The ‘I AM’ Sayings in John’s Gospel
1. The Name of God in the OT
In Exodus 6.2-3, YHWH states (ESV): ‘God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD [YHWH]. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD [YHWH] I did not make myself known to them.”’ The Hebrew is:
wayy edabbēr ’ elōhîm ’el Mōšeh : וַיְּדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־משֶַַַַָָׁה ויּאֹמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי יְהוָה verse 2
wayyōmer ’ēlāyw ’ anî YHWH
wā’ērā’ ’el abrāhām ...be’ēl šadday וָאֵרָא אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֶל־יִצְחָק וְאֶל־יַעֲקֹב בְּאֵל שַׁדָּ֑י verse 3
However, a perusal of Genesis shows that the Name YHWH was indeed known to them, which is why scholars such as W.J. Martin have identified this as an Elliptical Interrogative (e.g. when a mother tells a naughty child ‘Didn’t I tell you not to do that?’), so it should read:
(+) Verse 3a I revealed myself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as (in the character of) ’El Shadday and my name YHWH.
(+) Verse 3b Was I not known to them?
The answer to the query in v3b is obviously ‘Yes!’ – God was indeed known to Abraham, etc., as YHWH, e.g. Gen. 13.4b: ‘And there Abram called upon the name of YHWH’; 15.7: ‘And he said to him, “I am YHWH who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”’
2. Moses’ query and God’s answer in Ex. 3.13-14
In Ex. 3.13 we read: ‘Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”’ Remember, the Israelites had lived for centuries in a polytheistic society – Egypt. In such a society, with many gods, simply referring to ‘God’ would not identify the Deity of Israel. Hence, God says:
אֶהְֶיה אֲשֶׁׁר אֶהְֶיה (’ehyeh ’ašer ’ehyeh) — “I AM that which I AM”/ “I WILL BE what I WILL BE”.
And this is condensed into the simpler form of the Name, when God goes on to say,
“Say this to the people of Israel, אֶהְֶיה (’ehyeh — I AM) has sent me to you’.”
This then is followed in verse 15 with the instruction, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘YHWH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”
The exposition of the divine Name in Ex. 3:14 is itself preceded by the exchange between Moses and God in verses 11–12, in which, in reply to Moses protestation, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”, God declares:
כִּי־אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ (kî ’ehyeh ‘immāk)
— “Surely I AM/ I WILL BE with you!”
God’s “being” is an assertion, not of his existence, merely, but of his gracious, efficacious presence with Moses, supporting and enabling him in the task which God has called him to do.
3. I AM in John’s Gospel
There are two uses of ‘I am’ Ἐγώ εἰμι in John’s Gospel, (a) predicative (e.g. 15.1: ‘I am the true vine…’; Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή…) and (b) absolute (e.g. John 8.58: “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”; εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Ἰησοῦς· Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί). In English, examples of the Predicative use would include ‘I am a Londoner’, or ‘I am Bob’. Such would not be claim to Deity.
However, there are special considerations in John’s Gospel. In Isaiah 52.6 (cf. 43.25; 51.12) YHWH states: ‘Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.’ (לָכֵ֛ן יֵדַ֥ע עַמִּ֖י שְׁמִ֑י לָכֵן֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא כִּֽי־אֲנִי־ה֥וּא הַֽמְדַבֵּ֖ר הִנֵּֽנִי׃) - ani hu – ‘I am he’.
When Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman, he says, Jn. 4.26: ‘Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”’ (λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ἐγώ εἰμι, ὁ λαλῶν σοι.) – egō eimi. So, even if some I AM sayings in John do not look back to Ex. 3.14, they obviously look back to the ani hu statements of YHWH in Isaiah.
John 6.35: ‘Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”’ (Εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς· ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρὸς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ πεινάσῃ, καὶ ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ διψήσει πώποτε.).
This reflects Ex. 16.4: ‘Then YHWH said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.”’ ( וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְנִ֨י מַמְטִ֥יר לָכֶ֛ם לֶ֖חֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְיָצָ֨א הָעָ֤ם וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־י֣וֹם בְּיוֹמ֔וֹ לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתוֹרָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא׃)
The absolute uses of egō eimi in 8.24, 28, 58, and 13.19 are not comparable to Predicative uses such as ‘I am a Londoner’. In 8.24 we read: ‘I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins’. We have italicized the ‘he’ because it is not in the Greek: ἶπον οὖν ὑμῖν ὅτι ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν· ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ πιστεύσητε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν.
In Isa. 43.25 YHWH states: ‘I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.’ The Hebrew אָנֹכִ֥י ה֛וּא anoki hu is another case of ani hu referring to YHWH, and Jn. 8.24 reflects this, and also Isa. 43.10: ‘“You are my witnesses,” declares YHWH, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me”’ - ani hu again. That ani hu looks back to YHWH is demonstrated by Isa. 43.11: ‘I, I am [anoki] YHWH, and besides me there is no saviour.’
In 8.28, the ‘he’ is absent in the Greek: ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he…’ This reflects Ex. 14.18: ‘And the Egyptians shall know that I am YHWH’ אֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֑ה ani YHWH. Again, the link with YHWH. The use of egō eimi in 13.19 is the same: ‘I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.’ Similarly, 18.5-8: ‘They answered him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” ... 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he.’ The physical reaction of the guards is a response to His deity – His being egō eimi.
The Jews’ reaction to 8.58 (stoning) clarifies that they understood Jesus as claiming Deity – the Name YHWH: ‘Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”’ Here is the egō eimi is definitely absolute, and there is no ambiguity in its reference to Ex. 3.14. Moreover, the usage in 8.24, 28 also indicate a reference to Deity, and to the Name YHWH. Verse 58 is the culmination of these indications. Further, note that Jesus make a temporal reference – Jesus existed ‘before Abraham’ – i.e., before the great Patriarch. Not even Methuselah lived that long – only YHWH.
In John 6.19 (cf. Mk. 6.49-50/Matt. 14.26-27) Jesus walks on water, and says v20 ‘...I am; do not fear; Ἐγώ εἰμι, μὴ φοβεῖσθε’. In Job 9.8, God walks on the waves of the sea. Nowhere in the OT does any prophet perform this. Cf. Gen. 26.24 when YHWH speaks to Isaac: ‘And YHWH …said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not…’ which LXX renders: Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ πατρός σου· μὴ φοβοῦ·
Finally, some Dawah activists have pointed to the LXX of Ex. 3.14: ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν – ‘I Am the One [or He] who is’, and renders the absolute I AM in the second clause by Ὁ ὢν [ho ōn], in an attempt to undermine the link between Jn. 8. 58 and Ex. 3.14. This is a spectacular own-goal. Firstly, linguistically, ‘since a first-person subject would not work for the necessary ἀπέσταλκέν (a third sg. form), Exod is forced to resort to the participial ὁ ὤν, “the one who is.”’ (Daniel M. Gurtner, Exodus: A commentary on the Greek text of Codex Vaticanus, p. 206).
Secondly, note how John uses ὁ ὤν in the Book of Revelation, in clear reference ot Deity: 1.4: ‘Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come…’ χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος…
Rev. 1.8: ‘“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”’ Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ, λέγει κύριος, ὁ θεός, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ παντοκράτωρ.
4.8b: ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ Ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος κύριος, ὁ θεός, ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος.
11.17: ‘…Lord God Almighty, who is and who was’; κύριε, ὁ θεός, ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν…
