Bible dictionaries
Alpha
What Bible dictionaries say about “Alpha”, one article after the other.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Alpha - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
AL'PHA, n. [Heb. an ox, a leader.]
The first letter in the Greek alphabet, answering to A, and used to denote first or beginning.
I am Alpha and Omega. Rev 1.
As a numeral, it stands for one. It was formerly used also to denote chief; as, Plato was the Alpha of the wits.
Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
The article in Easton + Webster 1828Smith’s Bible Dictionary
(A), the first letter of the Greek alphabet. With Omega, the last letter, it is used in the Old Testament and in the New to express the eternity of God, as including both the beginning and the end. (Revelation 1:8,11; 21:6; 22;13; Isaiah 41:4; 44:6) hence these letters became a favorite symbol of the eternal divinity of our Lord, and were used for this purpose in connection with the cross, or the monogram of Christ (i.e. the first two letters, ch and r, of Christs name in Greek). Both Greeks and Hebrews employed the letters of the alphabet as numerals.
William Smith; revised by F. N. Peloubet and M. A. Peloubet; CrossWire SWORD module Smith 1.3
The article in Smith