John 8:58

Joshua Perez

10/30/24

"Jesus said to them, 'I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.'" (John 8:58 HCSB)

John 8:58 is one of the most frequently cited "deity of Christ" proof texts, often brought up in conversations with Trinitarians. However, upon closer examination, it may not be the "smoking gun" for Trinitarianism that many assume. 

1. Many Trinitarians interpret Jesus’ statement, "before Abraham was, I AM," as an identification with the "I Am Who I am" of the burning bush in Exodus 3—Hashem.

"God replied to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you'" (Exodus 3:14 HCSB)

The first thing to note is that "I am who I am" is a mistranslation. The original Hebrew phrase used in this verse is ehyeh asher ehyeh, and most scholars agree a better rendering would be something to the effect of "I will be who I will be". The REV (Revised English Version), which began its revision of the American Standard Version in the year 2000, renders the verse as such:

"And God said to Moses, “I Will Be Who I Will Be.” And he said, “You are to tell the children of Israel this: ‘I Will Be has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14 REV)

The Stone Edition Tanach renders it in like fashion:

"God said to Moses, 'I Shall Be as I Shall Be,' and He said, 'Thus shall you say to the Children of Israel, "I Shall Be has sent me to you."' (Exodus 3:14 Stone Edition Tanach)

And, the JPS Tanach leaves the term untranslated so as to preserve the original Hebrew.

"And God said to Moses, 'Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh.' He continued, 'Thus shall you say to the Israelites, "Ehyeh sent me to you."' (Exodus 3:14 JPS Tanakh)

But as is recognized in the commentary on this verse, "I will be who I will be" would be the most accurate English translation of the phrase.

“Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh: variously translated, ‘I Am That I Am,’ ‘I Am Who I Am,’ ‘I Will Be What I Will Be,’ and many other renderings. The meaning of the Hebrew is enigmatic; it suggests that God’s nature defies human understanding, and implies God’s dynamic, ongoing presence with Israel.” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 111)

The crux of the argument is that in John 8:58, the Greek term for "I am" that Yeshua uses is ego eimi (ἐγώ εἰμι), and many claim this is the equivalent term the LXX uses instead of ehyeh asher ehyeh in Exodus 3:14. However, this claim is simply incorrect and is based on a misunderstanding of the LXX rendering. The complete phrase that the LXX uses for Exodus 3:14 is ego eimi ho'on (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν), which translates as "I am (ego eimi) the Existing one (ho'on)". This complete phrase would be the closest 1:1 equivalent the Greek language offers for ehyeh asher ehyeh. However, simply saying "I am" (ego eimi) is not a claim to divinity or a claim to being God. The latter half of the phrase, which is just ho'on, is what makes Hashem's statement in Exodus 3:14 in the LXX a claim to deity—a claim to the eternal divine nature.

This is further demonstrated by the ending of Exodus 3:14, which shortens the phrase "I will be who I will be" (ehyeh asher ehyeh) to just "I will be" (ehyeh).

"And he said, “You are to tell the children of Israel this: ‘I Will Be (ehyeh) has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14)

However, in the LXX version of Exodus 3:14, the full phrase ego eimi ho'on is shortened to just ho'on.

"And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "The One who is (ho'on) has sent me to you."' (Exodus 3:14 LXX)

If the former half of the Greek phrase, just ego eimi, were the claim of divinity, than we would expect it to appear in the second half of Exodus 3:14. However, it does not. Instead, we see ho'on. So, if Yeshua's goal was to identify himself as the eternal God of Exodus 3, we would expect him to use the full phrase ego eimi ho'on in John 8:58. But since he only says ego eimi, a statement of divinity is not being made. Ego eimi is simply an identifying phrase that is context-dependent for understanding the claim being made.

2. Even if we were to grant the presupposition that ego eimi as itself is a claim to divinity, than this would make numerous other people in the New Testament equal to God. A very problematic issue for Trinitarian theology - that holds that only three persons share the deity of "God".  In the very next chapter (John 9:9), we read about the man born blind who identified himself as "I am the man" (ego eimi). The simple fact that in John 9:9 the phrase ego eimi is translated as "I am the man", yet in John 8:58 it is translated as just "I am", displays the inherent Trinitarian bias most translators of the bible have concerning this phrase. In Acts 10:21, Peter uses the phrase when he greets the men sent by Cornelius,

"I am the one (ego eimi) you are looking for" (Acts 10:21)

And finally, Paul uses "ego eimi" referring to himself during his defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26:29, 

"I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am (ego eimi)" (Acts 26:29)

So, if we were to grant the fact that when Jesus identified himself as "ego eimi", this made him equal to God. Then this would also make the man born blind, Peter, and Paul equal to God. Which is something no Christian would agree too. 

3. Since we have established that Jesus saying "I am he", was not a personal identification with God. Who was Jesus identifying himself as? We need only allow the Lord Jesus to explain it himself, as he used "I am he" (ego eimi) several times in the gospel of John. Listed below are numerous examples,

"I am(ego eimi) the bread of life," Jesus told them. "No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again" (John 6:35)

Then Jesus spoke to them again: "I am (ego eimi) the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8:12)

"Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am He (ego eimi), you will die in your sins" (John 8:24)

"So Jesus said to them, 'When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He (ego eimi), and that I do nothing on My own. But just as the Father taught Me, I say these things'" (John 8:28)

"The woman said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming' (who is called Christ). 'When He comes, He will explain everything to us.' 'I am He (ego eimi),' Jesus told her, 'the One speaking to you'" (John 4:25-26)

Jesus Christ identified himself as the bread of life, the light of the world, the one we must believe in for salvation, and most importantly - The Messiah, God's anointed one. Exactly what the apostle John concluded his gospel with, bidding us to believe.

"But these are written so that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that by believing you will have life in his name." (John 20:31)

4. Some Trinitarians may propose that when Jesus said "I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am", he was implying that he pre-existed his birth - thus by extension making him God. This is a major pre-supposition that is not taught anywhere in scripture. Firstly, even if Jesus did pre-exist his birth. There is no reason to conclude this would make him equal to Hashem. Secondly, the New Testament makes no claim that Jesus did pre-exist his birth as a personal being. In Jewish thought, there are two methods by which someone or something can pre-exist. That being, physically/materially pre-existing, or existing as foreknowledge in the mind of Hashem. The Talmud actually outlines seven things which pre-existed the genesis creation, one of them being: The Name of The Messiah. Which is exactly what the clear message of the New Testament is. That Yeshua was always part of God's plan, but was only revealed in these last days. 

"Seven things were created before the world was created: the Torah, repentance, the Garden of Eden, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah." (Talmud Pesachim 54a)

"Though He was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail Him to a cross and kill Him" (Acts 2:23 HCSB.)

"He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you" (1 Peter 1:20 HCSB)

"Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son." (Hebrews 1:1-2a HCSB)

All of these references clearly relay the doctrine that Yeshua did not physically pre-exist his birth, but rather spiritually in the mind and plan of Hashem. Furthermore, the Midrash expounds upon this concept of "conception" in God's mind verses actual material creation. Where it is stated that although Adam was created first, Abraham was conceived in God's mind before him.

"[The Lord God formed] the man [ha’adam]” – due to the merit of Abraham. Rabbi Levi said: “(the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriah-arba); He was the greatest man [ha’adam] among the giants” (Joshua 14:15) – this is Abraham. Why does it call him great? It is because he was worthy of being created before Adam. However, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Perhaps he will bring ruin [to the world] and there will be no one to come along to remedy [the damage] that he had wrought. Rather, I will create Adam first, as if he brings ruin [to the world through sin], Abraham will come along and remedy what he had wrought.’ Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: The way of the world is that if a person has a sturdy beam, where does he place it? Is it not in the middle of the Great Hall, so that it can support the [weaker] beams that are in front of it and the beams that are behind it? So, too, why did the Holy One blessed be He create Abraham in the middle of the generations? So that he would support the [unworthy] generations that are before him and the generations that are after him. The word hagadol (הגדול) used to mean 'greater' here is also often used to mean "older". Therefore Abraham was not "older" than Adam, and yet the rabbis understand that it was Abraham who was in the mind of God prior to Adam. Abraham having been conceived first, should have been before Adam, and since Abraham was worthy of being prior to Adam, he is considered to be older than Adam. Therefore Abraham was indeed the הגדול (oldest/greatest) of the four men buried in Kiriath-arba.  (Genesis Rabbah 14:6)

In this way, Abraham could rightfully say, "Before Adam was, I am". As God created Adam with Abraham in mind, who was destined to be greater than him. However, only someone greater than Abraham could say that he was before Abraham. God conceives the greater before the lesser, but gives life to the lesser before the greater. The first will be last, and the last will be first. 

"The last shall be first, and the first last" (Matthew 20:16)

Additionally, creation itself speaks of this; the animals were made before man, but man was surely the reason for creation, not the animals. Man was given authority to rule over the animals (Genesis 1:26). This is why Yeshua says, "before Abraham was" rather than "before Adam was", since many were greater than Adam, but only one would be greater than Abraham. 

After a careful reading of the passage, it is clear that the Jews completely misunderstood Jesus.

"Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced." The Jews replied, "You aren’t fifty years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:56-58) 

Jesus did not say that he himself saw Abraham, or that Abraham even saw him. What Jesus claimed, was that Abraham saw his day. How did Abraham see the "day of Christ"? Because, much like the other prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, David, etc), God revealed to Abraham that the day of the Messiah was coming. The day that all the nations would be blessed in "his seed", the Messianic era. And Abraham saw this, and he rejoiced. As the author of Hebrews puts it, Abraham and the patriarchs died in faith, looking forward to the future redemption that would be in Messiah:

"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith even Sarah herself, when she was barren, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had promised was faithful. Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, and greeted them" (Hebrews 11:8-13)

In conclusion, it is evident that the author of John's clear message in chapter 8 is not that Jesus is God or an angelic being who took on flesh, but rather that Jesus is the greatest of all the prophets, even greater than Father Abraham. And, that before Abraham even existed, Jesus was already determined by God to be the eternal redemptive plan for the salvation of humanity.