"I Am" Sayings

Occurrences in Scripture

The expression refers to sayings in which Jesus Christ spoke of himself with the words "I am …." They appear mainly in the Gospel of John, and the underlying Greek is ego eimi (ἐγώ εἰμι).

Sayings with a predicate

In these sayings, "I am" is followed by a word or phrase (a predicate) stating what Jesus is. They are commonly grouped as the following seven:

• The bread of life: John 6:35. It follows the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand.
• The light of the world: John 8:12; 9:5. It is linked to the healing of the man born blind in chapter 9.
• The door of the sheep: John 10:7, 10:9.
• The good shepherd: John 10:11, 14.
• The resurrection and the life: John 11:25. It occurs within the account of the raising of Lazarus.
• The way, the truth, and the life: John 14:6.
• The true vine: John 15:1, 5.

Sayings without a predicate

In other sayings the phrase stands alone, without a predicate, meaning "I am" or "I am he." Representative examples are John 8:24, 28, 8:58; 13:19; and 18:5–6. Those who heard Jesus say, "Before Abraham was, I am" (8:58), took up stones to cast at him (8:59). In 18:6 the band that had come to arrest Jesus, upon hearing these words, went backward and fell to the ground. The same expression also occurs in the Synoptic Gospels, in Mark 6:50 (walking on the water) and 14:62 (the trial before the high priest). The New Korean Revised Version renders the phrase differently according to context—roughly as "I am he," "I am," or "It is I"—so readers of the Korean Bible may not readily notice that the same expression is involved.

Original Language and Background

Ego means "I," and eimi means "I am" or "I exist." Because a Greek verb by itself indicates the person of its subject, adding ego places emphasis on the subject, conveying something like "I myself."

The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, renders "I AM THAT I AM" in Exodus 3:14 as ego eimi ho on. It likewise uses ego eimi for God's self-identification "I am he" in passages such as Isaiah 43:10. The declaration "I am Alpha and Omega" (Revelation 1:8) is also discussed alongside these sayings as having the same form (Alpha and Omega).

Interpretation and Points of Debate

Many interpreters connect the absolute ego eimi with God's self-revelation in Exodus and Isaiah. On this reading, the expression serves in the Gospel of John to reveal the deity of Jesus. The major Protestant denominations in Korea, as well as the Catholic and Orthodox churches, cite these passages as part of the scriptural basis for the doctrines of Christology and the Trinity.

At the same time, ego eimi was also used in everyday Greek simply to mean "It's me." The healed blind man's words "I am he" in John 9:9 use the same expression. Scholars therefore read each instance in context, distinguishing cases that carry a divine meaning from simple self-identification. Jehovah's Witnesses render John 8:58 in their own translation, the New World Translation, in the sense of "I have been," and they maintain that the verse does not refer to the name of God.

The grouping of "seven" sayings is not stated in the text itself. It is an arrangement made by interpreters, and the method of counting varies somewhat among scholars. The sayings are often paired with the seven signs of the Gospel of John, but only the bread of life, the light of the world, and the resurrection and the life are directly connected with a sign in the text.

In the Korean Church

The seven sayings are frequently used as themes for sermon series and Bible study materials. "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25–26) is commonly read at funeral services and memorial services. "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6) is often quoted in evangelism and is also frequently raised in discussions of religious pluralism.