The verse in question reads: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

1) Christians often point out the Jew’s reaction to John 5:58.

“Look at the Jews’ reactions. They knew he was claiming to be god! That’s why they tried to stone him. That proves he said he was god”.

However, it is unimportant what the Jews thought. Because,

a) We are looking at what Jesus SAID, not what other people THOUGHT HE SAID…

b) The Jews constantly misunderstood him throughout the gospels. For example, when Jesus said “eat my flesh and drink my blood”, the Jews, even Jesus’ disciples, all became very confused.

2) A Christian might say that “Jesus said ‘I am’…therefore he claimed to be Yahweh”.

The verse says:
Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

a) If Jesus was claiming to be Yahweh, why didn’t he say “i am Yahweh”? Why did he instead say “I am”? How does saying “I am”, mean he is claiming to be Yahweh? Maybe he’s claiming to be someone else? Perhaps Moses. In-fact, how do we even know he’s claiming to be someone? That verse doesn’t look like he’s claiming to be someone, let alone God Almighty. If someone says to you “I am”, do you automatically think “He’s claiming to be Yahweh?”, No.

b) Assuming that Jesus was claiming to be Yahweh, then if Jesus was saying that he is Yahweh then the name would be untranslated.

This example explains what I mean: Names often have meaning. The name “stephen” means “crown” in Hebrew. If i want to say “my name is Stephen” or “i am Stephen”, then I say “I am stephen”…i don’t say “i am crown”. You don’t translate names. So, if Jesus is claiming to be god, he would say “i am Yahweh”, not “i am”. Jesus didn’t say “Yahweh”, he said “i am”.

Jesus doesn’t say “I am Yahweh”. He simply says “I am”. There is no “I AM [Yahweh]” and no “MY NAME IS [Yahweh]“. If I say “Moses”…am i claiming to be Moses? No: I simply said his name. So why is Jesus apparently claiming divinity, because he says “i am”?

c) If Jesus is claiming to be Yahweh by translating it, why didn’t he say all of the meaning of the name ‘Yahweh’? The meaning of Yahweh is “I am who I am” or “I will be who I will be”? Why did he say “I am” instead of the proper meaning?

d) If Jesus is claiming to be Yahweh, then (remembering part b and ignoring part c), the verse actually reads:
Jesus said:”Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, Yahweh” (John 8:58).

Points to notice:
-Anyone capable of speaking English will tell you that isn’t even a proper sentence.
-Remember to notice how Jesus doesn’t say “I AM (yahweh)”. He simply says “Yahweh”. There is no “I AM [Yahweh]” and no “MY NAME IS [Yahweh]“. If I say “Moses”…am i claiming to be Moses? No: I simply said his name.

3) So what is the actual translation of this verse? The Greek words “ego eimi” are translated as “I Am”. However, the literal translation mentioned in the marginal notes of the New American Standard Bible reads; “I have been”.

Here are some translations which support this:

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
“Jesus says to them:”Most truly I say to you, Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.”

The New Testament Or Rather The New Covenant-S.Sharpe:
“I was before Abraham”.

A Bible, A New Translation- J.Moffatt:
“I existed before Abraham was born”

The New Testament in the Language of the Day-W.G.Beck:
“I was before Abraham”

The Simple English Bible:
“I was alive before Abraham was born”

The Twentieth Century New Testament:
“before Abraham existed I was”

The New Testament in the Language of the People- C.B.Williams:
“I existed before Abraham was born”

The Bible-An American Translation-E.Goodspeed(NT):
“I existed”

The Unvarnished New Testament-A.Gaus:
“I have already been”

The Authentic New Testament-H.J.Schonfield:
“I existed”

The Complete Gospels-R.J.Miller(Editor):
“I existed”

New American Standard Bible 1963-1970 editions:
“I have been”-

Why do all these Bible translate it as “was” or “have been”? This is because although the Greek is in the present tense, it is using the historical present. This is supported by Jesus saying he was in existence before Abraham. Read more on the issue of translation here and here.

4) a) Now let us consider the verse correctly translated; Will it make sense? “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came into being, I was”. Yes! It makes sense! Jesus is saying he was around (i.e. in existence) before Abraham. Whereas before, the sentence did not make sense at all.

A reminder: Jesus didn’t say “my name is” or “i am called or “i am”. And the correct translation is “i was”. If Jesus is claiming to be god, obviously he didn’t stop being god (‘was’).

b) A Christian might say “okay, okay, so Jesus was claiming to have existed before Abraham. Being eternal makes you God! Therefore Jesus was claiming to be god anyway! The Jews knew this. That’s why they tried to stone him”.
I have already responded to why it is unimportant to what the Jews thought. And the Christian has changed what he/she thinks the Jewish reaction to Jesus’ words was.

c) Claiming to be around before someone, doesn’t mean you’re eternal. For example, I was before my son. I’m not eternal because i’m around longer than someone. So just because Jesus was claiming to be around before Abraham, doesn’t mean Jesus is eternal.

Even if I claim to be around before someone who has been dead for centuries. It doesn’t mean i’m eternal. It means i was around before that person. God could have created me before that person. So i’m not eternal, but i’m still around before that person.

d) Even if Jesus was claiming to be eternal. Does this make him god? No. Because according to the Bible, King Melchizedek of Salem was an ETERNAL priest with no records of his beginning and ending. (Hebrews 7:1-3)
So if Jesus is claiming to be god because he is claiming to be eternal, than Melchizedek IS also god, because he is eternal.

5) Although I have said the Jewish reaction is unimportant, and it isn’t, I will consider the Jewish reaction just to complete this article.
Christians claim the Jews wanted to stone Jesus for claiming to be Yahweh. When we consider the passage, this obviously isn’t true.

56 [Jesus said] “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham came into being, I was!”
59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Points to notice:
-Jesus is talking about Abraham being happy at seeing Jesus’ day (verse 56)
-The Jews respond that Jesus isn’t old enough to have seen Abraham (verse57)
-Jesus swears that he was around before Abraham (verse 58)
-The Jews take offence for whatever reason and try to stone him (verse 59)

Obviously this supports my earlier point that Jesus is claiming to be around before Abraham. It also supports the correct translation by context of the passage. It does not support the incorrect (it’s “i was” not “i am because of the context and historical present) and twisted (it doesn’t make sense) trinitarian translation…because if Jesus is claiming to be god, then why did he do so randomly during a conversion about Jesus having seen Abraham? This is further supported by verse 58, where Jesus says “before Abraham”.

Conclusion
Jesus said he had seen Abraham. The Jews said he wasn’t even fifty years old (and Abraham had been dead for centuries…to have seen Abraham, Jesus would have had to be very old). Notice the Jews did not say it was impossible for him to be centuries old nor take offence; only that they knew he wasn’t centuries old (Jesus is part of the community so they know him and he’s grown up before their eyes). Jesus responds by saying he was around before Abraham.

Jesus did not claim to be Yahweh!

©2012 Path of Islam. All Rights Reserved.