Good day Worthy Knights,
In this part 25, the Alpha and the Omega (AN Wilson / Wikipedia)
Alpha
Uppercase Α, lowercase α; Ancient Greek: ἄλφα, álpha, modern pronunciation álfa, is the first letter of the Greek alphabet.
In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 1.
It was derived from the Phoenician and Hebrew letter aleph – an ox or leader. Letters that arose from alpha include the Latin A and the Cyrillic letter А.
In English, the noun “alpha” is used as a synonym for “beginning”, or “first” (in a series), reflecting its Greek roots.
Omega
Uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; ancient Greek: ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, modern Greek ωμέγα is the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet.
In the Greek numeric system, it has a value of 800.
The word literally means “great O” (ō mega, mega meaning “great”), as opposed to omicron, which means “little O” (o mikron, micron meaning “little”).
Alpha (Α) and Omega (Ω) are the first and last letters, respectively, of the classical Ionic Greek alphabet.
Thus, the phrase “I am the alpha and the omega” is further clarified with the additional phrase, “the beginning and the end” in Revelation 21:6, 22:13. The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet were used because the book of Revelation is in the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek.
Origin
As we have just seen, the term Alpha and Omega comes from the phrase “I am Alpha and Omega” (Koiné Greek: “ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ”), an appellation of Jesus in the Book of Revelation (verses 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13). The first part of this phrase (“I am the Alpha and Omega”) is first found in Chapter 1 verse 8 (“1:8”), and is found in every manuscript of Revelation that has 1:8.
Several later manuscripts repeat “I am the Alpha and Omega” in 1:11 too, but do not receive support here from most of the oldest manuscripts, including the Alexandrine, Sinaitic, and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus. It is, therefore, omitted in some modern translations. Scholar Robert Young stated, with regard to “I am the Alpha and Omega” in 1:11, the “oldest manuscripts omit” it.
A similar reference is in Isaiah 44, where the Lord says to be the first and the one who is after all.
The letters Alpha and Omega, in juxtaposition, are often used as a Christian visual symbol. The symbols were used in early Christianity and appear in the Roman catacombs. The letters were shown hanging from the arms of the cross in Early Christian art, and some crux gemmata, jeweled crosses in precious metal, have formed letters hanging in this way, called pendilia; for example, in the Asturian coat of arms, which is based upon the Asturian Victory Cross.
In fact, despite always being in Greek, the letters became more common in Western than Eastern Orthodox Christian art. They are often shown to the left and right of Christ’s head, sometimes within his halo, where they take the place of the Christogram used in Orthodox art.
Asturias: officially the Principality of Asturias , is an autonomous community in north-west Spain. It is coextensive with the province of Asturias and contains some of the territory that was part of the larger Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages.