I AM (Part 2)

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Regarding this scripture the argument is put forth: Jesus said "I am," and verse 6 says that upon saying "I am", they WENT BACKWARD and FELL to the ground. The claim is that Jesus' identifying Himself as "I am" sent them falling. In other words, they claim that there was power there in His words of calling Himself by the divine name. The implication of the above is that it was a name, "I am", that caused the soldiers to fall to the ground by the power in the words. Exactly what caused them to go backward and fall to the ground, the scriptures do not say. So to say it was Jesus' use of some Greek words, supposedly having power to knock them down, is an assumption and pure speculation.

However, since speculating, our theory regarding this is that they could have been taken aback and fell to ground as the result of a power our Lord exercised over them (which power he had received from the only true Supreme Being, his Father), a power by which he might have resisted them entirely had he been so disposed. What he did was sufficient to show them and his apostles that his surrender was not a necessity, but that the Father's will might be done. He knew he could have all the protection he needed. -- Matthew 26:53.

While we find this following speculation highly unlikely, it has also been suggested that they could have been astonished at what they found. They did not expect to find a meek, humble person who would come right out and say that he was the one they were looking for. In there astonishment, according to this theory, they withdrew and fell to the ground. As to Jesus' saying "I am" in John 18:5, Jesus was simply saying that he was the one they were looking for. But to conclude, as many do, that John 8:58 is a case where Jesus admits to being God Almighty IGNORES THE CONTEXT OF THAT VERSE.

I AM in Exodus 3:14

"Ehyeh" is the first person singular of the Hebrew verb hayah (to be or become). The third person singular is "Yahweh." In Exodus 3:14 Yahweh states: "I will be what I will be (Ehyeh asher ehyeh)." Revised Standard Version - footnote) Many translations render this "I AM THAT I AM." However, according some authorities, the Hebrew word hayah, as used in this verse, means more than just to exist. It also carries with it the thought of coming into existence, or causing to exist. Thus it would mean "I cause to be what I cause to be." The third person would mean: "He will cause to be," or "He causes to be."

The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, vol. 14, page 1065, after discussing the usual meanings given to God's name, states: "All these explanations, however, overlook the fact that in Ex 3:14 a merely folk etymology of the name, based on the qal form of the verb to be, is given. Grammatically, because of its vocalization, Yahweh can only be a hiphil or causative form of this verb, with the meaning He causes to be, He brings into being.."

That this meaning is correct can be seen by observing the indicated meaning of Yahweh in Exodus 6:2,3. In verse 15 of Exodus 3 we read: "And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, The Lord [Hebrew, Yahweh] God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." In Exodus 6:2,3 (New Jerusalem Bible), we read: "God spoke to Moses and said to him: "I am Yahweh. To Abraham, Isaac and Jacob I appeared as El Shaddai, [God Almighty] but I did not make my name Yahweh known to them." Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew and called upon the Creator as "Yahweh" long before Moses was ever born. To Abraham, Yahweh said: "I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as a possession." Abraham replied: "O Yahweh God, how am I to know that I will possess it?" (Genesis 15:7,8) Isaac referred to Yahweh as recorded at Genesis 23:22. Likewise, when Jacob was at Bethel, after wrestling with an angel, he stated: "Surely Yahweh is in this place." (Genesis 28:16) In prayer to Yahweh, Jacob calls him by name as recorded in Genesis 32:9. Thus it is very apparent that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were familiar with the name "Yahweh."

So what did Yahweh mean by the statement he made to Moses to the effect that he had not made his name known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Yahweh had to be referring to the meaning of his name (as the one who causes) rather just to the word used to designate his name. In verse four Yahweh calls attention to the covenant he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them the land of Canaan. They never saw Yahweh cause the fulfillment of that promise. It is in this manner that Yahweh says that he did not make his name known to them. However, now, Yahweh is saying that he going to cause a fulfillment of that promise. He will bring the Israelites out of Egypt into the land that he had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. - see Exodus 6:6-8.

Thus the name Yahweh [or Ehyeh] signifies the one who accomplishes what he desires - as denoting that we can fully trust that His magnificent plan for man will be completely accomplished. - See Isaiah 55:11; 45:21.

Some try to identify the translation of the words at Exodus 3:14 in the Septuagint version with the wording of "I am" as used in the book of John. We do not view the LXX as equal to the Hebrew texts, and therefore does not carry as much weight.

While we do not view the Septuagint rendering of Ehyeh as accurate, in order that the truth might be made known, we will proceed to examine the claims. We must first note that the Septuagint doesn't actually translate the Hebrew Ehyeh solely as ego eimi. It is true that the phrase appears in the LXX at Exodus 3:14, but that is not the entire way that the LXX translates Ehyeh: ego eimi ho ohn -- "I am the Being". However, the words "the Being" (ho ohn) are missing from John's gospel here at 8:58. Why is that?

Comparing Exodus 3:14, LXX, with John 8:58, we find the following construction:

EXODUS 3:14, LXX: EGO EIMI HO OHN (subject) (copula [verb connector]) (predicate complement)

JOHN 8:58: PRIN ABRAAM GENESTHAI EGO EIMI (adverbial/aorist (subject) (predicate verb present indicative) expression referring to past time)

However, reading John 8:58 within the context of the conversation between Jesus and the Jews, without application of the unsupported interpretation upon the words "I am" as a title, it must also be admitted that we have a complete thought with Jesus saying, in effect, "Before Abraham was born, I've been around."

Asserting that the title, "I AM," used at Exodus 3:14, LXX, is what Jesus uses at John 8:58 also doesn't make it so. If for no other reason, and the reasons are plainly stated in this document, IF Jesus is using a title at John 8:58, then we are left with the apostle John's having written a sentence lacking a predicate, hence, an incomplete sentence.

In sum, if it can be proved that the words "I am" used by Jesus at John 8:58 are indeed a title -- the same title applied to Almighty God himself at Exodus 3:14, LXX -- then it must be admitted that what the Gospel writer writes as Jesus' response is an incomplete thought, as it does not read with the completeness of the Septuagint (LXX) rendering of what Moses writes in Exodus, namely, "ego eimi ho ohn" (=I am the Being). The expression "I am the Being" makes a complete sentence, a complete thought, something we DO NOT HAVE at John 8:58 absent the words "ho ohn" (=the Being).

This document supplied by Restoration Light Bible Study Services, P.O. Box 2360, Philadelphia, PA 19103-0360.