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III .) To aX<pa xas to ft, 37 upyfi *a' T'° rs\og, Alpha and 0 , The Beginning and the End : ch. xxi. 6.
IY .) To ciX<pa xcci to ft, npurog xai sV^aroc, 37 a^/37 xai to TiXog , Alpha and 0 , The First and the Last , The Beginning and the End: ch. xxii. 13.
Therefore, in the beginning of the book, one clause is used, first concerning the Father, ch. i. 8, comp, with ch. iv. 8, then concern- ing Christ, ch. i. 17. At the end of the book the language becomes more copious, and two clauses are used concerning the Father, sitting upon the throne, ch. xxi. 6, and three concerning Christ, as coming , ch. xxii. 13. We shall presently see, that one sentiment is frequently expressed in this book in Greek and Hebrew. And that is the case here also. The Father is called ro aX<pa xai to ft, in Greek. He also, in the mind of John, who thinks, as we shall presently see, in Hebrew, is The Beginning and The End , which is expressed in Hebrew by X and ri, the first and the last letter of the Hebrews. And the same takes place with respect to Christ.
The fourth passage, consisting of three clauses, affords us a re- markable handle [argument]. Its third clause is never used without the first ; therefore its use is to explain the first. The second is sometimes used without the first ; therefore, as in Isaiah, so in the Apocalypse, it has its own signification by itself. The first and the third are applied to the Father also, ch. xxi. ; the second, to Christ alone, ch. i. 17. Alpha and the Beginning is God; as He Himself, the Creator and Author of all things, proposes, declares, and promises such great things, ft and the End is the Same ; as He brings the Apocalypse, especially in the trumpet of the seventh angel, to its accomplishment, completion, and most desired and glorious end. And thus also is Christ. The first and last of anything, in Scripture phraseology, is the thing itself, or the very whole. See 1 Sam. iii. 12 ; Eccl. x. 13 ; 2 Chron. xxxv. 27. The Greeks say in a proverb, prow and stern. There- fore Alpha and ft, the First and the Last , the Beginning and the End , is One and all , and always the Same. Comp. Ps. viii. at the beginning and the end, where the Design and the Accomplish- ment are described. Thus, in a grand sense, the end depends upon the origin. Under this majestic title, Alpha and ft, etc., the Apocalypse contains in the beginning the Protest of God against the dragon, and of Christ against the beast and other enemies; and in the end, the triumph gained over the enemies. For, as the YOL. Y. N
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