Revelation 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord [Jehovah] God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. -- American Standard Version.
A video on YouTube entitled “The Danger of Inserting 'JEHOVAH' in Revelation 1:8” makes several assertions regarding Revelation 1:8 that we hope to address in this study.
Revelation 1:8
egw eimi to alpha kai to w legei kurios ho
I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, IS SAYING LORD, THE
1473 1510 3588 0255_5 2532 3588 5598 3004 2962 3588
theos ho wn kai ho een kai ho erchomenos
GOD, THE (ONE) BEING AND THE (ONE) WAS AND THE (ONE) COMING,
2316 3588 1511_1 2532 3588 1511_3 2532 3588 2064 1511_2
ho pantokratwr
THE ALMIGHTY.
3588 3841 -- Westcott & Hort Transliterated Interlinear
Throughout the extant Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, we find that God's Holy Name has been changed to other words. This is simply a fact. The most common word used as God's Holy Name in the extant New Testament manuscripts is the Greek word often transliterated as KURIOS, or a form of KURIOS. It should be self-evident that this is the case in Revelation 1:8.
The Greek indefinite KURIOS n this verse is combined with the definite phrase “ho THEOS”. This is the exact same phrase in the Greek as found in Acts 3:22, where it is definitely not referring to Jesus, but rather to Jehovah, who raised Jesus as the prophet like Moses. The exact same phrase is found in Luke 1:32, where it is absolutely again not referring to Jesus, but rather Jehovah of Hosts who gives the throne of David to Jesus. (Isaiah 9:7) I believe that the evidence is very convincing that in Revelation 1:8, God's Holy Name, often rendered into English as “Jehovah”, has been replaced with KURIOS.
No scripture tells us why God's eternal Holy Name has been changed to other words in the New Testament manuscripts. There is certainly no scripture giving anyone authorization to change the eternal Holy Name of God to other words that do not even mean the same as the Hebrew verb that is used for God's Holy Name.
We know that the Jewish leaders were promoting the false idea that the Holy Name was too Holy to pronounce. Thus, the claim is that they were advocating that the Holy Name be replaced with forms of the Hebrew words often transliterated from the Masoretic text as ADON (meaning, Lord) or EL (meaning, God, god, mighty). Oddly, many have claimed that by doing this so that they do not mispronounce the Holy Name. In reality, this results in actually mispronouncing the Holy Name with whatever words are used to replace the Holy Name.
The fact is that the scriptures nowhere say that God's Holy Name is too sacred to be pronounced. The fact is that this command is a commandment from men, not from God.
The question is, did Jesus join with the disobedient Jews in changing the Holy Name to other words?
The Old Testament specifies the name in which the Messiah was to come in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 and Psalm 118:26. That name has been changed to “the LORD” in most translations, thus making it appear that the name of the Messiah was “the LORD”. Again, God never authorized anyone to change His eternal Holy Name to other words. Many translations, however, render the Holy Name in these verses with the Latin forms “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”. Scripturally, these two Latin forms of the Holy Name are simply variations of the same Holy Name.
In his words recorded at Matthew 23:39, did Jesus say in came in the name of KURIOS, or did he actually use some form of pronunciation of the Holy Name as given in the Hebrew of Deuteronomy 18:15-19 and Psalm 118:26? Since no form of ADON is ever presented anywhere in the Bible as being God's Holy Name, I highly doubt that Jesus would have used the Greek equivalent, KURIOS, as being the Holy Name. Indeed, it would constitute a lie. It would definitely not fulfill the name requirement as given in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, and would end up making Jesus a false prophet.
It is simply a fact, however, that God's Holy Name has been changed to other words in the New Testament. The evidence does suggest that God's Holy Name was changed to other words in the second century by Christian scribes. This may have been done in an effort to keep either the Romans or the Jews from destroying what we refer to as the New Testament scriptures.
At any rate, we believe the evidence is undeniable that God's Holy Name has been changed to KURIOS in Revelation 1:8.
It is argued that Revelation 1:8 is spoken not by God in 1:1, but by Jesus, who is mentioned in verses 5–7. Others go further and claim that Jesus is also the one described in verse 4 as the One “who is, and who was, and who is to come,” seated on the throne. But this interpretation would essentially create two distinct figures, both identified as Jesus—one in the first part of verse 4, and another in verse 5.
Additionally, throughout the book of Revelation, the One sitting on the throne—the One “who is, who was, and who is to come”—is consistently presented as someone other than Jesus. For example, if Jesus were being equated with Jehovah God, the Almighty, the One on the throne in Revelation 1:4; 4:2, 8–10; and 5:1, then it raises a logical problem: Who is the Lamb in Revelation 5:6–7 who receives the sealed scroll from the Almighty seated on the throne?
More to be added later, God willing.
Links to studies related to Revelation 1:8.
Links to studies related to Revelation 1:10,11
Links to studies related to Revelation 1:17,18
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