Jesus said He was the "Ego Eimi," the "I Am;" an exclusive title of Yahweh
Yahweh alone is the great “I Am;” and yet Christ claims this exclusive name and title of Yahweh.
a) All three accounts of Christ walking on the water have Christ saying “I Am”
Jesus was not merely saying, “It is I,” but rather, as “ego eimi” really means, “I Am.” Matt 14v27, Mark 6v50, John 6v20.
b) Jesus claims He is “The Great I Am” of Exodus 3v14, in John 8v58
In John 8v58 Jesus said, “before Abraham was, I Am.” Some false teachers have tried to say that John 8v58, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” should read, “Before Abraham was born, I have been,” these teachers wrongly state that Christ was only trying to claim pre-existence, and not the eternal existence that belongs to Yahweh divinity. However, Christ did not use the words “ego en,” which means, “I was” or “I have been,” but “ego eimi,” which has been translated quite correctly as “I am.” Jesus was not claiming mere pre-existence, but eternal existence, and an uncreated eternal existence past as absolute deity.
We have been warned that there will be false prophets and teachers, whose perversions of the Scriptures are designed to deceive and trap those who are unlearned in God's Word. Their vain attempts to deny the Lordship and Deity of Christ bring about their own ruin and destruction. 2Pet 2v1-3, 3v16, Matt 7v15-23. These false teachers say that if Christ had been claiming that He was the Great I Am, the Greek words “ho ohn,” which means, “the one who is,” would have been used, and they say that they base this on the Septuagint translation of Exodus 3v14. This is completely dishonest, for both “ego eimi” and “ho ohn” are used in Exodus 3v14.
The Hebrew words “ehyeh asher ehyeh,” which are translated in the Authorised Version as “I am that I am,” are translated into the Greek of the Septuagint as, “ego eimi ho ohn.” It is in the second half of this verse, when “ehyeh asher ehyeh” is shortened to “ehyeh,” that is, “I am,” that the Septuagint translates this as “oh ohn,” i.e. “the one who is.” However, in most other places in the Septuagint, “ego eimi” is used to translate the Hebrew “ehyeh.” e.g. Deut 32v39. “Ego eimi,” “I am,” expresses the eternal nature of God better than “ho ohn,” “the one who is,” for as we can see from Rev 1v4,8, 11v17, 16v5, the only places in the New Testament where “ho ohn” is applied to God, that “ho ohn” never stands on its own when it describes the eternity of God, because this alone cannot convey the idea of the eternal being of God actively manifesting itself as does the Hebrew “ehyeh.” The Greek “ho ohn,” “He who is,” is only a part of the verbal expression that is necessary to describe the eternal nature of God, “ego eimi,” “I am,” expresses far better and more completely idea of the eternal self-existence of God that is declared in the Hebrew “Yahweh.”
The Jews fully understood that Christ claimed to be "the Great I Am"
It is possible that Christ used the Hebrew “ehyeh” when addressing the Jews, but whether He used “ehyeh” or “ego eimi,” the Jews clearly understood that Christ was claiming absolute Yahweh divinity and they took up stones to stone Him to death. They understood that by using the words, “I am,” without any predicate; Christ had signified His eternal pre-existence as Yahweh. Christ had not said, “before Abraham was born, I was, or I was made or created,” Christ uses the perpetual present tense, which signified a perpetual existence independent of time, a claim which only absolute Yahweh deity can make. The Jews understood this and got ready to stone Christ to death. The Lord Jesus uses Psalm 82v6 to correct His accusers, He said that if the judges and rulers, some of whom were very unjust as this Psalms shows, could be called gods, because they took oaths and dispensed justice, how much more could the one be called God, who the Father had sent into the world. The Jews realised that Christ had not dropped His claim to deity, but that He had reinforced and stressed it more strongly and so they tried to kill Him again. The Jews clearly understood what Christ claimed and took up stones to stone Him to death, a miracle preserved Him from them. John 8v59. Just as in John 5v17,18 they were out to kill Jesus because He made Himself equal to God.
Yahweh Shalom
Yahweh alone is the great “I Am;” and yet Christ claims this exclusive name and title of Yahweh.
a) All three accounts of Christ walking on the water have Christ saying “I Am”
Jesus was not merely saying, “It is I,” but rather, as “ego eimi” really means, “I Am.” Matt 14v27, Mark 6v50, John 6v20.
b) Jesus claims He is “The Great I Am” of Exodus 3v14, in John 8v58
In John 8v58 Jesus said, “before Abraham was, I Am.” Some false teachers have tried to say that John 8v58, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” should read, “Before Abraham was born, I have been,” these teachers wrongly state that Christ was only trying to claim pre-existence, and not the eternal existence that belongs to Yahweh divinity. However, Christ did not use the words “ego en,” which means, “I was” or “I have been,” but “ego eimi,” which has been translated quite correctly as “I am.” Jesus was not claiming mere pre-existence, but eternal existence, and an uncreated eternal existence past as absolute deity.
We have been warned that there will be false prophets and teachers, whose perversions of the Scriptures are designed to deceive and trap those who are unlearned in God's Word. Their vain attempts to deny the Lordship and Deity of Christ bring about their own ruin and destruction. 2Pet 2v1-3, 3v16, Matt 7v15-23. These false teachers say that if Christ had been claiming that He was the Great I Am, the Greek words “ho ohn,” which means, “the one who is,” would have been used, and they say that they base this on the Septuagint translation of Exodus 3v14. This is completely dishonest, for both “ego eimi” and “ho ohn” are used in Exodus 3v14.
The Hebrew words “ehyeh asher ehyeh,” which are translated in the Authorised Version as “I am that I am,” are translated into the Greek of the Septuagint as, “ego eimi ho ohn.” It is in the second half of this verse, when “ehyeh asher ehyeh” is shortened to “ehyeh,” that is, “I am,” that the Septuagint translates this as “oh ohn,” i.e. “the one who is.” However, in most other places in the Septuagint, “ego eimi” is used to translate the Hebrew “ehyeh.” e.g. Deut 32v39. “Ego eimi,” “I am,” expresses the eternal nature of God better than “ho ohn,” “the one who is,” for as we can see from Rev 1v4,8, 11v17, 16v5, the only places in the New Testament where “ho ohn” is applied to God, that “ho ohn” never stands on its own when it describes the eternity of God, because this alone cannot convey the idea of the eternal being of God actively manifesting itself as does the Hebrew “ehyeh.” The Greek “ho ohn,” “He who is,” is only a part of the verbal expression that is necessary to describe the eternal nature of God, “ego eimi,” “I am,” expresses far better and more completely idea of the eternal self-existence of God that is declared in the Hebrew “Yahweh.”
The Jews fully understood that Christ claimed to be "the Great I Am"
It is possible that Christ used the Hebrew “ehyeh” when addressing the Jews, but whether He used “ehyeh” or “ego eimi,” the Jews clearly understood that Christ was claiming absolute Yahweh divinity and they took up stones to stone Him to death. They understood that by using the words, “I am,” without any predicate; Christ had signified His eternal pre-existence as Yahweh. Christ had not said, “before Abraham was born, I was, or I was made or created,” Christ uses the perpetual present tense, which signified a perpetual existence independent of time, a claim which only absolute Yahweh deity can make. The Jews understood this and got ready to stone Christ to death. The Lord Jesus uses Psalm 82v6 to correct His accusers, He said that if the judges and rulers, some of whom were very unjust as this Psalms shows, could be called gods, because they took oaths and dispensed justice, how much more could the one be called God, who the Father had sent into the world. The Jews realised that Christ had not dropped His claim to deity, but that He had reinforced and stressed it more strongly and so they tried to kill Him again. The Jews clearly understood what Christ claimed and took up stones to stone Him to death, a miracle preserved Him from them. John 8v59. Just as in John 5v17,18 they were out to kill Jesus because He made Himself equal to God.
Yahweh Shalom