By Nab B.
February 19, 2022
Updated Nov 2025
"Jesus said unto them,
Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."
(John 8:58)
For any doctrine to be true, it must be examined by the scriptures and in contextual agreement with the whole Bible. Doctrinal bias leads to untruth!
The phrase "ego eimi" is considered to have theological significance by many Christians who believe in the Trinity.
Trinitarians claim that Jesus was actually uttering the divine name found in Exodus 3:14 when he used the Greek phrase “ego eimi,” translated as “I AM” in John 8:58. They also claim the Jews wanted to stone Jesus for claiming to be Yahweh!
Both claim are not correct, as you will see.
What the reader needs to see is that the phrase "ego eimi" has "no theological significance." Rather, it is an ordinary phrase that simply means "I am." Whenever the phrase "ego eimi" occurred in the Bible, other than in John 8:58, most translations rendered it correctly as "I am he" or "I am the one." So, why is it different in John 8:58? Surely, this raises a red flag that needs to be examined.
Let me show you how the same phrase "ego eimi" was translated simply as "I am" in these other places. For example, Jesus used "ego eimi" or "I am" several times in John 8, verses 12, 16, 18, 23, 24, 28. In all those verses, "ego eimi" was translated correctly as "I am he" or "I am the one"—with no capitalization whatsoever!
Here's another example: Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "I am he (Gk., ego eimi), who is speaking to you.” (John 4:26) Again, it was translated correctly as simply "I am he," but not so in John 8:58!
Let us assume that “ego eimi” (I am) refers to the divine name, "Yahweh." What about other people who used the same phrase? Could they be Yahweh or Jehovah, too? In a strange kind of way and by the same logic, they had to be! Below are some examples of people besides Jesus using "ego eimi" or "I am". They are listed below for you to examine.
Gabriel said, “I am (ego eimi) Gabriel.” Was Gabriel saying he was Yahweh? (Luke 1:19)
The Baptist said, "I am (ego eimi) not the Christ." Was John saying he was Yahweh but not Christ? (John 1:20)
Paul said, "By the grace of God I am (ego eimi) what I am (ego eimi)." Was Paul saying he was Yahweh twice? (1 Cor 15:10)
"I am (ego eimi) a man under authority.” Did the centurion mean Yahweh, or was he referring to himself? (Matthew 8:9)
Judas said, "Is it I (ego eimi), Rabbi?" Was Judas asking if he was Yahweh? (Matthew 26:25)
The blind man said, “I am he (ego eimi).” Was the blind man saying he was Yahweh, too? If "ego eimi" really meant "Yahweh," the Pharisees would have surely stoned him. But they did not! (John 9:9)
This is how John 8:58 reads in most Bibles: "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58) Trinity believers enforce and impose an exceptional meaning to the phrase "I am" or "ego eimi" just to back up their false claim that Jesus is Yahweh God.
But this verse isn't saying that. Let me paraphrase what John 8:58 is actually saying in context:
“Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you that I am the one, the promised Messiah, spoken of before Abraham ever existed!”
Jesus was simply declaring to them that "He was the One" promised Messiah. The immediate context and the general context of Chapter 8 lead to this unmistakable conclusion.
The phrase "I am" (ego eimi) is neither a title nor a code for God's name. It is a common phrase used by common people! Check any English Bible concordance under "I am," or a Greek Bible concordance under "ego eimi" for hundreds of examples.
When trinitarians read "Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it was glad" (John 8:56), they think of Jesus, being "Yahweh," who had existed before Abraham and saw him. But is this what this verse is saying? I assure you, not. Let's see why.
Clearly, Jesus (who isn't Yahweh) never said he had seen Abraham. All he said was, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56). This statement meant Abraham rejoiced and believed at the prospect of the coming Messiah. The verse does not mean Jesus existed before Abraham or that the two had met.
But why did Abraham rejoice? Not for literally meeting with Jesus, but because he foresaw by faith God's good promise of the "seed," the "Messiah," who would come through his lineage to bless "all nations of the earth."
Want proof? Here are the scriptures that back this up:
“And the Scripture, having foreseen that God justifies the Gentiles by faith, foretold the gospel (good happy news) to Abraham: 'All the nations will be blessed in you.’" (Gal 3:8 BLB; see also Hebrews 11:16-21).
"Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It does not say "and to seeds" as of many, but "and to your seed" as of One, who is Christ." (Gal 3:16 BLB)
Trinitarians think that in John chapter 8, the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus because he claimed to be the great "I AM" or "Yahweh." That's not the case. They wanted to stone Jesus because he claimed to be greater than Abraham, not for claiming to be Yahweh!
"So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?... So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.'" (John 8:57,59 ESV)
Their venomous desire to kill Jesus was so unusual, it caused him to utter this serious judgment against the Jewish leaders,
"Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires...But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (John 8:42-47 ESV)
Using the Greek Septuagint as an additional proof to examine Exodus 3:14, you will notice at least 3 things:
The divine name was not the phrase "ego eimi”!
Translations that render Exodus 3:14 as "I AM sent me to you" are only partially correct!
God’s divine name in Exodus 3:14 in the Greek Septuagint shows a missing phrase besides "ego eimi". It shows it as "ego eimi ho ōn” which means "I am the Being", or "I am the self-existing One.”
So, this is how Exodus 3:14 should read:
“This is what you are to say to the Israelites, I am (ego eimi), the Self-Existing One (ho ōn) has sent me to you.”
In rendering Exodus 3:14, most translations only show the phrase, ‘ego eimi’ (I am), without the phrase ‘ho ōn’ (the self-existing One). As you can tell, this has led to the false assumption that the "I AM" in John 8:58 was referring to "Yahweh" in Exodus 3:14. It definitely does not!
Such passages as John 8:58 beg the question, how does one gain a correct understanding of the scriptures?
One way is to note the immediate context, the context of the chapter, and of other related passages in the Bible.
But in doing so, one must allow the "Spirit of God" and "of Christ" to open and reveal, the intended meaning. This does require faithfulness and a "love for the truth," as seen by these passages:
"Hear what the Spirit says." (Rev 2:7)
"Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,." (Luke 24:45)
"The Advocate, the Holy Spirit...will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26 NIV)