Aunty Jane
Well-Known Member
Have you ever read that verse in Exodus from the Jewish Tanakh? It doesn’t say what you think it does...and certainly not how Christendom’s Bible translators have rendered it.Yes! He was from the beginning and is eternal.He is in the Old Testament and the New.
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
What Does the Bible Say About I Am?
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
This is what Exodus 3:13-15 says from the Complete Jewish Bible.....Exodus3:13-15...
| 13 And Moses said to God, "Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" | יגוַיֹּ֨אמֶר משֶׁ֜ה אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּ֨ה אָֽנֹכִ֣י בָא֘ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וְאָֽמַרְתִּ֣י לָהֶ֔ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם וְאָֽמְרוּ־לִ֣י מַה־שְּׁמ֔וֹ מָ֥ה אֹמַ֖ר אֲלֵהֶֽם: | |
| 14 God said to Moses, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be what I will be)," and He said, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.'" | ידוַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־משֶׁ֔ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה שְׁלָחַ֥נִי אֲלֵיכֶֽם: | |
| 15 And God said further to Moses, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'The Lord God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is how I should be mentioned in every generation. | טווַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ ע֨וֹד אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶל־משֶׁ֗ה כֹּ֣ה תֹאמַר֘ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ יְהֹוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶ֗ם אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִצְחָ֛ק וֵֽאלֹהֵ֥י יַֽעֲקֹ֖ב שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם זֶה־שְּׁמִ֣י לְעֹלָ֔ם וְזֶ֥ה זִכְרִ֖י לְדֹ֥ר דֹּֽר: |
Please note that the meaning of God’s name (יְהֹוָ֞ה) is given as “I Will Be What I Will Be”...not “I Am who I Am”. Even though God’s name is not rendered in the English translation, it is clearly there in the Hebrew text.
To whom was Moses speaking? He was speaking to God to ask how he should come to them in the name of their God......the Hebrews lived as separate from the Egyptians both by nationality and religion. These Hebrew slaves already knew who the God of their forefather Jacob was.....so telling them that he existed was pointless, they already knew he existed, so what was the point of explaining the meaning of יְהֹוָ֞ה.....Yahweh’s name?
Telling them that he would “BE” whatever he needed to be in order to liberate them from their cruel slavery, was saying that even though they knew about the God of Jacob, he would now “BE” to them what they had never seen or heard of before.....the God that Jacob knew....the God who sent Joseph ahead of them to Egypt in order to preserve Israel through a severe famine. They had yet to become God’s nation through whom he would produce their Messiah.
Exodus 3:15 has no connection whatsoever to John 8:58 because “I Am” never was the meaning of God’s name to the Jews.
Did you know that Jesus said “I am” many, many times without it ever being suggested that he was claiming to be his own God?
A little research into that word in Greek means, is very revealing....but only to those who bother to check the Scriptures for themselves. A good Concordance will reveal some interesting facts about this word in Greek (eimi) because Strongs gives the definition as.....
“the first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist (used only when emphatic):—am, have been, × it is I, was”.
So not just one meaning and context reveals how it should be translated...present tense or past tense.
In John 8, when the Jews were questioning and accusing Jesus, he roundly condemned them...they raised the issue of Abraham and asked him who he claimed to be....
“You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died, are you? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” 54 Jesus answered: “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, the one who you say is your God. 55 Yet you have not known him, but I know him. And if I said I do not know him, I would be like you, a liar. But I do know him and am observing his word. 56 Abraham your father rejoiced greatly at the prospect of seeing my day, and he saw it and rejoiced.” 57 Then the Jews said to him: “You are not yet 50 years old, and still you have seen Abraham?”
How did Jesus answer their question? It was a past tense question and rightly needed a past tense answer in keeping with what the Greek “eimi” means in that context. (defined above)
Jesus answered....“Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” Or “I was” or “I existed”...Not “I Am”.
Giving a present tense answer to a past tense question makes no sense, and it is obvious to all Bible readers that Jesus existed before anything or anyone else in creation. (Col 1:15-17) The Jews were asking a question about his age. He answered accordingly.
It is translated as ”I Am” for one reason only...to suggest something that the Bible does not teach...to support a doctrine that is based purely on suggestion, not Scriptural fact.
