal/taxG5056
• saithλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
• which is to comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• the Almightyπαντοκράτωρpantokratōr · almightyG3841

Cross-references for Revelation 1:8

• Revelation 1:11saying: “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches – to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
• Revelation 2:8“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write the following: “This is the solemn pronouncement of the one who is the first and the last, the one who was dead, but came to life:
• Revelation 21:6He also said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life.
• Revelation 22:13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end!)
• Isaiah 41:4Who acts and carries out decrees? Who summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning, and at the very end – I am the one.
• Isaiah 43:10You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe in me, and understand that I am he. No god was formed before me, and none will outlive me.
• Isaiah 44:6This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says, their protector, the Lord who commands armies: “I am the first and I am the last, there is no God but me.
• Isaiah 48:12Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I summoned! I am the one; I am present at the very beginning and at the very end.
• Revelation 1:4From John, to the seven churches that are in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from “he who is,” and who was, and who is still to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
• Revelation 4:8Each one of the four living creatures had six wings and was full of eyes all around and inside. They never rest day or night, saying: “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful, Who was and who is, and who is still to come!”
• Revelation 11:17with these words: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign.
• Revelation 16:14For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful.
• Revelation 19:15From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful.
• Revelation 21:22Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God – the All-Powerful – and the Lamb are its temple.
• Genesis 17:1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.
• Genesis 28:3May the sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation.

Commentaries on Revelation 1:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8I am Alpha and Omega - I am from eternity to eternity. This mode of speech is borrowed from the Jews, who express the whole compass of things by א aleph and ת tau, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet; but as St. John was writing in Greek, he accommodates the whole to the Greek alphabet, of which alpha and omega are the first and last letters. With the rabbins ת ועד מא meeleph vead tau, "from aleph to tau," expressed the whole of a matter…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8I am Alpha and Omega - These are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet, and denote properly the first and the last. So in Revelation 22:13, where the two expressions are united, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” So in Revelation 1:17, the speaker says of himself, “I am the first and the last.” Among the Jewish rabbis it was common to use the first and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet to denote…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-8Verses 4-8 There can be no true peace, where there is not true grace; and where grace goeth before, peace will follow. This blessing is in the name of God, of the Holy Trinity, it is an act of adoration. The Father is first named; he is described as the Jehovah who is, and who was, and who is to come, eternal, unchangeable. The Holy Spirit is called the seven spirits, the perfect Spirit of God, in whom there is a diversity of gifts and operations. The…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8I am is the name of God in the Old Testament (Exodus 3:13–14; 6:2; Deuteronomy 6:4). Jesus used this name for himself (compare John 4:26). Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. They show that God's actions cover everything. God is completely in control.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Greek, "I am the Alpha and the Omega." The first and last letters of the alphabet. God in Christ comprises all that goes between, as well as the first and last. the beginning and the ending--omitted in the oldest manuscripts, though found in Vulgate and Coptic. Transcribers probably inserted the clause from Re 21:6. In Christ, Genesis, the Alpha of the Old Testament, and Revelation, the Omega of the New Testament, meet together: the last book…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 1:8

• Alpha
• Jesus Continued
• Omega

In the dictionaries

• Alpha and Omega
• Alpha
• Beginning
• Jehovah
• Key
• Omega
• Star
• Alliance
• Asia Minor
• Canon of the New Testament

Commentaries on Revelation 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings