Alpha & Omega / Aleph & Tav / First & Last (page 2)

AlphaOmega

Thank you again.

I'll have to decide the ethical value of this myself - maybe it is a conscience matter.

I

AlphaOmega

Thank you again.

I'll have to decide the ethical value of this myself - maybe it is a conscience matter.

I take it

AlphaOmega

Thank you again.

I'll have to decide the ethical value of this myself - maybe it is a conscience matter.

I take it that

AlphaOmega

Thank you again.

I'll have to decide the ethical value of this myself - maybe it is a conscience matter.

I take it that you studied Hebrew ?

(Don't you hate it when the forum jumps and you end up making multiple posts ?) - maybe it was a glitch in the Matrix ?

There is a Hebrew analogue to the Greek use of the letters alpha and omega as an epithet of God; in qabbalistic letter symbolism, the Hebrew word 'mt ('emet) "truth" is used as a name for God, containing as it does the first letter, the middle letter, and the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such an interpretation of the word is late and extrabiblical but has roots in Hellenistic Jewish magic; cf. the use of aleph (sometimes repeated five or six times) as a name of God in incantation spell texts. Greek magical papyri also use the two letters alpha and omega in the same way (cf. PGM IV.411, 528, 992, 993; XIII.39, XXI.11-14). This is one of several points of contact of Revelation with the magical texts.

Neo

In the strictest grammatical sense, the presence of eth ('t, as pointed by Leolaia) in itself is no big deal, since it just indicates the direct object in the accusative. But, looking at the verse with a more "spiritual" interpretation, like the Rabbis would, it is a remarkable coincidence that first occurrence of eth occurs right there in Genesis 1.1 together with the first occurrence of Elohim.

Revelation calls Jesus "the Alpha and the Omega" in its introduction and the Gospel of John calls him the "Word" in its introduction. What is so interesting is that both are linguistic symbols. One is the word "WORD" itself, and the other is formed by the first and last letters of the alphabet, standing as a symbol of the whole alphabet, which is used to name everything that can be named. They are maximal symbols, and are applied to the same person.

Now John 1.1 says that the Word was with God in the beginning. This is an indirect reference by the author to Genesis 1.1, where we find that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". And now comes the coincidence: in Hebrew we read that the Word Eth was with God in the beginning. The Word written with the First and Last Hebrew letters sits right next to the first occurrence of God in the Torah. He, the Word, was with God there in the act of creation, as John 1:1-3 states.

It becomes even more interesting when we see that the first phrase in Genesis has seven words in Hebrew, therefore mimicking the creation that is detailed in the following verses in a pattern of seven days. The Aleph-Tav word is the fourth word, standing in the heart of Genesis 1:1. But this eth word is a derivative of the noun oth (the same aleph-tav with a different pronunciation), first used in Genesis 1:14, which means "sign, mark, miracle". Thus the fourth word self-reflectively suggests that it is a sign from God. In fact, the Aleph Tav / Alpha Omega is a symbol of the beginning and the ending, and it occurs in the beggining (Genesis 1:1) and the ending (Revelation 22:13) of the Bible.

There is an interesting correlation with another verse in the Old Testament:

"They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son." - Zechariah 12:10

As in Genesis 1:1, there's an eth right there after "me" in Hebrew, and, like in Genesis, it doesn't mean much in a secular linguistic sense. But the Gospel of John quotes this verse and adapts it to show that Jesus was the one to be believed (John 20:28-31).

One of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced." - John 19:34-37

When we look back into the Zechariah verse, and having already spotted a link between Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 based on eth, we can see that Zech 12:10 can be read with NT lenses as "they shall look upon me - the Aleph Tav - whom they have pierced".

And I just noted that John in this context suddenly emphasizes his catchword truth, which in Hebrew is written, as Leolaia points out, as emet, using the first, middle, and last letters of the alphabet, thus denoting "the whole truth". It is remarkable that the word is evoked in the context of the Zechariah Aleph-Tav quote.

Plus, emet can be broken down in two words: em and met. Em means mother and met means death in Hebrew. That is absolutely striking in the present context, since in John 19 Jesus sees his mother, who caused his birth, and then faces his death. A moment that encapsulates his whole life, from womb to tomb. From beginning to end.

Neo

Leolaia

Revelation calls Jesus "the Alpha and the Omega" in its introduction and the Gospel of John calls him the "Word" in its introduction. What is so interesting is that both are linguistic symbols . One is the word "WORD" itself, and the other is formed by the first and last letters of the alphabet, standing as a symbol of the whole alphabet, which is used to name everything that can be named. They are maximal symbols, and are applied to the same person.
Now John 1.1 says that the Word was with God in the beginning . This is an indirect reference by the author to Genesis 1.1, where we find that " in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". And now comes the coincidence: in Hebrew we read that the Word Eth was with God in the beginning. The Word written with the First and Last Hebrew letters sits right next to the first occurrence of God in the Torah. He, the Word, was with God there in the act of creation, as John 1:1-3 states.

That's a somewhat better, if not ingenious, argument...though imho more as an eisegetical engagement with the text than what the authors of John and Revelation likely meant, but quite interesting!

Chalam

Here's some more "coincidences"

Name-Applied to Jehovah-Applied to Jesus

Alpha and Omega
Revelation 1:8
Revelation 22:13

Lord of Lords
Deuteronomy 10:17
Revelation 17:14

First and Last
Isaiah 44:6
Revelation 1:17-18, 22:13

King
Isaiah 43:15
Revelation 17:14

Owner
Jeremiah 3:14
Jude 4

Husband
Hosea 2:16
Revelation 21:9

Savior
Isaiah 43:11
Luke 2:11

Judge
Genesis 18:25
2 Timothy 4:8

More here

http://healtheland.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/how-to-prove-jesus-christs-deity-to-a-jehovahs-witness-or-anyone-else/

All the best,
Stephen

BurnTheShips

In Genesis 1:1, the first and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet appear without translation right before the word "God"...

Looking at the picture of the text in Hebrew, it would appear to come after, since Hebrew reads from right to left.

Burn

Alpha & Omega / Aleph & Tav / First & Last

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