Grafted-In Ministries

John Schoenheit

“I am the one.” Many Trinitarians argue that this verse states that when Yeshua said “I am” that he was claiming to be Elohim, (i.e., Yehovah, the Elohim who revealed Himself to Moses in the Old Testament). But saying “I am” does not mean a person is claiming to be Elohim. The Greek that is translated as “I am” is egō eime (ἐγὼ εἰμί), and it was a common Greek way for a person to identify themself. For example, only ten verses after Yeshua said, egō eime (“I am”) in John 8:58, the man who had been born blind identified himself by saying exactly what Yeshua said; egō eime (“I am;” John 9:9). Thus, Yeshua and the man born blind both identified themselves by saying egō eime (“I am”), only ten verses apart.

Sadly, unless a person looks at the Greek text, he will never see that “I am” was a common Greek way for a man or woman to identify themselves. In what seems to be a clear case of Trinitarian bias in translating the Greek text, when Yeshua says, egō eime (“I am”) in John 8:58, our English Bibles read, “I am.” But when Yeshua says egō eime in other places in the New Testament, or other people say egō eime (“I am”), the Greek phrase gets translated differently. So, for example, some English translations of what the man born blind said are: “I am the one” (CJB; HCSB; NASB; NET); “I am he” (BBE; ERV; KJV; YLT); “It is I” (Darby); and, “I am the man” (ESV; NIV). The only commonly used English Bible that has “I am” in John 9:9 is the New American Bible.

There are many other examples of the phrase egō eime not being translated as “I am,” but being translated as “I am he” or some other similar phrase. For example, Yeshua taught that people would come in his name, saying egō eime (“I am he”) and will deceive many (Mark 13:6; Luke 21:8; HCSB; ESV; NAB; NET; NIV).

Yeshua said egō eime (“I am”), in a large number of places, but it is usually translated “I am he,” “It is I,” or “I am the one,” which are good translations because, as was stated above, egō eime was commonly used by people to identify themselves. Examples of Yeshua using egō eime include: John 13:19; 18:5, 6, and 18:8; Yeshua identifying himself to the apostles on the boat: Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:50; and John 6:20; and Yeshua identifying himself to the Jews, saying egō eime, translated “I am the one I claim to be” (NIV84, John 8:24 and 8:28.). All these places where Yeshua says egō eime but it is not translated “I am” shows that the translators understand that just saying egō eime does not mean the person is claiming to be Elohim.

At the Last Supper, the disciples were trying to find out who would deny Messiah. They used egō eime as the standard Greek identifier. Yeshua had said one of them would betray him, and one after another they said to him, mētiegō eime, Kurie (literally, “not I am, Lord;” Matt. 26:22 and 26:25.) The apostles were not trying to deny that they were Elohim by saying, “Not I am.” They were simply using as the common personal identifier egō eime and saying, “Surely not I, Lord”

In Acts 26:29, when Paul was defending himself in court, he said, “I would to Elohim, that …all who hear me this day, might become such as I am [egō eime].” Obviously, Paul was not claiming to be Elohim. There are more uses of the phrase “I am,” and especially so if we realize that what has been covered above is only the nominative singular pronoun and the first person singular verb that we have just covered. The point is this: “I am” was a common way of designating oneself, and it did not mean you were claiming to be Elohim. C. K. Barrett writes:

Egō eimi [“I am”] does not identify Yeshua with Elohim, but it does draw attention to him in the strongest possible terms. “I am the one—the one you must look at, and listen to, if you would know Elohim.”a

A major problem that occurs when we misunderstand a verse is that the correct meaning goes unnoticed, and that certainly is the case with John 8:58. If the phrase egō eime in John 8:58 were translated “I am he” or “I am the one,” like all the other places where Yeshua says it, instead of coming to the erroneous conclusion that Yeshua is Elohim, we would more easily see that Yeshua was speaking of himself as the Messiah of Elohim who was foretold throughout the Old Testament.

Trinitarians assert that because Yeshua was “before” Abraham, Yeshua must have been Elohim. But Yeshua did not literally exist before his conception in Mary, but he “existed” in the plan of Elohim, and was foretold in prophecy. Prophecies of the coming redeemer start as early as Genesis 3:15, which was before Abraham. Yeshua was “the one,” the Savior, long before Abraham. The Church did not have to literally exist as people for Elohim to choose us before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), we existed in the mind of Elohim. Similarly, Yeshua did not exist as an actual physical person during the time of Abraham, but he “existed” in the mind of Elohim as Elohim’s plan for the redemption of man.

It is also important to notice that many people misread John 8:58 and think it says Yeshua saw Abraham. We must read the Bible carefully because it says no such thing. It does not say Yeshua saw Abraham, it says Abraham saw the Day of Messiah. A careful reading of the context of the verse shows that Yeshua was speaking of “existing” in Elohim’s foreknowledge. John 8:56 says, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad.” This verse says that Abraham “saw” the day of Messiah (the day of Messiah is usually considered by theologians to be the day when Messiah conquers the earth and sets up his kingdom—and it is still future). That would fit with what the book of Hebrews says about Abraham: “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is Elohim” (Heb. 11:10). The Bible says Abraham “saw” a city that is still future. In what sense could Abraham have seen something that was future? Abraham “saw” the day of Messiah because Elohim told him it was coming, and Abraham “saw” it by faith. Although Abraham saw the day of Messiah by faith, that day existed in the mind of Elohim long before Abraham (cp. Gen. 3:15). Thus, in the context of Elohim’s plan existing from the beginning, Messiah certainly was “before” Abraham. Messiah was the plan of Elohim for man’s redemption long before Abraham lived.

Yeshua did not claim to be Elohim in John 8:58. In very strong terms, however, he claimed to be the Messiah, the one whose day Abraham saw by faith. Yeshua said that before Abraham was, “I am the one,” meaning, even before Abraham existed, Yeshua was foretold to be the promised Messiah. Yeshua gave the Jews many opportunities to see and believe that he was in fact the Messiah of Elohim, but they were blind to that fact, and crucified him.

We see a good example of “I am” being used as a way to identify oneself but without any claim of being Elohim when we compare Mark 13:6 with Matthew 24:5. In these parallel records, Yeshua is in the last week of his life, and he is on the Mount of Olives teaching disciples. According to Mark, Yeshua said, “Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am,’ and will lead many astray.” However, Matthew records the same incident as Yeshua saying, “many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will mislead many.” In the context of the end times, false Messiahs could identify themselves simply as “I am,” but the meaning is clarified in Matthew, “I am the Messiah.” In this case, we can see that “I am” means “I am the Messiah.”