Two Sundays ago, I saw a car bumper sticker with “Aleph Tav” characters on the back car bumper on my way to church.
It was so cool!!
Not many people recognizes Hebrew, much less knows the real meaning of Aleph Tav, the first letter and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet; In English, Aleph Tav would be like letter A and Z or Alpha and Omega in ancient Greek. (Hebrew read from right to left)
So what does Aleph Tav means or stands for?
Actually, Aleph Tav does not mean anything in particular in the ordinary sense. However, it was strangely peppered throughout the Bible. For ages during Old Testament times, people and even scholars were stumped and were clueless by presence of “Aleph Tav”.
For example, the very first verse in the Bible in Genesis 1.1, it is generally translated as: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ” However, in the original Hebrew, it reads as:
Highlighted in the middle; when God was refered to, elohim et, aleph tav (
) was followed behind, and was untranslated. It simply cannot be translated because it is like AZ in the middle of the sentence. No translation will ever make any sense.
In another example, Zechariah’s prophecy on the future deliverance for Jerusalem; “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. Zechariah 12:10 The me whom they have pierced, between me and whom, Aleph Tav appears. The verse then could be read as: “They will look on ME (Aleph Tav), whom they have pierced…” Again, no translation of Aleph Tav will make sense.
But the light finally came on in New Testament times and the veil was finally removed.
In Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” Lord God declared Himself to the the Alpha and the Omega-the beginning and the end. And in Revelation 22:13, the final chapter of the entire Bible, Jesus Christ Himself finally revealed that He is the Alpha and Omega!
“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” Rev 22:13
I so love the “I am” Jesus referred Himself in the Bible.
While the book of Revelations may be written in Greek, Jesus probably spoke in Hebrew, which mean He probably said ” I am the Aleph and the Tav – the beginning and the end.” Jesus is the start and the finish of everything! Looking back it all now make sense now. In Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God (Aleph Tav-Jesus Christ) created the heaven and the earth…” In Zechariah 12:10, ”They will look on me (Aleph Tav-Jesus Christ) whom they have pierced …“
So whenever you see a Aleph Tav in the Bible, it is the personal signature of Jesus Christ Himself! No one will and can ever use it because it simply cannot be used, only Jesus is big enough that can encompass the entire beginning and the end. So cool right! And since we know the very first verse in the Bible, you want to know the last verse?
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Alepha and the Tav) be with you all. Amen. Revelation 22:21
And grace means unmerit favor, blessings, granting goodwill, sanctification, kindness, mercy, love, willingness, cheerfully giving, etc. See here.
Dear beloved, if you are faced with whatever tough season or trouble, know that Jesus is the Aleph and the Tav, He is there with you at the beginning and the end. No weapons formed against you (us) will ever prevail, know why?
Because Jesus Christ our Lord has the final word!
But in that coming day
no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice
raised up to accuse you.
These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord;
their vindication will come from me.
I, the Lord, have spoken! Isaiah 54:17
Hallelujah!
Oh… I got my own for my car too… Woohoo!
If you want to know more Jesus related in Hebrew, there is a good site here.
Very, very cool! I love it!
What a beautiful message and so full of truth! Thank you for that teaching. It was something I really needed to see at this time!
Hopefully can put out part 2 soon. So much treasures in His Word.
dear people of God i love this open of heart in this teaching cos that has been my dream to know real truth of bible cos all this translations for me makes many faith to look as this is just a cooked story but thanks to almighty who rooted in the blood of jesus and open my eyes to know the true God.my Q? is why dont bible be translated in it original words and put the names of lands which this events take place quoted with the new changed names the enemies of the gospel hat made them to be that christains will understand that bible is not ordinary story thanks
God’s Word sometimes don’t make sense to unbelievers because it takes only the Holy Spirit to reveal.
But when we search and the Holy Spirit reveals truth in simple passages right under our nose, it really blows us away with such revelation.
Both you and I know, it can’t be just us!
It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them. Proverbs 25:2
Wow… Beautiful.. Beautiful.. Thank you Brother!!
Wow! This can be 1 of the top blogs I’ve actually arrive throughout on this subject. Merely Magnificent
I was looking for an article about Aleph Tav and stumbled on your blog.:) thanks I really like it. In one article, it also expounded how truth=emet (in Hebrew) contains Aleph-middle letter of Hebrew alphabet-Tav. So when Jesus said, I am the truth, He also mean I am Aleph Tav.:) Shalom.
Aleph Tav (et) is a Hebrew word used to indicate that something is a particular thing (something like the difference between using the article “a” and “the” – one is more general than the other). It means the noun to which it is applied is a very particular one.
Aleph Mem Tav (emet) is the Hebrew word for “truth.” As you see, it uses the first letter of the aleph bet, the middle-most letter of the aleph bet, and the last letter of the aleph-bet in that order, showing not only that truth endures for all time, but also that to attain truth one must understand all of a matter from beginning, middle and end. When one drops the Tav/ending (leaving Aleph Mem “ami”) it is the word for “mother” or parent. It can also be used as the word for “if, suppose or whether” – it, in effect, describes something that is at the beginning of a matter but may not endure through the ending. If one drops the Aleph/beginning from the word “truth” one gets the word “mat” or “death” – which tells you how important beginnings are. If you drop the Mem/middle from truth you get the Aleph Tav (et) which is something special, particularly defined. I do believe the way it appears and is used in Genesis suggests that God is our beginning and our end.
By the way, the Vuv Aleph Tav that appears later in the first sentence of Genesis is also an Aleph Tav. The Vuv added to a word means “and” as in “God created the Heaven AND the earth.
Dear King David,
I was googling to find the meaning of Aleph-Tav, i arrived here, i also enjoying your blog, in some of your article seem like i heard it from Pastor Joseph Prince sermon CD. Are you listening from the same resources? I feel blessing with Pastor Joseph Prince Preaching, I hope you too, I will visit a lot, highly favor!.
thanks.
Reblogged this on Searching For Wisdom and commented:
Powerful stuff.