I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Ver. 8. Which is, and which was] The Father is called "He that is," Exodus 3:14. The Son "He that was," John 1:1. The Holy Ghost, "He that cometh," John 16:8,13, as Aretius observeth. Or, by this periphrasis may be understood the indeterminable eternity of the Son of God. Much like whereunto both in sound and sense is that which the heathens ascribed to their Jupiter in that solemn hymn of theirs. (Pausan.)
Ζευς ην, Ζευς εστι, Ζευς εσσεται, ω μεγαλε Ζευ .
"God was, and God is, God shall be for ever a great God."