Exodus 3:14

14 God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.

Exodus 3:14 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 3:14

And God said unto Moses, I am that I am
This signifies the real being of God, his self-existence, and that he is the Being of beings; as also it denotes his eternity and immutability, and his constancy and faithfulness in fulfilling his promises, for it includes all time, past, present, and to come; and the sense is, not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am. The Platonists and Pythagoreans seem to have borrowed their (to on) from hence, which expresses with them the eternal and invariable Being; and so the Septuagint version here is (o wn) : it is said ^F26, that the temple of Minerva at Sais, a city of Egypt, had this inscription on it,

``I am all that exists, is, and shall be.''

And on the temple of Apollo at Delphos was written (ei) , the contraction of (eimi) , "I am" ^F1. Our Lord seems to refer to this name, ( John 8:58 ) , and indeed is the person that now appeared; and the words may be rendered, "I shall be what I shall be" ^F2 the incarnate God, God manifest in the flesh: thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto
you;
or as the Targum of Jonathan has it,

``I am he that is, and that shall be.''

This is the name Ehjeh, or Jehovah, Moses is empowered to make use of, and to declare, as the name of the Great God by whom he was sent; and which might serve both to encourage him, and strengthen the faith of the Israelites, that they should be delivered by him.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F26 Phutarch. de Iside & Osir.
F1 Plato in Timaeo.
F2 (hyha rva hyha) "ero qui ero", Pagninus, Montanus, Fagius, Vatablus.

Exodus 3:14 In-Context

12 And he said to him: I will be with thee; and this thou shalt have for a sign that I have sent thee: When thou shalt have brought my people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacrifice to God upon this mountain.

13 Moses said to God: Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they shall say to me: What is his name? What shall I say to them?

14 God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.

15 And God said again to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me to you; this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

16 Go and gather together the ancients of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying: Visiting I have visited you; and I have seen all that hath befallen you in Egypt.