Exodus 3:14

14 The Lord said to Moses, I am that I am. (And) The Lord said, Thus thou shalt say to the sons of Israel, He that is, 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.

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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 the Lord said to Moses, I shall be with thee, and thou shalt have this sign, that I have sent thee; when thou hast led out my people from Egypt, thou shalt offer to God on this hill (when thou hast led my people out of Egypt, thou shalt worship God here on this mountain).

13 Moses said to God, Lo! I shall go to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, [The] God of your fathers sent me to you; (and) if they shall say to me, What is his name, what shall I say to them?

14 The Lord said to Moses, I am that I am. (And) The Lord said, Thus thou shalt say to the sons of Israel, He that is, sent me to you.

15 And again God said to Moses, Thou shalt say these things to the sons of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, sent me to you; this name is to me without end, and this is my memorial in generation and into generation. (And then God said to Moses, Thou shalt say this to the Israelites, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, sent me to you; this is my name forever, and this is my title for all generations.)

16 Go thou, gather thou the elder men, that is, (the) judges, of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord God of your fathers appeared to me, (the) God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, and he said, I visiting have visited you, and I have seen all things that befelled to you in Egypt;