Who is speaking in Revelations 1:8?

Question

REVELATIONS 1:8 SAYS,

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NASB: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (NASB ©1995)
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GWT: "I am the A and the Z," says the Lord God, the one who is, the one who was, and the one who is coming, the Almighty. (GOD'S WORD®)
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KJV: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

IN SOME BIBLES THE WORDS OF THIS PASSAGE ARE IN RED INDICATING THAT "JESUS" IS SPEAKING BUT IN THE JEHOVAH WITNESSES' BIBLE IT SAYS THAT "JEHOVAH GOD" IS SPEAKING.

IF THE PERSON SPEAKING IS "JESUS" THEN HOW CAN YOU KNOW WHO ACTUALLY IS SPEAKING THOSE LINES? ARE THERE ANY VERSES BEFORE THIS ONE, SHOWING THAT IT IS JESUS?

Answer 1

Verse one of that Chapter is clear that it is Jesus Christ.

Answer 2

John says literally from the Greek:

I am the alpha and the omega is saying master the God the (the-one) being and the was and the (the-one) coming the all-holder (almighty).

It is phrase "master the God". Does this refer to God as the first and the last or does this refer to Jesus. The clue is in the phrase "the alpha and the omega" means that I am the first and the last (the one and the only one). This phrase is used by messengers in warning cities of an attack. The word prophet means messenger. So that beginning of sentence say "I am the one and the only one [messenger]".

Let’s move on to the last part of the sentence: the (the-one) being and the was and the (the-one) coming the all-holder (almighty). Notice the word the-one is used in two places "being and the was" and "coming the all-holder (almighty). The master of God is the-one being and the was and the-one coming the all-holder (almighty).

I am the first as well as the last, the one and the only, the Alpha and the Omega is saying master of God the-one being and the was and the-one coming the all-holder, the almighty.

So who is the master of God? The one being and the past and the one coming almighty?

God is obviously the master of himself. Is Jesus the master of God?

If you want Jesus to be the master of God, you must use the Holy Trinity to get you there. Jesus as part of the Godhead would be master of God.

Answer: Both because the writer John made no distinction.

Answer 3

You bring up an interesting question, but the answer is actually in the Greek text. There are some pretty good answers above me here but I will do my best to explain (bible verses referenced from KJV).

In Verse 1 it clearly makes the point that it is a Revelation of Jesus Christ --- "which God gave unto him". There is a distinction between Jesus and God, why would Jesus need God to give him a revelation, if he was God? The context is even more obvious in the Greek. I do not have Koine Greek on my computer so I will give the transliteration of the phrase in quotes above --- "[which] [gave] [to him] [the] [God]"

The key in the Greek is that little word --- THE, making God specific to who gave Jesus the revelation, not Jesus himself. The point is also in verse 9 --- "for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ". In the Greek, again, "[word] [of the] [God] [and] [the] [witness] [of Jesus]"

The term THE separates God from Jesus, they are 2 distinct individuals. In verse 8, the KJV drops the term "[the] [God]", but it is in the Greek as you will see if you can find an Interlinear Bible. That term --- "[the God]" is never referenced to Jesus, ever. So although the English context gives the impression that it is Jesus speaking in verse 8, it is God, THE God.

(While people accuse JW's of changing things here to suit their beliefs, the writers of the KJV actually left out a very important part to suit their's)

Answer 4

There is no such thing as a Jehovah witness bible, all bibles are the same and say the same thing, Now as we know Jesus is the son of God, Gods name being Jehovah.. Now the alpha and the omega, God was there in the beginning and he will be there in the end he is the Lord almighty.. If Jesus is speaking he is talking about his father our Lord

Answer 5

Connect the dots...

Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Re 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Isa 48:12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Re 1:17b-18 Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Re 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

Re 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Rev 22:13-16 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Pretty cool, eh? It is Jesus Christ who lives, was dead, and is alive for evermore. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. He is the only one who gives us the water of eternal life.

Answer 6

First, it's not Revelations, it's Revelation. Jesus is revealing Himself to John, and through him to the world.
Jesus, the Christ is speaking in that verse. Christians believe that the Godhead is made up of three distinct personalities, in the form of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. If one Bible says it's Jesus and another says that it's Jehovah God, they're both right since both personalities are encompassed within the Godhead.
If you start reading at Revelation 1:1, you can follow the thread and see that it is Jesus the Christ who is speaking.

Answer 7

The speaker identifies Himself in Revelation 22:16. It's Jesus speaking.

Answer 8

What alot of people have trouble grasping is that Jesus was like God's ambassador. According to the book of Hebrews he was anointed High Priest by God. Then according to the Torah, the High Priest was the one chosen to minister to God and be God's representitive to the people.

So, in Rev 1:8 while it is Jesus speaking, he isn't speaking for himself but as an acting representitive of God. So when he says he is the Alpha and Omega, its not about himself but speaking for God, that God is the Alpha and Omega.

In order to understand, one must read the Old Testement and see the various examples provided. Moses spoke for God before the people. Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. The list goes on - all the prophets of God.

Just as Isaiah would stand before people, enemies, kings - and speak of only God, so it was the same with Jesus. He didn't speak of himself, but as every prophet did before him he was speaking of God.

Answer 9

In the bible, the only person with the title "Alpha and Omega" is Almighty God Jehovah.

Answer 10

The obvious interpretation here would be to apply this to the Lord Jesus; for:
(a)it is he who is spoken of in the verses preceding, and
(b)there can be no doubt that the same language is applied to him in Rev_1:11.

As there is, however, a difference of reading in this place in the Greek text, and as it cannot be absolutely certain that the writer meant to refer to the Lord Jesus specifically here, this cannot be adduced with propriety as a proof-text to demonstrate his divinity. Many mss., instead of “Lord,” κυρίος kurios, read “God,” Θεὸς Theos and this reading is adopted by Griesbach, Tittman, and Hahn, and is now regarded as the correct reading. There is no real incongruity in supposing, also, that the writer here meant to refer to God as such, since the introduction of a reference to him would not be inappropriate to his manifest design. Besides, a portion of the language used here, “which is, and was, and is to come,” is what would more naturally suggest a reference to God as such, than to the Lord Jesus Christ. See Rev_1:4. The object for which this passage referring to the “first and the last - to him who was, and is, and is to come,” is introduced here evidently is, to show that as he was clothed with omnipotence, and would continue to exist through all ages to come as he had existed in all ages past, there could be no doubt about his ability to execute all which it is said he would execute.

This clause is wanting in almost every MS. and version of importance. It appears to have been added first as an explanatory note, and in process of time crept into the text. Griesbach has left it out of the text. It is worthy of remark, that as the union of א aleph and ת tau in Hebrew make את eth, which the rabbins interpret of the first matter out of which all things were formed; so the union of Α alpha and Ω omega, in Greek, makes the verb αω, I breathe, and may very properly, in such a symbolical book, point out Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being; for, having formed man out of the dust of the earth, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul; and it is by the inspiration or inbreathing of his Spirit that the souls of men are quickened, made alive from the dead, and fitted for life eternal. He adds also that he is the Almighty, the all-powerful framer of the universe, and the inspirer of men.

Answer 11

It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ not Jehovah God. The whole thing is about Christ, His work in the Church, and His ultimate redeeming of all mankind and creation itself. The first verse of the Book says the REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST, everything that follows is an unfolding of that revelation. Jesus is revealed. Verses 5-7 are all talking about Jesus then verse 13 says the Son of Man (another title for Christ).