by Raymond Faircloth - see PDF attachment if you prefer that format.
In John 8:58, according to the ESV Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” and according to the NET Bible this reads as, “before Abraham came into existence, I am!” (The “I AM” is capitalized in several translations). Word-for-word the UBS Interlinear reads: “Before Abraham came into being I am” (Gk ego eimi). So, this has been taken to mean that Jesus must therefore have pre-existed as God especially because of what is said in Exodus 3:14, where, according to some translations, “God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM.” Indeed, this statement is often used by Trinitarians to connect to Jesus’ words of “I am” and so to attempt to prove that Jesus is God. However, this rendering of “I AM WHO I AM” is incorrect. Certainly, the Hebrew phrase is the basis for God’s personal name Yahweh, but as with the footnote in the ESV this actually means “I Will be what I will be” and the Greek Septuagint (LXX) rendering of the Hebrew reads ego eimi ho hown meaning “I will become whatsoever I please” or “I am the One who Is” and therefore quite a different thought to the ego eimi phrase used by Jesus. Therefore, Jesus words in John 8:58 are not connected to Exodus 3:14. Yet, even if the standard rendering in Exodus 3:14 was correct Jesus’ “I am” statement in John 8:58 does not link with it because the statement in Exodus 3:14 was not revealed to Abraham but to Moses hundreds of years later. So, what does the Greek term actually mean in terms of Jesus’ existence? According to Hans Wendt, Professor of Theology at the University of Jena: “It is clear that John 8:58 and 17:5 do not speak of a real pre-existence of Christ. We must not treat these verses in isolation, but understand them in context.”
Additionally, we note that all other instances of this Greek phrase ego eimi are translated as “I am he” or “I am (he)” or “I am the one,” in John 4:26, 8:24, 8:28, 9:9, 13:9, and 18:5. This is recognized as correct by all reputable scholars. So, there is no contextual reason to render 8:58 any differently. On this Edwin Freed comments that:
Jesus is reported as affirming his messiahship through the use of ‘ego eimi’”… and that John 4:26 is…“the clue to understanding all other passages where the words ‘ego eimi’ occur. … In John 8:24 ‘ego eimi’ (I am) is to be understood as reference to Jesus’ Messiahship… ‘If you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” EGO EIMI in John 8:24 in the Light of its Context and Jewish Messianic Belief, JTS 33, 1982, p. 163.
So, in John 8:58 what did Jesus mean? In John 4:25, 26 the woman at the well says: “I know that Messiah is coming (the one called Christ); whenever that one comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he (Gk ego eimi)” (LEB). This is further proven by a comparison of “I am he” in Mark 13:6/Luke 21:8 with the parallel account in Matthew 24:5: “I am the Christ [or Messiah in the NAB].” So, he is saying “I am he—the Messiah.” Therefore, in John 8:58 he is telling them the same thing, that is, that he is the Messiah. In his Concise Commentary Robert Young notes: “The I am or I am he, means a claim to Messiah, and implies neither divinity nor pre-existence.” Furthermore, Barratt in his famous Commentary on John says:
“Before Abraham’s coming, I am He,” that is, the promised Messiah. The simple phrase ‘I am He’ is used by Jesus 15 times, but in every case of the present it is rendered in the Common Version, ‘I am He’ or ‘It is I.’ See Mat. 14:27, Mk 6:50, 14:62, Luke 21:8, 22:70, 24:39, John 4:26, 6:20, 8:24, 28, 13:19, 18:5. 6, 8.”
NOTE: As shown above the phrase concerns the identity of the Messiah and does not concern the timing of his coming into existence. So, this cannot mean literal pre-existence, but only foreordination. The literal coming into existence of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God was at his conception (Luke 1:32, 35). Nevertheless, to change “I am he” in John 8:58 to “I AM” separates it from all the other phrases in John which mean “I am he” (the Messiah) and for no grammatical reason, but only for a theological reason.
John 8:58 is also a case of Jesus’ being foreknown or foreordained in the “predetermined plan” of God as shown in Acts 2:23 and 1 Peter 1:20. The subject here in its immediate context (8:53) is who is the greater, Abraham or Jesus. Who takes precedence, Abraham or the promised Messiah? The Jews ask: “Who do you claim to be?” By pointing out that he fulfils the role of the Messiah that was promised, he shows that he is greater than Abraham. The proof comes, that only in this foreordained sense did Jesus exist before Abraham, when Jesus said:
“Abraham your father rejoiced-greatly to see My day. And he saw it, (through eyes of faith or possibly a vision) and was glad” (John 8:56 DLNT).
This statement shows that Jesus did not literally exist at that early time because Abraham did not then literally see him. So, Abraham was privileged to see into the future—to Jesus’ day. He looked forward and saw the coming of the Messiah before its realization. So, when Jesus says, “Before Abraham came into being I am he” he is not making a statement about literal pre-existence, but simply claiming to be the One who was promised to come, which promise existed before Abraham was born and the fulfilment of which Abraham was privileged to see in his mind. Therefore, in prophetic terms, as Messiah, Jesus is before Abraham. Nevertheless, the Jews, as ever, misunderstand and think that Jesus was meaning that he—Jesus—had physically seen Abraham (8:57), whereas Jesus, in fact, is emphasizing that he takes precedence over Abraham because of his superior position in being the promised, foreordained Messiah and with that promise concerning the Messiah having existed “before Abraham came into being...” that is, in the sense that the planned Messiah was in God’s mind (Gen. 3:15). So, J.A.T Robinson makes the point that:
to say that Jesus is “before” him is not to lift him out of the ranks of humanity but to assert his unconditional precedence. To take such statements at the level of “flesh” so as to infer, as “the Jews” do that, at less than fifty, Jesus is claiming to have lived on this earth before Abraham (8:52 and 57), is to be as crass as Nicodemus who understands rebirth as an old man entering his mother’s womb a second time (3:4). The Priority of John, p. 384.
Similarly, Revelation 13:8b in the UBS Interlinear refers to: “…the lamb having been slain from the foundation of the world.” It here speaks not of a literal pre-existence but of foreordination—ideal pre-existence. So, as now fulfilled in Jesus, the planned and promised Messiah existed in Yahweh’s mind before Abraham was born. Jesus’ fulfilling this role as Messiah is what made him greater than Abraham. Indeed, Professor Wendt provides the background in his clear explanation:
The saying in John 8:58, “Before Abraham came to be, I am” was prompted by the fact that Jesus’ opponents had countered his remark in v. 51 by saying that Jesus was not greater than Abraham or the prophets (v. 52). As the Messiah commissioned by God Jesus is conscious of being in fact superior to Abraham and the prophets. For this reason, he replies (according to the intervening words, v. 54f.) that Abraham had “seen his day,” i.e., the entrance of Jesus on his historical ministry, and “had rejoiced to see” that day. And Jesus strengthens his argument by adding the statement, which sounded strange to the Jews, that he had even been “before Abraham” (v. 58). This last saying must be understood in connection with v. 56. Jesus speaks in vv. 55, 56 and 58 as if his present ministry on earth stretches back to the time of Abraham and even before. His sayings were perceived by the Jews in this sense and rejected as nonsense. But Jesus obviously did not (in v. 56) mean that Abraham had actually experienced Jesus’ appearance on earth and seen it literally. Jesus was referring to Abraham’s spiritual vision of his appearance on earth, by which Abraham, at the birth of Isaac, had foreseen at the same time the promised Messiah, and had rejoiced at the future prospect of the greater one (the Messiah) who would be Israel’s descendant. Jesus’ reference to his existence before Abraham’s birth must be understood in the same sense. There is no sudden heavenly preexistence of the Messiah here: the reference is again obviously to his earthly existence. And this earthly existence is precisely the existence of the Messiah. As such, it was not only present in Abraham’s mind, but even before his time, as the subject of God’s foreordination and foresight. The sort of preexistence Jesus has in mind is “ideal” [in the world of ideas and plans]. In accordance with this consciousness of being the Messiah preordained from the beginning, Jesus can indeed make the claim to be greater than Abraham and the prophets. The System of Christian Teaching, 1907, Cp. Professor Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, 1892, pp. 453-460.
Dr. Harold H. Rowdon stated: “That the absolute use of ‘I am’ need not have connotations of divinity is clear from its usage by the man born blind at John 9:9. Jesus’ words, then, were not an unambiguous asseveration of divinity .... Christ the Lord, p. 172. Also J.A.T. Robinson (Church of England Bishop of Woolwich—deceased) tells us:
That Jesus is arrogating to himself the divine name is nowhere stated or implied in this gospel [of John]. Even the Jews do not accuse him of this—only of calling God His Father, and thereby implying equality with God or as H. Oldberg interprets this from Rabbinic parallels, rebellious independence being ‘as good as God’ (5:18). What they take to be the blasphemy of making himself ‘a god’ in 10:33 is again made clear to be a misunderstanding of Jesus calling Himself ‘God’s son’.... The worst that can be said of Him at the trial is that He claimed to be ‘God’s Son. The Priority of John, pp. 386, 387.
And C.K. Barrett in his celebrated commentary on John stated that:
Again J.A.T. Robinson writes:
Clearly, John 8:58 concerns only Jesus’ foreordination as Messiah i.e. an ideal pre-existence as superior to Abraham and not a literal pre-existence.
Before Abraham Existed, the Messiah
Before Abraham Existed, the Messiah
Was Foreordained
Was Foreordained
In John 8:58, according to the ESV Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” and according to the NET Bible this reads as, “before Abraham came into existence, I am!” (The “I AM” is capitalized in several translations). Word-for-word the UBS Interlinear reads: “Before Abraham came into being I am” (Gk ego eimi). So, this has been taken to mean that Jesus must therefore have pre-existed as God especially because of what is said in Exodus 3:14, where, according to some translations, “God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM.” Indeed, this statement is often used by Trinitarians to connect to Jesus’ words of “I am” and so to attempt to prove that Jesus is God. However, this rendering of “I AM WHO I AM” is incorrect. Certainly, the Hebrew phrase is the basis for God’s personal name Yahweh, but as with the footnote in the ESV this actually means “I Will be what I will be” and the Greek Septuagint (LXX) rendering of the Hebrew reads ego eimi ho hown meaning “I will become whatsoever I please” or “I am the One who Is” and therefore quite a different thought to the ego eimi phrase used by Jesus. Therefore, Jesus words in John 8:58 are not connected to Exodus 3:14. Yet, even if the standard rendering in Exodus 3:14 was correct Jesus’ “I am” statement in John 8:58 does not link with it because the statement in Exodus 3:14 was not revealed to Abraham but to Moses hundreds of years later. So, what does the Greek term actually mean in terms of Jesus’ existence? According to Hans Wendt, Professor of Theology at the University of Jena: “It is clear that John 8:58 and 17:5 do not speak of a real pre-existence of Christ. We must not treat these verses in isolation, but understand them in context.”
I am He - the Messiah
I am He - the Messiah
Additionally, we note that all other instances of this Greek phrase ego eimi are translated as “I am he” or “I am (he)” or “I am the one,” in John 4:26, 8:24, 8:28, 9:9, 13:9, and 18:5. This is recognized as correct by all reputable scholars. So, there is no contextual reason to render 8:58 any differently. On this Edwin Freed comments that:
Jesus is reported as affirming his messiahship through the use of ‘ego eimi’”… and that John 4:26 is…“the clue to understanding all other passages where the words ‘ego eimi’ occur. … In John 8:24 ‘ego eimi’ (I am) is to be understood as reference to Jesus’ Messiahship… ‘If you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” EGO EIMI in John 8:24 in the Light of its Context and Jewish Messianic Belief, JTS 33, 1982, p. 163.
So, in John 8:58 what did Jesus mean? In John 4:25, 26 the woman at the well says: “I know that Messiah is coming (the one called Christ); whenever that one comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he (Gk ego eimi)” (LEB). This is further proven by a comparison of “I am he” in Mark 13:6/Luke 21:8 with the parallel account in Matthew 24:5: “I am the Christ [or Messiah in the NAB].” So, he is saying “I am he—the Messiah.” Therefore, in John 8:58 he is telling them the same thing, that is, that he is the Messiah. In his Concise Commentary Robert Young notes: “The I am or I am he, means a claim to Messiah, and implies neither divinity nor pre-existence.” Furthermore, Barratt in his famous Commentary on John says:
“Before Abraham’s coming, I am He,” that is, the promised Messiah. The simple phrase ‘I am He’ is used by Jesus 15 times, but in every case of the present it is rendered in the Common Version, ‘I am He’ or ‘It is I.’ See Mat. 14:27, Mk 6:50, 14:62, Luke 21:8, 22:70, 24:39, John 4:26, 6:20, 8:24, 28, 13:19, 18:5. 6, 8.”
NOTE: As shown above the phrase concerns the identity of the Messiah and does not concern the timing of his coming into existence. So, this cannot mean literal pre-existence, but only foreordination. The literal coming into existence of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God was at his conception (Luke 1:32, 35). Nevertheless, to change “I am he” in John 8:58 to “I AM” separates it from all the other phrases in John which mean “I am he” (the Messiah) and for no grammatical reason, but only for a theological reason.
The Messiah Was Foreordained
The Messiah Was Foreordained
John 8:58 is also a case of Jesus’ being foreknown or foreordained in the “predetermined plan” of God as shown in Acts 2:23 and 1 Peter 1:20. The subject here in its immediate context (8:53) is who is the greater, Abraham or Jesus. Who takes precedence, Abraham or the promised Messiah? The Jews ask: “Who do you claim to be?” By pointing out that he fulfils the role of the Messiah that was promised, he shows that he is greater than Abraham. The proof comes, that only in this foreordained sense did Jesus exist before Abraham, when Jesus said:
“Abraham your father rejoiced-greatly to see My day. And he saw it, (through eyes of faith or possibly a vision) and was glad” (John 8:56 DLNT).
This statement shows that Jesus did not literally exist at that early time because Abraham did not then literally see him. So, Abraham was privileged to see into the future—to Jesus’ day. He looked forward and saw the coming of the Messiah before its realization. So, when Jesus says, “Before Abraham came into being I am he” he is not making a statement about literal pre-existence, but simply claiming to be the One who was promised to come, which promise existed before Abraham was born and the fulfilment of which Abraham was privileged to see in his mind. Therefore, in prophetic terms, as Messiah, Jesus is before Abraham. Nevertheless, the Jews, as ever, misunderstand and think that Jesus was meaning that he—Jesus—had physically seen Abraham (8:57), whereas Jesus, in fact, is emphasizing that he takes precedence over Abraham because of his superior position in being the promised, foreordained Messiah and with that promise concerning the Messiah having existed “before Abraham came into being...” that is, in the sense that the planned Messiah was in God’s mind (Gen. 3:15). So, J.A.T Robinson makes the point that:
to say that Jesus is “before” him is not to lift him out of the ranks of humanity but to assert his unconditional precedence. To take such statements at the level of “flesh” so as to infer, as “the Jews” do that, at less than fifty, Jesus is claiming to have lived on this earth before Abraham (8:52 and 57), is to be as crass as Nicodemus who understands rebirth as an old man entering his mother’s womb a second time (3:4). The Priority of John, p. 384.
Similarly, Revelation 13:8b in the UBS Interlinear refers to: “…the lamb having been slain from the foundation of the world.” It here speaks not of a literal pre-existence but of foreordination—ideal pre-existence. So, as now fulfilled in Jesus, the planned and promised Messiah existed in Yahweh’s mind before Abraham was born. Jesus’ fulfilling this role as Messiah is what made him greater than Abraham. Indeed, Professor Wendt provides the background in his clear explanation:
The saying in John 8:58, “Before Abraham came to be, I am” was prompted by the fact that Jesus’ opponents had countered his remark in v. 51 by saying that Jesus was not greater than Abraham or the prophets (v. 52). As the Messiah commissioned by God Jesus is conscious of being in fact superior to Abraham and the prophets. For this reason, he replies (according to the intervening words, v. 54f.) that Abraham had “seen his day,” i.e., the entrance of Jesus on his historical ministry, and “had rejoiced to see” that day. And Jesus strengthens his argument by adding the statement, which sounded strange to the Jews, that he had even been “before Abraham” (v. 58). This last saying must be understood in connection with v. 56. Jesus speaks in vv. 55, 56 and 58 as if his present ministry on earth stretches back to the time of Abraham and even before. His sayings were perceived by the Jews in this sense and rejected as nonsense. But Jesus obviously did not (in v. 56) mean that Abraham had actually experienced Jesus’ appearance on earth and seen it literally. Jesus was referring to Abraham’s spiritual vision of his appearance on earth, by which Abraham, at the birth of Isaac, had foreseen at the same time the promised Messiah, and had rejoiced at the future prospect of the greater one (the Messiah) who would be Israel’s descendant. Jesus’ reference to his existence before Abraham’s birth must be understood in the same sense. There is no sudden heavenly preexistence of the Messiah here: the reference is again obviously to his earthly existence. And this earthly existence is precisely the existence of the Messiah. As such, it was not only present in Abraham’s mind, but even before his time, as the subject of God’s foreordination and foresight. The sort of preexistence Jesus has in mind is “ideal” [in the world of ideas and plans]. In accordance with this consciousness of being the Messiah preordained from the beginning, Jesus can indeed make the claim to be greater than Abraham and the prophets. The System of Christian Teaching, 1907, Cp. Professor Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, 1892, pp. 453-460.
Scholarly Comment on the “I am” Sayings
Scholarly Comment on the “I am” Sayings
Dr. Harold H. Rowdon stated: “That the absolute use of ‘I am’ need not have connotations of divinity is clear from its usage by the man born blind at John 9:9. Jesus’ words, then, were not an unambiguous asseveration of divinity .... Christ the Lord, p. 172. Also J.A.T. Robinson (Church of England Bishop of Woolwich—deceased) tells us:
That Jesus is arrogating to himself the divine name is nowhere stated or implied in this gospel [of John]. Even the Jews do not accuse him of this—only of calling God His Father, and thereby implying equality with God or as H. Oldberg interprets this from Rabbinic parallels, rebellious independence being ‘as good as God’ (5:18). What they take to be the blasphemy of making himself ‘a god’ in 10:33 is again made clear to be a misunderstanding of Jesus calling Himself ‘God’s son’.... The worst that can be said of Him at the trial is that He claimed to be ‘God’s Son. The Priority of John, pp. 386, 387.
And C.K. Barrett in his celebrated commentary on John stated that:
Scholarly Comment on the Other “I am” Sayings
Scholarly Comment on the Other “I am” Sayings
Again J.A.T. Robinson writes:
Clearly, John 8:58 concerns only Jesus’ foreordination as Messiah i.e. an ideal pre-existence as superior to Abraham and not a literal pre-existence.
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