"I Am that I Am" is acommon English translation of theHebrew phraseאֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (’ehye ’ăšer ’ehye;pronounced[ʔehˈjeʔaˈʃerʔehˈje]), which appears in theHebrew Bible (book ofExodus 3:14).[1] The phrase is also rendered as "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".[2][3]
אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (’ehye ’ăšer ’ehye) is the first of three responses given toMoses when he asks forGod's name inExodus 3:13-15.[4] The wordאֶהְיֶה (’Ehyeh) is the first person singularimperfective form ofהָיָה (hayah), 'to be', and owing to the peculiarities ofHebrew grammar can mean both 'I am' and 'I will be'.[5] The meaning of the longer phrase’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh is debated, and might be seen as a promise ('I will be with you') or as statement of incomparability ('I am without equal').[6]
Biblical Hebrew did not distinguish betweengrammatical tenses. It instead had anaspectual system in which theperfect denoted any actions that have been completed, andimperfect denoted any actions that are not yet completed.[7][8][9] 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-person singular 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 amodal form such as 'I may be', 'I would be', 'I could be', etc. Accordingly, the whole phrase can be rendered in English not only as 'Iam that I am' but also as 'Iwill be what 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: 'I will be that I will be' in theLeeser Bible,[10] 'I will become whatsoever I please' in theEmphasized Bible,[11] and 'I am Being' (Ancient Greek:ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν (Ego eimi ho on) in theSeptuagint.[12]
The wordאֲשֶׁר (’ăšer) is arelative pronoun whose meaning depends on the immediate context, therefore 'that', 'who', 'which', or 'where' are all possible translations of that word.[13]
According to theHebrew Bible, in the encounter of theburning bush (Exodus 3:14),Moses asks what he is to say to theIsraelites when they ask what gods ('Elohiym) have sent him to them, andYHWH replies, "I am who I am", adding, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you'".[6] Despite this exchange, the Israelites are never written to have asked Moses for the name of God.[14] 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.[14]
The last can be approached in three ways:
St.Augustine of Hippo and St.Thomas Aquinas,Doctors of the Church, identified the Being of Exodus 3:14 with theEsse ipsum subsistens (Latin), who is God Himself, and, inmetaphysics, theBeing in the strong or intensive sense in whom one has all the determinations of every being in their highest degree of perfection. Therefore, this Being isactuality of every actuality (or pure Act) andperfection of all perfections. In Him, solelyessence andexistence (Latin:Actus essendi) are identified. While St. Augustine had a general intuition of Him, His philosophical formulation came only with St. Aquinas.[18][19]
TheSouth Indian sageRamana Maharshi mentions 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.[20] Further the "I am" is explained bySri Nisargadatta Maharaj as 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 term for the Supreme Being in Hinduism.
Victor P. Hamilton suggests "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'."[21]
TheBahá'í Faith reference to "I Am" can be found on page 316 ofThe Dawn-Breakers:[22]
"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."
If the notion that gods could be in hiding, sleeping, or occupied elsewhere was widely known in the Levant (cf. KTU 1.16.III and 1 Kgs 18:27 [Parker 1989a]), then perhaps such uncertainty prompted the choice of the name Yahweh to designate a deity who existed permanently.
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