Monday, December 18, 2006

I AM

I find the choices that Bible translators make interesting sometimes. For example, in the well-known passage in John 8:58 where Jesus tells the Jews that he pre-existed Abraham almost all translations render the Greek there as "I AM" in a clear reference to Exodus 3:14

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14)

The Greek in John 8:58 is:

εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ᾿Ιησοῦς· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, πρὶν ᾿Αβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί.

Which says, "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.'" The part in question here is specifically the ἐγὼ εἰμί which is an emphasized "I am" since εἰμί by itself means "I am." The Jews clearly understood what he was saying because in John 8:59 we read:

So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (John 8:59)

They intended to stone him because they knew he was saying he was God.

John 8:58 is fairly straightforward, but what I find interesting are the other passages where Jesus uses ἐγὼ εἰμί and yet most translations don't use the "I AM." A good example (where I think the "I AM" would help) is John 18:4-6:

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18:4-6)

It is not clear why those coming to arrest Jesus draw back and fall to the ground. But I think if you look at the Greek here and translate it differently, then the passage suddenly comes into a new light (I've bolded the use of ἐγὼ εἰμί in the passage):

᾿Ιησοῦς οὖν εἰδὼς πάντα τὰ ἐρχόμενα ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν, ἐξελθὼν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· τίνα ζητεῖτε; ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ· ᾿Ιησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον. λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· ἐγώ εἰμι. εἱστήκει δὲ καὶ ᾿Ιούδας ὁ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν μετ᾿ αὐτῶν. ὡς οὖν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι εγώ εἰμι, ἀπῆλθον εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω καὶ ἔπεσον χαμαί.

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and saidto them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth."Jesus said to them, "I AM." Judas, who betrayed him, was standingwith them. When Jesus said to them, "I AM," they drew back and fellto the ground.

In this case it appears that they draw back and fall to the ground because of the pronouncement of I AM on the part of Christ. (Notice how John even calls attention to this by pointing out that, "When Jesus said to them 'I AM,' they drew back and fell to the ground.")

Another interesting place that Christ uses ἐγὼ εἰμί is in Matthew 14:27 when he is walking on water and the disciples are afraid of him. To comfort them he says, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." At least, in the ESV that is what he says. The Greek here reads like so:

εὐθέως δὲ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς λέγων· θαρσεῖτε, ἐγώ εἰμί· μὴ φοβεῖσθε.

Notice that Jesus says this, "Take heart; I AM. Do not be afraid." This certainly has a different ring to it. Here is the Son of Almighty God walking on water and to calm his disciples who fear what on earth could be walking across the storm-driven sea he tells them to take courage. Why? I AM. Why be afraid? He is the I AM.

A third interesting passage, if looked at in this way, is Mark 14:61-63:

But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." And the high priest tore his garments and said, "What further witnesses do we need? (Mark 14:61-63)

In the Greek, Jesus' answer looks like this:

ἐγώ εἰμι· καὶ ὄψεσθε τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ δεξιῶν καθήμενον τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ ἐρχόμενον μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.

So imagine the High Priest asking Jesus if he is the Christ, the Son of the Blessed and the first words out of Christ's mouth are ἐγώ εἰμί - I AM. No wonder he tears his garments. It isn't only Jesus' later statement but the fact that he starts with his claim of divinity - blasphemy to the High Priest who does not believe his claim.

There are a few other instances of this, but these were the most interesting in my opinion since they seemed to actually change the tenor of the passage.