Uppercase Alpha and Omega in Times New Roman

Alpha (Α or α) and

omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/ isopsephy ( gematria), it has a value of 800. The ...

(Ω or ω) are the first and last letters of the

Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as w ...

, and a title of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

in the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...

. This pair of letters is used as a

Christian symbol Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. The symbolism of the early Church was characterized by ...

, and is often combined with the

Cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

Chi-rho The Chi Rho (☧, English pronunciation ; also known as ''chrismon'') is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters— chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek word ( Christos) in such a way tha ...

, or other Christian symbols.

Origin

The first written record we have of the phrase "alpha and omega" is from some old manuscripts of the Christian New Testament. The phrase "I am the Alpha and the Omega" (

Koiné Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

: "ἐγώ εἰμί τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ"), is an appellation of Jesus and of the Father in the Book of Revelation (verses 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13). The first part of this phrase ("I am the Alpha and the Omega") is first found in Chapter 1 verse 8 ("1:8"), and is found in every

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

of Revelation that has 1:8. Several later manuscripts repeat "I am the Alpha and the 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 the Omega" in 1:11, the "oldest anuscriptsomit" it. A similar reference is in Isaiah 44, where the Father says to be the first and the one who is after all.

Christianity

Alpha (Α) and

(Ω) are the first and last letters, respectively, of the classical (Ionic)

. 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. This phrase is interpreted by many Christians to mean that

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

has existed for all

eternity Eternity, in common parlance, means infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas sempit ...

or that God is eternal. Many commentators and dictionaries ascribe the title "the alpha and the omega" to both God and to

. ''Barnes' Notes on the New Testament'' (1974) claims: "It cannot be absolutely certain that the writer meant to refer to the Lord Jesus specifically here ... There is no real incongruity in supposing, also, that the writer here meant to refer to God as such." Most Christian denominations also teach that the title applies to both Jesus and his Father. The letters Alpha and Omega, in juxtaposition, are often used as a Christian visual symbol (see examples). The symbols were used in

early Christianity Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewis ...

and appear in the Roman catacombs. The letters were shown hanging from the arms of the cross in

Early Christian art Early Christian art and architecture or Paleochristian art is the art produced by Christians or under Christian patronage from the earliest period of Christianity to, depending on the definition used, sometime between 260 and 525. In practice, id ...

, and some cruces gemmatae, jeweled crosses in precious metal, have formed letters hanging in this way, called

pendilia Pendilia (singular pendilium; from Latin ''pendulus'', hanging) or pendoulia (the Greek equivalent), are pendants or dangling ornaments hanging from a piece of metalwork such as a crown, votive crown, crux gemmata, or kamelaukion, and are a featu ...

; for example, in the Asturian coat of arms, which is based upon the Asturian

Victory Cross The Victory Cross ( Asturian and Spanish: ''Cruz de la Victoria'') is an early 10th century Asturian crux gemmata or jewelled cross, given by King Alfonso III of Asturias, who reigned from 866 to 910, to the Cathedral of San Salvador of Ov ...

. In fact, despite always being in Greek, the letters became more common in Western than

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

Christian art. They are often shown to the left and right of Christ's head, sometimes within his

halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

, where they take the place of the Christogram used in Orthodox art. File:Rom, Domitilla-Katakomben, Steintafel mit Inschrift, Alpha und Omega und Christussymbol Chi Rho.jpg, The

symbol with Alpha and Omega, Catacombs of Domitilla,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

File:Christ with beard.jpg, The Greek letters ''alpha'' and ''omega'' surround the

of Jesus in the catacombs of Rome from the 4th century File:ΑΩwindow.jpg, "ΑΩ" in stained glass File:DE-ST 15-0-86-140 Friedensau COA.svg, Arms with Alpha and Omega File:Flag of Asturias.svg,

Flag of Asturias The flag of Asturias shows the "Cruz de la Victoria" (Victory Cross) in yellow ( PMS 109) over blue (PMS 829). History The origin of the flag of Asturias is in 1808, during the Peninsular War. As there was not any Spanish official flag yet, A ...

Judaism

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, the word ''emet'' (אמת, meaning "truth"), is referred to as the "

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

of God." f. Isaiah 44:6The word is composed of the first, middle, and last letters of the

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewi ...

Islam

The

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

gives ''al-ʾAwwal'' (ٱلْأَوَّل), meaning "The First" and ''al-ʾĀkhir'' (ٱلْآخِر), meaning "The Last" as two of the names of

: .

APL programming language

Some dialects of the

APL programming language APL (named after the book ''A Programming Language'') is a programming language developed in the 1960s by Kenneth E. Iverson. Its central datatype is the multidimensional array. It uses a large range of special graphic symbols to represent mos ...

support the direct function syntax where the left (optional) and right arguments are denoted by the letters alpha and omega. For example, the following function computes the sum of the left argument and twice the right argument:

References

External links

*
"Alpha and Omega (in Scripture)"
in the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'' at newadvent.org
"Alpha and Omega"
at the '' Jewish Encyclopedia'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpha And Omega Biblical phrases Book of Revelation Christian symbols Christian terminology Greek words and phrases Greek letters Language and mysticism Heraldic charges Names of God in Christianity New Testament words and phrases Superlatives in religion