Question about the I Am passage

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puritanpilgrim

Puritan Board Junior
I am working on a sermon over Exodus 3:13-22


Is there any connection between Moses stating in verse 11, "Who am I"


And God stating in verse 13, "I am who I am"?


I don't want to pull something out that isn't there, but I'm wondering if the two verses are standing as a contrast. I don't know Hebrew, so I can't go back to the language to see.


Exodus 3:11-14 11 But Moses said to God, "(a)Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 And He said, "Certainly (a)I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: (b)when you have brought the people out of Egypt, (c)you shall (1)worship God at this mountain." 13 Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "(1a)I AM WHO (1)I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, '(1)I AM has sent me to you.'"
 
There aren't any linguistic parallels present, no common terms (in the Hebrew).

Moses (v11) uses two words, "who?" and "I" (pronoun); the copula (am) being supplied.

God speaks (v14) using simply the copulative verb, "to be," Hebrew verb forms having a whole conjugation system supplying such info as person (1,2,3), sing/plur, gender (M/F).
 
I notice there are different renderings of that depending upon which version its taken from . The ASV, RV and KJV for example have Moses saying "who am I?" and the Lord saying "I AM THAT I AM".
Others such as the ISV, GNB and many others saying , Moses "Who am I?" and the Lord saying "I AM who I Am" or "I Am what I Am".
Is it just me or does "I AM THAT I AM" sound so much more profound than "I Am who I Am"?
 
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