I AM WHO I AM

Exodus 3:14,15

"And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."" Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall 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, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.""


The literal Hebrew for "I AM WHO I AM" is "Eheyeh asher Eheyeh." It has been translated a few different ways throughout history, but our current translation of "I AM WHO I AM" is just as illustrative as any of the other translations, so let's stick with it for the purposes of this post.


We get the name "Yahweh" from this verse. The Hebrew for "I AM" sounds like the name "Yahweh." (I spent about 20 minutes typing a few paragraphs about different verb tenses and how they relate to the original Hebrew from which we derive the name Yahweh, but it's not like I can read Hebrew or anything, so just take the word of the 5 commentaries I read.)

If you are anything like me, you have spent some time being confused about the difference between the name "Yahweh" and the name "Jehovah." I understood that they both meant the same thing, but I wasn't really sure why there needed to be two different names with the same meaning. Let me see if I can explain it to you in the way that finally made sense to me.

The Jews were sort of superstitious about God's name. They considered it too holy to pronounce out loud. So instead of pronouncing "Yahweh" they would substitute the name "'adonay" which is translated "my Lord." In our English translations of the Bible, whenever you see the word "LORD" spelled in all capital letters, it means that the original language for that verse uses the name "Yahweh." Now to me, the use of the word "LORD" in place of "Yahweh" is unnecessary. Because the word "Lord," not spelled in all capital letters, can mean all kinds of things apart from "God." It can simply mean, "one with authority." It seems to me that all these different uses of the word "Lord" and "LORD" just muddy up the waters of identification. But, we seem to be stuck with it.

So, what does any of that have to do with the difference between "Yahweh" and "Jehovah?" Well, it all has to do with that Jewish reluctance to pronounce God's name. Because the Jews were so wary of saying the name Yahweh out loud, they added the verbs for the word "adonay" (remember, this word means Lord) in their written texts wherever the name Yahweh appeared. That way, as a Jew was reading out loud, he would be reminded not to pronounce the holy name, and would instead say "adonay."

Then in 1530 a man named William Tyndale combined the word "Yahweh" with the vowel sounds in "adonay" and the hybrid name of "Jehovah" was born. So really, Yahweh and Jehovah both mean the same thing, and they are both referring to God as He revealed Himself in Exodus 3:14. My personal preference is the name "Yahweh"over the name "Jehovah," because it seems closer to the original name that God revealed. But I don't think it is worth getting all worked up over.

So why does any of this matter, aside from just being interesting? Well, there is one very important reason that we should understand the name Yahweh, or I AM.

You may have heard it said that Jesus never explicitly called Himself God. But the truth is that He did, on more than one occasion, and the Jews that He said it to understood exactly what He meant. We don't always see it clearly because it gets somewhat lost in translation.

One of the most explicit examples is in John 8:58, 59:

"Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."

It is not really that clear to us in English, but the two different verbs used when Jesus referred to Abraham, and then to Himself, imply two very different things. The verb used to describe Abraham means "was brought into being." The phrase that Jesus used of Himself means, "I exist." On the face of it, that might not seem like such a radical statement, to say "I exist." But Jesus was applying the name Yahweh to Himself when He said those words, and his audience, made up of Jews, understood His meaning perfectly.

That is why in the very next verse, the Jews picked up stones and sought to kill Jesus. They were infuriated that He claimed to be Yahweh.

It is pretty interesting to note that Jesus used the phrase "I am" several times in a way that indicated He was associating Himself with the name "Yahweh." The problem is, that when those verses get translated into English, the word "he" is usually added to help us understand the sentence. But, if you ask me, the real meaning is being obscured by the apparent meaning. Now, the translators will put the word "he" in italics, or some other color or font, as a way of indicating that the word has been added to help us understand the sentence. But, I'm afraid that your average Bible reader just skims over such textual nuances. For instance, here is exactly how John 8:28 appears in my Bible:

"Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things."

Notice the two words that appear in italics: He and that. Those italics mean that the words have been inserted during translation. Adding those words does help us to read the sentence in grammatically correct English. But, in my humble little opinion, the most profound implications are stripped out.

Just for fun, look up the following verses in your own Bible and take note of the words that appear in italics: John 8:24 and John 18:4-6.

It kind of reminds you to pay closer attention when you read the Bible, doesn't it?