Words and Phrases
The Alpha and Omega The following excerpt (Appendix B, Item # 741) was taken from the “New Albany Notes on Revelation”.
“For an explanation of this phrase, please see the comments on Revelation Chapter 1 Verse 8. This appendix was added because a challenge to the thoughts presented necessitates a detailed explanation. The following explanation is a compilation of material gleaned from Hebrew references and discussions with two different rabbis.
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
STRICTLY SPEAKING, the word "ME" in Zech. 12:10 is not spelled aleph tav (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the equivalent of alpha and omega in Greek.)
The Hebrew word for "ME" IS, however, a FORM of the Hebrew particle, ETH, which is spelled aleph tav and which is the word in the Hebrew text immediately following "ME" and preceding "WHOM."
This word IS NOT TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH because it is a word of emphasis —a sign that the following noun or pronoun is of unusual importance. While it is NOT exactly like the Ho in Ho Theos (John 1:1), it is somewhat similar in function. It is for enforcement or emphasis. Some clues as to its usage can be found in Strong's #853 (Hebrew Dictionary) and especially in Gesenius (Hebrew grammar) on pages 92 & 93. IT DOES HAVE OTHER CONFIRMED AND THEORETICAL USAGES.
(אֵ֣ת (’êṯ) Direct object marker Strong's Hebrew 853: 1) sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.)
The attempt to discredit the force of the Zech 12:10 connections to Rev 1:8 pass off this untranslated particle as MERELY a Hebrew punctuation device, a relatively unimportant grammatical marking. It IS, in a sense, a punctuation or grammar device; but we cannot say it is MERELY one.
Regardless of language scholars' various arguments, (and they, significantly, do not seem of one mind in this matter), it is GOD who wrote the text and who had INTENT in every "jot and tittle." The participle, ETH, is an inherent and inseparable part of the holy text. Rather than being ignorable, IT is the very item, the very inseparable part of the phrase,
"…Me (eth) whom... ", which makes BOTH the ME and the WHOM the code for Alpha & Omega (or, in this case, for Aleph-Tav) WITHOUT this particle, "ME" does NOT have this significance —although it might be argued that it does since it is a FORM of ETH.
Discounting this particle and passing it off as MERELY a Hebrew writing device is as deplorable as ignoring the THE (HO) in THE GOD (HO THEOS) —perhaps worse!
It is most significant that Hebrew scholars differ on the meanings and usages of ETH —sometimes with vehemence! The word itself, usually untranslated and usually thought untranslatable, has its usage origins lost somewhere in antiquity, thus accounting for the uncertainty of its real meaning and possibilities. Obviously, if the experts cannot agree, WE cannot solve the problems of its functions in Hebrew. But that is not our purpose. Experts also argue about the definite article (Ho) in John 1:1; we, on the other hand, KNOW what the verse means. It doesn't always take an expert!
The fact that possibilities exist in some Hebrew minds concerning this word which don't exist in other Hebrew minds, allows us to speculate as to what GOD intends for us to learn from it.
The thought expressed by one rabbi is excellent:
The fact that we do not know a function does not mean that it does not exist. The fact that the word exists proves that it has a function. It is SAFE TO CONCLUDE that God did not construct the Hebrew text for Jewish comprehension (yet) but FOR OURS! (1 Pet. 1:12).
“To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.”
Continued with next post.
The Alpha and Omega The following excerpt (Appendix B, Item # 741) was taken from the “New Albany Notes on Revelation”.
“For an explanation of this phrase, please see the comments on Revelation Chapter 1 Verse 8. This appendix was added because a challenge to the thoughts presented necessitates a detailed explanation. The following explanation is a compilation of material gleaned from Hebrew references and discussions with two different rabbis.
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
STRICTLY SPEAKING, the word "ME" in Zech. 12:10 is not spelled aleph tav (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the equivalent of alpha and omega in Greek.)
The Hebrew word for "ME" IS, however, a FORM of the Hebrew particle, ETH, which is spelled aleph tav and which is the word in the Hebrew text immediately following "ME" and preceding "WHOM."
This word IS NOT TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH because it is a word of emphasis —a sign that the following noun or pronoun is of unusual importance. While it is NOT exactly like the Ho in Ho Theos (John 1:1), it is somewhat similar in function. It is for enforcement or emphasis. Some clues as to its usage can be found in Strong's #853 (Hebrew Dictionary) and especially in Gesenius (Hebrew grammar) on pages 92 & 93. IT DOES HAVE OTHER CONFIRMED AND THEORETICAL USAGES.
(אֵ֣ת (’êṯ) Direct object marker Strong's Hebrew 853: 1) sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.)
The attempt to discredit the force of the Zech 12:10 connections to Rev 1:8 pass off this untranslated particle as MERELY a Hebrew punctuation device, a relatively unimportant grammatical marking. It IS, in a sense, a punctuation or grammar device; but we cannot say it is MERELY one.
Regardless of language scholars' various arguments, (and they, significantly, do not seem of one mind in this matter), it is GOD who wrote the text and who had INTENT in every "jot and tittle." The participle, ETH, is an inherent and inseparable part of the holy text. Rather than being ignorable, IT is the very item, the very inseparable part of the phrase,
"…Me (eth) whom... ", which makes BOTH the ME and the WHOM the code for Alpha & Omega (or, in this case, for Aleph-Tav) WITHOUT this particle, "ME" does NOT have this significance —although it might be argued that it does since it is a FORM of ETH.
Discounting this particle and passing it off as MERELY a Hebrew writing device is as deplorable as ignoring the THE (HO) in THE GOD (HO THEOS) —perhaps worse!
It is most significant that Hebrew scholars differ on the meanings and usages of ETH —sometimes with vehemence! The word itself, usually untranslated and usually thought untranslatable, has its usage origins lost somewhere in antiquity, thus accounting for the uncertainty of its real meaning and possibilities. Obviously, if the experts cannot agree, WE cannot solve the problems of its functions in Hebrew. But that is not our purpose. Experts also argue about the definite article (Ho) in John 1:1; we, on the other hand, KNOW what the verse means. It doesn't always take an expert!
The fact that possibilities exist in some Hebrew minds concerning this word which don't exist in other Hebrew minds, allows us to speculate as to what GOD intends for us to learn from it.
The thought expressed by one rabbi is excellent:
The fact that we do not know a function does not mean that it does not exist. The fact that the word exists proves that it has a function. It is SAFE TO CONCLUDE that God did not construct the Hebrew text for Jewish comprehension (yet) but FOR OURS! (1 Pet. 1:12).
“To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.”
Continued with next post.
