I Am Who I Am

Published on Updated on God the Father

When Moses asked for the name of the LORD God, he was told: “I AM WHO I AM.” What does this mysterious phrase mean?

 

 

OVERVIEW

 

Hebrew

In English we say “I AM WHO I AM.” But that is a translation. The original text is in Hebrew.

In the Hebrew text, there are three words:

  • אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה (’eh·yeh)” — This means “I am”
  • >אֲשֶׁ֣ר (’ă·šer) — this means “who”
  • אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה (’eh·yeh)” — This means “I am”

Those Hebrew words can be paraphrased like this:

I am the one who causes to be.

That is, God the Creator.

This direct revelation does not reveal to Moses the true name of the One God. Rather, it states a reality about the One God.

Perhaps it is fortunate that we do not know the true name of the One God. Knowing a name means the ability to control.

The LORD God is never under our control.

 

Greek

There is a Greek version of the Old Testament that was used by Jewish people who were scattered to foreign countries

In our day that Greek version is called the Septuagint.

Here is how the Septuagint puts this phrase:

ego eimi ho on

That is, “I am the BEING.”

 

New Testament

This marvelous phrase is echoed in the New Testament.

In John 8:58, the Lord Jesus calls himself I Am:

John 8:58. “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (NIV translation)

Here is a breakdown of those two words:

  • I. The Greek word is ἐγὼ (“egō”). It is the first-person pronoun.
  • AM. The Greek word is εἰμί (“eimi”). It means am, exist.

Put together, they are egō eimi, or “I Am.”

That was used as a title of the Divine. It was the Sacred Name.

The Lord Jesus would not have used it accidentally or carelessly or haphazardly. By using it, he is saying he is God.

Some people claim that Jesus did not know he was the Messiah, or that he never meant to be the Messiah, or that his “Messiah-ship” was added later by his apostles.

However, if that were the case, the Lord Jesus would not have associated himself with I Am.

 

BIBLE VERSES

 

Exodus 3:14. God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

Isaiah 41:4. “Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’” (NASB translation)

Mark 14:62. Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.”

John 8:24. I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.

John 8:28. Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things.

John 8:58. “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (NIV translation)

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.