Trinitarians often seem to imply, especially when they are claiming that Jesus was intentionally invoking the divine name at John 8:58, that the divine name given to Moses in this verse is simply ego eimi. However, the name appears in Greek as follows:

ego eimi ho on

These words essentially mean "I am the being" or "I am the [self] existence" or "I am the existent one" or "I am He who is" or something similar.

The original Hebrew is as follows:

Ehyeh asher ehyeh

Ehyeh is usually translated in Scripture as "I will be."

Moreover, the Greek text of Exodus does not go on to say, "Ego eimi has sent me to you." Rather, it says, "Ho on has sent me to you."

While ego eimi is very much like our English words "I am," it was also used to identify one's self much like we say, "It is me," in English. In other words, the expression was used in ways by the Greeks which we do not use in English.

John 9:9

Some said, "It is he"; others said, "No, but he is like him." [The Blind Man] said, "ego eimi" (I am).

Last Updated: January 8, 2014.