I am (biblical term)

New Testament

In the New Testament, the personal pronoun ἐγώ in conjunction with the present first-person singular copulative εἰμι is recorded to have been used mainly by Jesus, especially in the Gospel of John.

It is used in the Gospel of John both with and without a predicate nominative. The seven occurrences with a predicate nominative that have resulted in some of the titles for Jesus are:

• I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)
• I am the Light of the World (John 8:12)
• I am the Door (John 10:9)
• I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)
• I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
• I am the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
• I am the Vine (John 15:1,5)

With predicate nominative

There are other times the phrase is used in the New Testament, but with a predicate nominative and/or adjectives in between ἐγώ and εἰμι: a centurion in Matt 8:9 and Luke 7:8, Zechariah in Luke 1:18, Gabriel in Luke 1:19, a man blind from birth in John 9:9 who is healed by Jesus and told to go wash in the Pool of Siloam, Peter in Acts 10:21 and Acts 10:26, Paul the Apostle in Acts 22:3, Acts 23:6, Acts 26:29, Romans 7:14, Romans 11:1, Romans 11:13, 1 Corinthians 15:9 and 1 Timothy 1:15, some Corinthian believer in 1 Corinthians 1:12 and 1 Corinthians 3:4, John the Baptist in the negative (οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, 'I am not') in John 3:28 and Acts 13:25 (compare with Jesus in John 8:23, 17:14,16), and Pilate in a question (Μήτι ἐγὼ Ἰουδαῖός εἰμι, 'Am I [a] Jew?') in John 18:35.

Old Testament

ἐγώ εἰμι also occurs without an explicit or implicit predicate nominative in the Septuagint, but instead either with a prepositional phrase such as in "μὴ ἀντὶ θεοῦ ἐγώ εἰμι ..." ("Am I in place of God ...") Genesis 30:2, or with a predicative clause such as in "πάροικος καὶ παρεπίδημος ἐγώ εἰμι μεθ' ὑμῶν" ("As a foreigner and a sojourner I am with you") in Genesis 23:4, or with the idiomatic meaning 'It is I' such as in "καὶ εἶπεν Ἰωαβ ἀκούω ἐγώ εἰμι" ("And Joab said: I hear; it is I") in 2 Samuel 20:17.

It has been suggested that the unique expression of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH) is a verbal cognate noun derived from היה (hbo), the Hebrew linking (or 'copular' or 'copulative') verb, 'to be'. Translations often render this word in compliance with the tradition of the Septuagint, "Lord".

In Christian philosophy

The philosopher Joseph de Torre, commenting on the philosophical implications of "I am" as the name of God, wrote:

References

References

1. "NAMES OF GOD - JewishEncyclopedia.com".
2. ''Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi'' by Karl Rahner, 2004. p. 1082. {{ISBN. 0-86012-006-6.
3. Hurtado, Larry W. (June 2003). ''Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity''. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans. pp. 370–371. {{ISBN. 0-8028-6070-2.
4. Nestle-Aland "Novum Testamentum Graece", 27th revised edition (a.k.a. "NA27"), Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, July 2006. {{ISBN. 1598561723.
5. "The Greek New Testament", 4th Edition with Dictionary, United Bible Societies (a.k.a. "UBS4").
6. "John 1 WHNU;SBLGNT - εν αρχη ην ο λογος και - Bible Gateway". Biblegateway.com.
7. "Unbound Bible". Unbound.biola.edu.
8. De Torre, Joseph. (1980). "Christian Philosophy". Sinag-Tala Publishers.