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I Am that I Am

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This article is about Hebrew and Old Testament concept. For use ofI amin the Gospel of John, seeEgo eimi.
The Hebrew text withniqqud

"I Am that I Am"is acommon English translationof theHebrewphraseאֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה‎ (’ehye ’ăšer ’ehye;pronounced[ʔehˈjeʔaˈʃerʔehˈje])– also "I am who (I) am","I will become what I choose to become","I am what I am","I will be what I will be","I create what(ever) I create",or"I am the Existing One".[1]

Etymology

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Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh
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אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה‎ (’ehye ’ăšer ’ehye) is the first of three responses given toMoseswhen he asks forGod's name in theBook of Exodus.[2]The wordאֶהְיֶה‎ (’Ehyeh) is the first person singularimperfectiveform ofהָיָה(hayah), 'to be', and owing to the peculiarities ofHebrew grammarmeans 'I am' and 'I will be'.[3]The meaning of the longer phrase’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyehis debated, and might be seen as a promise ('I will be with you') or as statement of incomparability ('I am without equal').[4]

Biblical Hebrewdid not distinguish betweengrammatical tenses.It instead had anaspectual systemin which theperfectdenoted any actions that have been completed, andimperfectdenoted any actions that are not yet completed.[5][6][7]Additionally, if a verb form wasprefixed byוַ־‎(wa-), its aspect was inverted; a verb conjugated in the imperfect and prefixed byוַ־‎ would read as the perfect, while a verb conjugated in the perfect and prefixed byוַ־‎ would read as the imperfect. The wordאֶהְיֶה‎ (ehyeh) is thefirst-personsingular imperfect form ofhayah,'to be', which in Modern Hebrew indicates the future tense 'I will be'; however, it lacks the prefixוַ־‎ which would necessitate this reading in Biblical Hebrew. It therefore may be translated as 'I am', but also as amodalform such as 'I may be', 'I would be', 'I could be', etc. Accordingly, the whole phrase can be rendered in English not only as 'Iamthat I am' but also as 'Iwill bewhat I will be' or 'I will be who I will be', or 'I shall prove to be whatsoever I shall prove to be' or even 'I will be because I will be'. Other renderings include: Leeser, 'I Will Be that I Will Be'; Rotherham, 'I Will Become whatsoever I please', Greek,ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν(Ego eimiho on), 'I am The Being' in theSeptuagint,[8]andPhilo,[9][10]and theBook of Revelation[11]or, 'I am The Existing One'; Latin,ego sum qui sum,'I am Who I am'.

The wordאֲשֶׁר‎ (’ăšer) is arelative pronounwhose meaning depends on the immediate context, therefore 'that', 'who', 'which', or 'where' are all possible translations of that word.[12]

An application of this phrase used in theNew Testamenthas "But by the grace of God I am what I am..." (1 Corinthians 15:10).[citation needed]

Interpretation

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According to theHebrew Bible,in the encounter of theburning bush(Exodus 3:14),Mosesasks what he is to say to theIsraeliteswhen they ask what gods ('Elohiym) have sent him to them, andYHWHreplies, "I am who I am", adding, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.'"[4]Despite this exchange, the Israelites are never written to have asked Moses for the name of God.[13]Then there are a number of probably unanswerable questions, including who it is that does not knowGod's name,Moses or the Israelites (most commentators take it that it is Moses who does not know, meaning that the Israelites will ask him the name in order to prove his credentials), and just what the statement means.[13]

The last can be approached in three ways:

  • "I am who I am" – an evasion of Moses' question;[14]
  • "I am who am" or "I am he who is" – a statement of the nature of Israel's God. Scholars believe it refers to God's eternal nature, which is common in ancient Near Eastern cultures and not restricted toHellenistic philosophy.However, it might be a reaction to the motif of gods arbitrarily disappearing in Canaanite mythology;[15]
  • "'I Am' is who I am ", or" I am because I am "– this version has not played a major part in scholarly discussion of the phrase, but the first variant has been incorporated into theNew English Bible.[16]

Roman Catholicism

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St.Augustine of Hippoand St.Thomas Aquinas,Doctors of the Church,identified the Being of Exodus 3:14 with theEsse ipsum subsistens,who is God Himself, and, inmetaphysics,theBeing in the strong or intensive sensein whom one has all the determinations of every being in their highest degree of perfection. Therefore, this Being isactualityof every actuality (or pure Act) andperfectionof all perfections. In Him, solelyessenceandexistence(inLatin:Actus essendi) are identified. While St. Augustine had a general intuition of Him, His philosophical formulation came only with St. Thomas.[17][18]

Other views

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In theHinduAdvaita Vedanta,theSouth IndiansageRamana Maharshimentions that of all the definitions of God, "none is indeed so well put as the biblical statement 'I am that I am'".He maintained that although Hindu scripture contains similar statements, theMahavakyas,these are not as direct as given inExodus.[19]Further the "I am" is explained bySri Nisargadatta Maharajas an abstraction in the mind of the Stateless State, of the Absolute, or the Supreme Reality, calledParabrahman:it is pure awareness, prior to thoughts, free from perceptions, associations, memories. Parabrahman is often considered to be acognate termfor the Supreme Being in Hinduism.

Victor P. Hamiltonsuggests "some legitimate translations..: (1) 'I am who I am'; (2) 'I am who I was'; (3) 'I am who I shall be'; (4) 'I was who I am'; (5) 'I was who I was'; (6) 'I was who I shall be'; (7) 'I shall be who I am'; (8) 'I shall be who I was'; (9) 'I shall be who I shall be'."[20]

TheBahá'í Faithreference to "I Am" can be found in on page 316 ofThe Dawn-Breakers:[21]

"I am," thrice exclaimed theBáb,"I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person."

See also

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References

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  1. ^Stone 2000,p. 624.
  2. ^Exod. 3:14.
  3. ^Parke-Taylor 1975,p. 51.
  4. ^abVan der Toorn 1999,p. 913.
  5. ^Hebrew, Biblical."Hebrew Tenses | Biblical Hebrew".
  6. ^"Hebrew Tenses".Archived fromthe originalon 2021-03-08.Retrieved2021-10-08.
  7. ^"Biblical Hebrew Grammar do Beginners"(PDF).
  8. ^"Exodus 3:14 LXX".Bibledatabase.net. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-08-10.Retrieved2014-05-21.
  9. ^Yonge.Philo Life Of Moses,Vol.1: 75.
  10. ^Life of Moses, vol. I: 75, Life of Moses vol. II: 67, 99, 132, 161 in F. H. Colson Philo Works Vol. VI, Loeb Classics, Harvard University 1941.
  11. ^Rev. 1:4, 1:8. 4:8 UBS Greek Text Ed. 4.
  12. ^Seidner, 4.[full citation needed]
  13. ^abHamilton 2011,p. 63.
  14. ^Hayes.
  15. ^Lewis, Thedore J. (2020).The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity.Oxford University Press. pp. 209–286.ISBN9780190072575.
  16. ^Mettinger 2005,pp. 33–34.
  17. ^FatherBattista Mondin,O.P. (2022).Ontologia e metafisica[Ontology and metaphysics]. Filosofia (in Italian) (3rd ed.).Edizioni Studio Domenicano.p. 104.ISBN978-88-5545-053-9.
  18. ^InSumma Theologiae,I.13.11: "God revealed his name to Moses as HE WHO IS. And this is a most appropriate name inasmuch as it derives not from any particular form but from existence itself [ipsum esse], and its manner of expression does not as other names do delimit God's substance, and represents God's existence in the present tense as knowing neither past nor future." As quoted in""I AM WHO I AM": Thomas Aquinas and the Metaphysics of the Exodus ".11 May 2015. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023.RetrievedMay 15,2023.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ^Talks with Ramana Maharshi,Talk 106, 29 November 1935
  20. ^Hamilton 2011,p. 64.
  21. ^Nabíl.The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation.Bahá'í International Community.Retrieved27 July2022– via Bahá'í Reference Library.

Bibliography

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Quotations related toEhyeh Asher Ehyehat Wikiquote

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