6 He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And he said unto me - That is, he that sat on the throne - the Messiah.
It is done - It is finished, complete; or, still more expressively, "it is" - γέγοναν gegonan. An expression remarkably similar to this occurs in John 19:30, when the Saviour on the cross said, "It is finished." The meaning in the passage before us evidently is, "The great work is accomplished; the arrangement of human affairs is complete. The redeemed are gathered in; the wicked are cut off; truth is triumphant, and all is now complete - prepared for the eternal state of things."
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end - This language makes it morally certain that the speaker here is the Lord Jesus, for it is the very language which he uses of himself in Revelation 1:11. See its meaning explained in the notes on Revelation 1:8. If it is applied to him here, it proves that he is divine, for in the following verse (7) the speaker says that he would be a God to him who should "overcome." The meaning of the language as used here, regarded as spoken by the Redeemer at the consummation of all things, and as his people are about entering into the abodes of blessedness, is, "I am now indeed the Alpha and the Omega - the first and the last. The attributes implied in this language which I claimed for myself are now verified in me, and it is seen that these properly belong to me. The scheme for setting up a kingdom in the lost world began in me, and it ends in me - the glorious and triumphant king."
I will give unto him that is athirst - See the Matthew 5:6 note; John 4:14; John 7:37 notes.
Of the fountain of the water of life - An image often used in the Scriptures to represent salvation. It is compared with a fountain that flows in abundance, where all may freely slake their thirst.
Freely - Without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1 note; John 7:37 note); the common representation in the Scriptures. The meaning here is, not that he would do this in the future, but that he had shown that this was his character, as he had claimed, in the same way as he had shown that he was the Alpha and the Omega. The freeness and the fulness of salvation will be one of the most striking things made manifest when the immense hosts of the redeemed shall be welcomed to their eternal abodes.
It is done - All is determined, and shall be fulfilled in due time. The great drama is finished, and what was intended is now completed; referring to the period alluded to by the angel.
I am Alpha and Omega - See on Revelation 1:8 (note).
The fountain of the water of life - See on John 4:10 (note), John 4:14 (note); John 7:37 (note), etc.
The rabbins consider the fountain of the world to come as one of the particular blessings of a future state. In Sanhedrim, Aboth R. Nathan, c. 31, it is said, "He will show them the excellency of the fountain of the future world, that they may accurately see and consider, and say, Wo to us! what good have we lost! and our race is cut off from the face of the earth."
And he said unto me, (5) 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.
(5) The description of the Church is in three parts, by the abolishing of old things, by the being of present things in God, that is, of things eternal: and by the giving of all good things with the godly. If so be they shall contend manfully; (Revelation 21:7). But the reprobate are excluded from there; (Revelation 21:8).
And he said unto me, it is done,.... The end of all things is come; it is all over with the first heaven and earth; these are no more, and the new heaven and earth are finished: there seems to be an allusion to the old creation, he spake, and it was done, Psalm 33:9. The whole election of grace is completed; every individual vessel of mercy is called by grace; all the saints are brought with Christ, and their bodies raised, and living saints changed, and all together are as a bride prepared for her husband; and the nuptials are now solemnized; all the promises and prophecies relating to the glorious state of the church are now fulfilled; the mystery of God, spoken by his servants, is finished; the kingdom of Christ is complete, and all other kingdoms are destroyed; the day of redemption is come; the salvation of the saints is perfect; what was finished on the cross, by way of impetration, is now done as to application; all are saved with an everlasting salvation.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; which are expressive of the primacy, perfection, and eternity of Christ; of his being the sum and substance, the first cause and last end of all things, relating both to the old and new world, to things temporal and spiritual; See Gill on Revelation 1:8.
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely; he that is athirst is one that is so not in a natural, much less in a sinful, but in a spiritual sense; who as he has thirsted after Christ, and salvation by him; after pardon of sin, and a justifying righteousness; after communion with Christ, and conformity to him, and a greater degree of knowledge of him; so after the glories of his kingdom, and the happiness of a future state: to such an one Christ promises to give such large measures of grace and glory, and in such abundance, as will continue to refresh and delight, and as may be compared to a fountain of living water, namely, for refreshment, abundance, and continuance; and all this he will give "freely", without money, and without price; for as pardon, and righteousness, and the whole of salvation, are all of free grace, so are all the enjoyments of the kingdom state, the riches, honours, and glories of it, and eternal life itself; also plentifully, and in great abundance, and answers to the Hebrew word see Numbers 11:5.
It is done--the same Greek as in Revelation 16:17. "It is come to pass." So Vulgate reads with English Version. But A reads, "They ('these words,' Revelation 21:5) are come to pass." All is as sure as if it actually had been fulfilled for it rests on the word of the unchanging God. When the consummation shall be, God shall rejoice over the work of His own hands, as at the completion of the first creation God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good (Genesis 1:31).
Alpha . . . Omega--Greek in A and B, "the Alpha . . . the Omega" (Revelation 1:18).
give unto . . . athirst . . . water of life-- (Revelation 22:17; Isaiah 12:3; Isaiah 55:1; John 4:13-14; John 7:37-38). This is added lest any should despair of attaining to this exceeding weight of glory. In our present state we may drink of the stream, then we shall drink at the Fountain.
freely--Greek, "gratuitously": the same Greek as is translated, "(They hated Me) without a cause," John 15:25. As gratuitous as was man's hatred of God, so gratuitous is God's love to man: there was every cause in Christ why man should love Him, yet man hated Him; there was every cause in man why (humanly speaking) God should have hated man, yet God loved man: the very reverse of what might be expected took place in both cases. Even in heaven our drinking at the Fountain shall be God's gratuitous gift.
And he - That sat upon the throne. Said to me, It is done - All that the prophets had spoken; all that was spoken, Revelation 4:1. We read this expression twice in this prophecy: first, Revelation 16:17, at the fulfilling of the wrath of God; and here, at the making all things new. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end - The latter explains the former: the Everlasting. I will give to him that thirsteth - The Lamb saith the same, Revelation 22:17.
*More commentary available at chapter level.