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''"I Am" Sayings.'' A diversity of "I am ... " formulae
in the OT by which Yahweh repeatedly discloses
himself. He reveals himself as the God of
the patriarchs (Gen. 15:7; 17:1; 28:13; etc.), or as
"the LORD [Yahweh] your God, who brought you
out of Egypt" (e.g., Exod. 20:2 at the beginning of
the Decalogue), or more simply in the words "I
am the LORD" (e.g., Ezek. 33:29; 36:36). The disclosure
of Exodus 3: 14, often rendered "I am
who I am" or "I am the existing one," may well
be an instance of paronomasia or word play; but
more importantly, like the repeated "I am he" or
"I myself am he" utterances (Deut. 32:39; Isa.
41:4; 43:10, 13, 25; 45:18; 46:4; 48:12; 51:12;
52:6), Yahweh presents himself in antithesis to
the finite gods of the prevalent polytheism. In
most instances the context precludes a rendering
"I am this or that," but presupposes something
like "I am the Absolute One." Especially in Isaiah
40-66, the verses surrounding each example
show that the meaning of God as the Absolute
works out in an array of attributes: he is sovereign,
uncreated, unimaginable, personal, master
of history, holy, and the universal monarch
whose purposes cannot ultimately be thwarted.
Moreover, the formula here is ''self''-revelatory:
Yahweh is not addressed in this way, but uses
these expressions of himself, thereby demonstrating
that he graciously chooses to reveal himself
to men.

In the NT, many "I am" sayings are supplied
with a subjective completion (e.g., "I am the light
of the world," John 8:12) and therefore do not
qualify as "I am" utterances in the absolute
sense. More difficult are the few instances outside
John's Gospel where the text offers a simple
''egō eimi'' (lit. "I am") but where the context makes
clear that the meaning is "It is I" or "I am he"with
the antecedent of the 'T' or "he" apparent in
the surrounding verses. These are probably at
best ambiguous self-disclosures of deity, hints for
those familiar with the OT, and many of Jesus'
prepassion self-revelations adopt such a stance of
planned ambiguity. For instance, when Jesus
walks to his frightened disciples across the surface
of the water, he calms their fears by saying,
''egō eimi.'' The context demands the conclusion
that Jesus is identifying himself ("It is 1"), showing that what they perceive is not a ghostly apparition
(Mark 6:50). Yet not every 'T' could be
found walking on water: it would be premature
to discount all reference to OT theophany. Again,
Jesus warns his disciples against those who will
lead many astray by claiming "I am" (Mark 13:6;
Luke 21:8); but the context demands this be interpreted
as "I am the Christ"-as Matthew 24:5
makes explicit. Jesus uses identical language at
his trial (Mark 14:61-62) and similar language
after his resurrection (Luke 24:39), his words in
each case bearing some ambiguity.

The Fourth Gospel raises new questions. Although
many of Jesus' "I am" utterances recorded
by John are supplied with explicit predicates ("I
am the true vine," "I am the good shepherd," "I
am the bread of life," "I am the resurrection and
the life"), two are undeniably absolute in both
form and content (8 :58; 13: 19) and constitute an
explicit self-identification with Yahweh, who had
already revealed himself to men in similar terms
(see esp. Isa. 43: 10--11). Jesus' opponents recognize
this claim to unity with Yahweh (John
8:58-59); in 13: 19-20, Jesus himself proceeds to
make it explicit. These two occurrences of the
absolute "I am" suggest that in several other
passages in John, where "I am" is ''formally'' absolute
but a predicate might well be supplied
from the context (e.g., 4:26; 6:20; 8:24, 28; 18:5,
6, 8), an intentional double meaning may be
involved.

''See also'' CHRISTOLOGY.

'''Bibliography.''' B. J. Beitzel, "Exodus 3:14 and the Divine
Name," TJ 1 :5-20; R. E. Brown, ''Gospel according to John'' 1 :532-83; D. A. Carson, ''Christ the Lord'';
D. Daube, ''New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism''; P. B.
Horner, ''"I Am" of the Fourth Gospel''; H.-G. Link,
''NIDNTT'' 2:278-83; W. Manson, ''Jesus and the Christian'';
E. Stauffer; ''TDNT'' 2:343- 62.
Ibn Rushd.