Revelation 1:18 Translation

There has been some discussion on another forum regarding Revelation 1:18. I now want to report what I have found pertaining to the translation of 1:18 and I would like to retrieve some input. How might one render ἐγενόμην νεκρὸς καὶ ἰδοὺ ζῶν εἰμι?

The Greek Text: καὶ ὁ ζῶν, καὶ ἐγενόμην νεκρὸς καὶ ἰδοὺ ζῶν εἰμι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾅδου (UBS5).

Some translations of the verse:

"I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!"
(NIV)

"and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore" (ESV)

"and the living one: and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of
ages" (Darby)

"He that liveth, and was dead" (People's NT of 1891)

"and he who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages" (YLT)

"I am he who lives, I have been dead" (Lattimore)

"and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades" (ERV).

Commentators:

Wilfrid J. Harrington (Sacra Pagina Commentary on Revelation) prefers the rendering "I am the first and the last, the living one who was dead." Concerning this treatment of the verse, he writes:

"Charles (1:31) rightly maintains that the text should be rendered as given in our translation" (See Harrington, Revelation, page 51).

Alford writes: "and I was (not HN, but EGENOMHN, ----I became: it was a state I passed into) dead, and behold I am alive for evermore" (see The Greek Testament by Henry Alford, IV:559)

Robertson's Word Pictures: "And I was dead (KAI EGENOMHN NEKRO[S]). 'And I became dead' (aorist middle participle of GINOMAI as in John 1:9 John 1:10, definite reference to the Cross)."

Jamison, Fausset and Brown: "and was--Greek, 'and (yet) I became.'"

Bengel's Gnomon: Ἐγενόμην νεκρὸς, I became dead) It might have been said, ἀπέθανον, I died: but in this passage with singular elegance it is said, I became dead, to denote a difference of times, and of the events in them.

What do you think?