Reference: ALPHA
American
See the letter A.
Fausets
(ALPHA (? - ?), Greek): (ALEPH (?), "chief," "guide," Hebrew.) The first letter, as OMEGA (? - ?) is the last, of the Greek alphabet. So Christ is the First and the Last, including all that comes between, the Author and Finisher of the visible and invisible, and of the spiritual creations (Re 1:8; 21:6; 22:13; Heb 12:2; Isa 41:4; 44:6). As He made originally, so will He complete the whole. ALPHABET comes from the first two Greek letters, Alpha (? - ?), Beta (? - ?) equating in Hebrew to 'Aleph (?), Bet[h] (?).
The Moabite stone of Dibon, probably of the reign of Ahaziah, Ahab's son, who died 896 B.C., exhibits an alphabet so complete that at that early date it can have been no recent invention. It has been discovered as mason's marks on the foundation stones of Solomon's temple. Yet even it was not the earliest form of the Palestinian alphabet. The fine discrimination of sounds, implied in inventing an alphabet, could hardly be brought to perfection at once Rawlinson fixes the invention 15 centuries B.C.
The language of the Dibon stone, and the Hebrew of the Bible, most closely agree. Mesha's victories are recorded there in the same character, and even the same idiom, as in 2 Kings 3. In symbols of the early Christian church A and were often combined with the cross, or with Christ's monogram, e.g., on a tablet in the catacombs at Melos, of the early part of the second century. The rabbis (Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 17, 4, Sohoettgen, Hor. Heb., 1:1086) say, "Adam transgressed the whole law from Aleph (?) to Tau (?)" (the last Hebrew letter); so Christ fulfilled it from Alpha (? - ?) to Omega (? - ?) (Mt 3:15).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last I am He.'"
"Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last I am He.'"
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him.
But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him.
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Morish
The first letter of the Greek Alphabet, and which also signifies the numeral 1. A title or character of God and of Christ, which points to His eternity as 'the beginning,' 'the first,' the I AM. Re 1:8; 21:6; 22:13. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end," or "the first and the last;" which is similar to a passage in Isa 41:4: "I Jehovah, the first, and with the last; I am he."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last I am He.'"
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Smith
(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.
Re 1:8,11; 21:6; 22:13; Isa 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 Christ's name in Greek). Both Greeks and Hebrews employed the letters of the alphabet as numerals.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last I am He.'"
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."
Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Watsons
ALPHA, the first letter of the Greek alphabet; Omega being the last letter. Hence Alpha and Omega is a title which Christ appropriates to himself, Re 1:8; 21:6; 22:13; as signifying the beginning and the end, the first and the last, and thus properly denoting his perfection and eternity.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."