QUICK FACTS: DID JESUS REALLY SAY “I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA” IN REVELATION 1:11?
PART ONE — WHAT DO THE OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS SAY?
Research by Simon Brown
There is a surprisingly simple textual problem in Revelation 1:11 that every Christian Bible student should know about.
For centuries, readers of the King James Version have read words that appear to have Jesus saying:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last…”
— Revelation 1:11, KJV
This verse has therefore sometimes been used as evidence that Jesus personally declared Himself to be “the Alpha and Omega.”
As the screenshot reproduced in this article demonstrates, some Trinitarian teachers and websites have specifically included Revelation 1:11 among the verses they use to support that claim.
But there is a major problem:
The words “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last” are absent from important early Greek manuscript witnesses.
That is why these words disappear completely from the Berean Literal Bible and many other modern translations.
So what happened?
Let us look at the Quick Facts.
QUICK FACT 1 — WHAT DOES THE KING JAMES VERSION SAY?
The King James Version reads:
“Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book…”
— Revelation 1:11, KJV
Notice those opening words:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”
If these words were part of the original text of Revelation, they would obviously be important.
But now compare the same verse in the Berean Literal Bible:
“Saying, ‘What you see, write in a book and send to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’”
— Revelation 1:11, BLB
Something very important is missing.
The BLB does not say:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”
It simply begins:
“What you see, write in a book…”
Why such a dramatic difference?
QUICK FACT 2 — THE DIFFERENCE COMES FROM THE GREEK TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
This is not simply a case of modern translators deciding that they did not like the words.
The longer reading found in the KJV belongs to a later Greek textual tradition.
The clause:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last”
is absent from important early Greek manuscript witnesses and consequently does not appear in the standard critical Greek text followed by many modern Bible translations.
That is why translations such as the Berean Literal Bible, NIV, ESV and NASB do not contain these words in Revelation 1:11.
So the important question is not:
Which English Bible do I personally prefer?
The important question is:
What did the earliest recoverable Greek text of Revelation 1:11 actually say?
According to modern critical textual scholarship, the evidence strongly supports the shorter reading:
“What you see, write in a book…”
without:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”
QUICK FACT 3 — WE ARE NOT ASKING YOU TO SIMPLY TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT
This is why the screenshots reproduced in this article are important.
Readers can examine the evidence for themselves.
As shown in the screenshot from the Trinitarian website GotQuestions, their article states:
“Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the ‘Alpha and Omega’ in Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; and 22:13.”
Notice particularly:
Revelation 1:11.
It is specifically included as evidence that Jesus proclaimed Himself “the Alpha and Omega.”
But now compare that statement with what recognised Bible commentaries themselves say about the text of Revelation 1:11.
QUICK FACT 4 — EVEN TRINITARIAN BIBLE COMMENTARIES ACKNOWLEDGE THE TEXTUAL PROBLEM
This is not a textual issue invented by people who reject the Trinity.
It has long been recognised by mainstream biblical commentators, including Trinitarian scholars.
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary states concerning Revelation 1:11:
“The oldest manuscripts all omit this clause.”
What clause?
The very words:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges likewise describes the words “I am … the last” in this location as:
“Not genuine in this place.”
That is extremely important.
On one side, we have Revelation 1:11 being presented as evidence that Jesus proclaimed Himself “the Alpha and Omega.”
On the other side, textual scholarship acknowledges that the very words needed to make that argument are absent from important early manuscript evidence.
That is the textual problem every reader deserves to know about.
QUICK FACTS: DID JESUS REALLY SAY “I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA” IN REVELATION 1:11?
PART TWO — WHY IS THE DISPUTED READING STILL BEING USED?
Research by Simon Brown
In Part One, we discovered the central textual fact concerning Revelation 1:11.
The King James Version contains the words:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last…”
— Revelation 1:11, KJV
But these words are absent from important early Greek manuscript witnesses and are therefore omitted from the Berean Literal Bible and many other modern translations.
We also saw that recognised Bible commentaries openly acknowledge this textual problem.
So now we come to the important question:
If this manuscript evidence is well known, why is Revelation 1:11 still sometimes used to teach that Jesus said, “I am Alpha and Omega”?
QUICK FACT 5 — LOOK AT WHAT SOME TRINITARIAN TEACHERS ACTUALLY TEACH
The screenshot reproduced in this article gives us a real example.
The Trinitarian website GotQuestions states:
“Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the ‘Alpha and Omega’ in Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; and 22:13.”
Notice that Revelation 1:11 is specifically given as evidence.
But there is a problem.
As we established in Part One, the words:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last”
are absent from important early Greek manuscript witnesses.
Therefore, Revelation 1:11 should not simply be presented to readers as undisputed evidence that Jesus spoke those words.
QUICK FACT 6 — OTHER REFERENCE WORKS OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM
The screenshot reproduced in this article from the New World Encyclopedia acknowledges the same textual problem.
While discussing the argument that Revelation applies the title Alpha and Omega to Jesus, it explains that textual criticism has weakened the use of Revelation 1:11 as evidence.
It identifies important manuscripts in which the disputed wording is absent, including:
Codex Alexandrinus
Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
It further explains that the occurrence in Revelation 1:11 is therefore regarded by most critical scholars as spurious and is omitted from many modern translations.
So this is not simply my personal opinion.
The textual problem is openly documented.
QUICK FACT 7 — COMPARE THE TWO CLAIMS
Now place the two pieces of evidence side by side.
SOME TRINITARIAN TEACHING:
Jesus proclaimed Himself “the Alpha and Omega” in Revelation 1:11.
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE:
The words “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last” are absent from important early Greek manuscript witnesses.
That is the problem readers need to know about.
If a verse is being used to support an important theological claim, surely Christians deserve to know when the crucial words being quoted are textually disputed.
QUICK FACT 8 — DOES THIS MEAN TRINITARIAN TEACHERS ARE DELIBERATELY DECEIVING PEOPLE?
We need to be fair.
No—not necessarily.
We cannot know what every individual teacher knows about the manuscript evidence.
Some Christians and teachers may simply quote the King James Version because it is the translation they have always trusted.
Therefore, we should not automatically accuse everyone who uses this reading of deliberately deceiving people.
However, there is an important distinction.
If a Bible teacher knows that the wording is textually disputed, readers should be told.
If Revelation 1:11 is being presented as evidence that Jesus proclaimed Himself:
“I am Alpha and Omega”
then the audience should also be informed that those words are absent from important early Greek manuscript witnesses.
Anything less gives readers only part of the evidence.
QUICK FACT 9 — WHY MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE MATTERS
This is about much more than one translation.
The real question should always be:
What did the biblical writer originally write?
Christians should never be afraid to compare translations.
We should never be afraid to examine ancient manuscripts.
And we should never preserve a particular wording simply because it supports something we already believe.
Our doctrine should come from the biblical evidence.
We should not make the biblical evidence fit our doctrine.
QUICK FACTS — FINAL CONCLUSION
So, did Jesus really say:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last” in Revelation 1:11?
According to the earliest recoverable form of the text accepted by modern critical scholarship:
THE EVIDENCE SAYS NO.
The longer wording appears in the King James Version and some other translations based upon the later textual tradition.
But it is absent from important early Greek manuscript witnesses.
That is why the Berean Literal Bible and many other modern translations do not contain it.
Even recognised Bible commentaries acknowledge this textual problem.
Yet, as the screenshots reproduced in this study demonstrate, Revelation 1:11 can still be used by some Trinitarian teachers as evidence that Jesus proclaimed Himself “the Alpha and Omega.”
That is why I encourage everyone reading this article:
Do not simply believe me.
Look at the screenshots.
Compare the translations.
Read what the commentaries say.
Examine the manuscript evidence.
Then decide for yourself.
Paul gave us excellent advice:
“But test all things. Hold fast to the good.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:21, BLB
PLEASE READ MY UPDATED FULL ARTICLE
These two Quick Facts articles have deliberately dealt with only one passage:
Revelation 1:11.
They are not intended to answer every question concerning the title “Alpha and Omega.”
I have already examined that much larger subject separately.
For the complete study, including the other Alpha and Omega passages, their context, the different speakers in Revelation, and the question of who the Alpha and Omega actually is, please read my updated full article:
WHO IS THE ALPHA AND OMEGA?
Research by Simon Brown
wwwrealdiscoveriesorg-simon.blogspot.com
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