'I AM' vs 'I am' between old and new testament.....significance?

[postmanpat]

Hello all,

I am hoping this question isn't too simplistic in nature. I am interested to know if there is any significance to the words 'I AM' spoken by God and written in upper case letters in the old testament. However, in the new testament when Jesus says 'I am' this is no longer written in upper case. I am interested as this may prove a strong foundation for me to grasp the Trinity.

I have been struggling to find an answer to this question for a while now.

Thanks heaps in advance

Pat

 

[TOG]

Hello all,

I am hoping this question isn't too simplistic in nature. I am interested to know if there is any significance to the words 'I AM' spoken by God and written in upper case letters in the old testament. However, in the new testament when Jesus says 'I am' this is no longer written in upper case. I am interested as this may prove a strong foundation for me to grasp the Trinity.

I have been struggling to find an answer to this question for a while now.

Thanks heaps in advance

Pat

The difference is only in the way the English translators rendered these words. There was no difference between upper and lower case letters, either in the Greek or Hebrew manuscripts.

The TOG​

 

[Eugene]

Hi postmanpat, I'm supposing you are in the Postal Service which I retired from. Welcome.
As for your question there is other such usages with capitol font used for Jesus when referring to Him as Lord. Throughout the New Testament Jesus is addressed as the Lord Jesus. I have thought that it is due to the fact He became man as we read in Php 2:6-7 even though He is also Emmanuel; God with us.
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

When we go back into the Old Testament Jesus speaks of Himself using the official name of God which is transliterated as Jehovah, and written as LORD in Isa 43:11. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. To make clear that statement we can look at Isa 40:3 also where it is prophesied that of John the Baptist: The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD (Jesus is Jehovah), make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

I will add that Strong's concordance states of Jesus' name: Jesus = "Jehovah is salvation"
Blessings in Christ Jesus.

 

[YogiD2]

Thanks Eugene. I was thinking along those lines as well.

 

[for_his_glory]

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The God of the OT, "I AM" is the very Spirit that is God. The "I am" in the NT is that of Christ being that same Spirit that is God (word of God), but manifested in the flesh to become our physical prophet/teacher and made a final offering for sin while walking on the earth. The Holy Spirit is also that very same Spirit of God given to us to dwell in us to teach us all things of Gods word, John 14:26.

The trinity that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit is all Gods Spirit, but manifested in various ways for us to hear what God has already spoken in His word.

 

[postmanpat]

Thanks a tremendous amount for all of you input. It's made things a lot clearer.

Much appreciated

Pat

 

[Willie T]

If I may, I would highly recommend a small online e-book by Robert M. Bowman & J. Ed Komoszewski, entitled, Putting Jesus in His Place, The Case for The Deity of Christ. I don't remember if it was free or not, but I'm so cheap that it probably was... I hardly ever pay more than $1.99 for Kindle books... and then, not too often. At any rate, I think you can download a no-cost "sample" version to see if you think it would be something you're looking for.

This little book leaves hardly a stone unturned when ferreting out just who Jesus really was, and IS.

 

[brother Paul]

Hello all,

I am hoping this question isn't too simplistic in nature. I am interested to know if there is any significance to the words 'I AM' spoken by God and written in upper case letters in the old testament. However, in the new testament when Jesus says 'I am' this is no longer written in upper case. I am interested as this may prove a strong foundation for me to grasp the Trinity.

I have been struggling to find an answer to this question for a while now.

Thanks heaps in advance

Pat

In the pre-Masoretic (even the Allepo Text) the Hebrew is all uppercase and there are no vowel marks...so because much more modern translators tried to emphasize God's uniqueness by the application of upper case verses lower case...that is actually moot!

 

[turnorburn]

Say Willie is this the same Robert M Bowman the wrote a piece called (The Call To Unity)

tob

 

[eddif]

I like creation.
The sun : provider of all light (Father)
The moon : reflector of light (Son)
Light : very essence of power that gives life (Holy Spirit)

Earth is the physical place that benefits from sun, moon, light. We are the people who benefit from :
Father
Son
Holy Spirit

eddif

 

[rthom7]

Eugene that was so well said....I wish all could see Hebrew that well....yes the I AM is a very significant thing in Hebrew, and as a rule we should never say "I am" ourselves...it means "HE who Exists" and GOD has always existed and exists for us as our redeemer, shepherd and shield. When Jesus spoke the Hebrew words "I AM" he was speaking himself as YAHWEH....

Shalom

 

[eddif]

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The God of the OT, "I AM" is the very Spirit that is God. The "I am" in the NT is that of Christ being that same Spirit that is God (word of God), but manifested in the flesh to become our physical prophet/teacher and made a final offering for sin while walking on the earth. The Holy Spirit is also that very same Spirit of God given to us to dwell in us to teach us all things of Gods word, John 14:26.

The trinity that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit is all Gods Spirit, but manifested in various ways for us to hear what God has already spoken in His word.

Your post is great. I have been aware of it for some time. I hope not to detract from it.

Hebrews chapter 1 does much the same thing as the John quotes.
Hebrews 1:1
Mentions prophets (using the word) as one of the ways god spoke to the fathers.

Hebrews 1:2
Says in these last days God has spoken by his Son, who is the appointed heir of all things ____

Hebrews just goes on talking of creation, angels, etc., and makes a great supporting passage. John stresses the words, and Hebrews stresses who used the words.

On a lesser note:
The sun is gas, fire, purity, etc., ( no one can look in to the sun)

The moon is a reflection of the sun. It is solid and approachable. ( Jesus said nothing except what the Father gave him to say).

The light is the very power of the sun (Holy Spirit is the power of God).

Father, Son, Holy Spirit were at creation creating the imagery we see.
Romans 1:19-20
Tells us we have no excuse because of the symbolism supporting Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (trinity is just a word description used to point to Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

Let us not reject any aspect of God, and surely behold the fullness of the Godhead seen in Jesus.

eddif

 

[be-thankful-Col-3:15]

I think images can help us understand the Trinity.

Jesus calls God "our Father". He is not the Bank President, or the General, or the Judge, or Grocery Store Manager. He is our Father, because God is about family > "God is love" (in 1 John 4:8&16) . . . family caring and sharing love. And we need more than one Person, in order to have family loving

And He made man in His image, and mankind is three basic persons > father, child, and mother . . . persons who can be of family caring and sharing love . . . in the image of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

[Malachi]

Hello all, However, in the new testament when Jesus says 'I am' this is no longer written in upper case.

Pat,
It is indeed a shame that the KJV translators did not put the "I AM's" of Christ in upper case, especially when He stated uniquivocally "Before Abraham was, I AM" (Jn 8:58). "I AM" is the personal name of the Lord God Almighty, just as YHWH (or YAH) is His personal name.

What "I AM" means is "I will be what I will be, I am from everlasting to everlasting, I am the self-existing One, I am the one true living and eternal God, the Creator and the Savior".

Because God is who He is, He has multiple names and titles which display His multiple attributes and relationships with men. A study of "JEHOVAH" in the KJV with Strong's Exhaustive Concordance will give you tremendous insight into the nature and character of God, to whom be all glory, honor and praise eternally.

 

[YosefHayim]

Pat,
It is indeed a shame that the KJV translators did not put the "I AM's" of Christ in upper case, especially when He stated uniquivocally "Before Abraham was, I AM" (Jn 8:58). "I AM" is the personal name of the Lord God Almighty, just as YHWH (or YAH) is His personal name.

What "I AM" means is "I will be what I will be, I am from everlasting to everlasting, I am the self-existing One, I am the one true living and eternal God, the Creator and the Savior".

Because God is who He is, He has multiple names and titles which display His multiple attributes and relationships with men. A study of "JEHOVAH" in the KJV with Strong's Exhaustive Concordance will give you tremendous insight into the nature and character of God, to whom be all glory, honor and praise eternally.

I don't think it's really a big deal. I mean in the English text you can get the notion from the lower case. I mean, if he were to be grammatically correct, shouldn't he have said "Before I Abraham, I was"? Thus the change of tense should be an indication in itself. This is kinda like the big deal with the J, which was originally an I. (Jesus, Jehovah, etc.) Maybe God thought it would be funny to make his name Jehovah for a while so we could all laugh at the Jehovah's Witnesses. He was like "Gotcha! My name doesn't have a modern J sound".

He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Psalm 2

I watched two videos about the name of EHYEH ASHER EHYEH and YAHWEH.

This is my Name - יהוה and אהיה (Part 1 of 2) - YouTube
[URL='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51h8ssppxn0']This is my Name - יהוה and אהיה (Part 2 of 2) - YouTube[/URL]
After watching it, and seeing what you posted that we can get

I AM THAT I AM
I WILL BE THAT WHICH I WILL BE
I AM THE SELF EXISTING ONE

I wondered if this was a proper conclusion: if it can be I Am that I Am, and I Will be that which I will be; could we conclude this as evidence of Jesus' Divinity, as he said he is that WHICH IS AND WHICH WAS AND WHICH IS TO COME

 

[Brother Mike]

Hello all,

I am hoping this question isn't too simplistic in nature. I am interested to know if there is any significance to the words 'I AM' spoken by God and written in upper case letters in the old testament. However, in the new testament when Jesus says 'I am' this is no longer written in upper case. I am interested as this may prove a strong foundation for me to grasp the Trinity.

I have been struggling to find an answer to this question for a while now.

Thanks heaps in advance

Pat

I posted the Original Trinity Doctrine. Not the modern fakes, or all men have added to it to suite their own reliegious belief's but the real, and Original of 325ad.

You can read it here.
christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/the-real-trinity-please-stand-up.56980/

The I Am has nothing to do with understanding Trinity. The Doctrine was added in 325ad by the Roman Cathloic Church to defend the Deity of Jesus against a Movement Arius started saying that Jesus is just a created being.

This Website claims to be Trinity According to Moderator Free, and I believe Him. However the Person Posting the SOF (Statement of FAith) Copied the Oneness Doctrine down.

That should give an idea on how well the Trinity Doctine is understood by anyone.

Trinity States that Jesus is of the same essence as the Father, and is not a created being.

Jesus is the son of God, and like His FAther is the I am. Has always been with the father.

I quoted scripture and can back that up with scripture. I don't use Cathloic doctrines to back up truth.

Father and Son, Mentioned over 52 times together in Scriptures. Jesus is just like His Father, and was given all things by the FAther, who made the Worlds for him.

Mike don't play around when it comes to bible, Scripture only.

So, the both Son like the Father are the I am. Jesus having rule of all things from the Father.

God has raised him from the dead, and put all things under his feet.

The Trinity Doctrine does not say there is just one God, to confuse who the I AM is. That is some Modern fake of the original.

I am not defending the Original, or against it, included in the Original it also says we must be Roman Cathloic.

Much, much, much, later, Protestants copied some of Romes belief's and added it their own belief's. Holy Water is a pretty cool concept, I wish it would have made it in.

Don't take my word for anything, google it, look it up and study the History.

 

[elijah23]

Hello all,

I am hoping this question isn't too simplistic in nature. I am interested to know if there is any significance to the words 'I AM' spoken by God and written in upper case letters in the old testament. However, in the new testament when Jesus says 'I am' this is no longer written in upper case. I am interested as this may prove a strong foundation for me to grasp the Trinity.

I have been struggling to find an answer to this question for a while now.

Thanks heaps in advance

Pat

• In the Old Testament, I think the Lord is simply explaining himself. "I AM" does just that. He is who he is. He is our Lord - our Creator and Savior. In the New Testament, I am not aware of any moment where he (Jesus - God in flesh) is introducing himself. There is no need for him, therefore, to refer to himself as "I AM."

 

[Kathi]

Hello all,

I am hoping this question isn't too simplistic in nature. I am interested to know if there is any significance to the words 'I AM' spoken by God and written in upper case letters in the old testament. However, in the new testament when Jesus says 'I am' this is no longer written in upper case. I am interested as this may prove a strong foundation for me to grasp the Trinity.

I have been struggling to find an answer to this question for a while now.

Thanks heaps in advance

Pat

Can you please show me Scripture for when I AM is not upper case?

 

[BigSodaExposer]

The difference is only in the way the English translators rendered these words. There was no difference between upper and lower case letters, either in the Greek or Hebrew manuscripts.

The TOG​

I disagree with that. It all has a significance. Like spelling LORD all uppercase in the OT to represent Jehovah the lord of host, the mighty one and holy one of Israel. Jesus never once referred to himself as the lord of host.

 

[TOG]

I disagree with that. It all has a significance. Like spelling LORD all uppercase in the OT to represent Jehovah the lord of host, the mighty one and holy one of Israel. Jesus never once referred to himself as the lord of host.

Disagree all you want, but Hebrew has never had upper and lowercase letters. There is only one version of each letter. Modern Greek has both upper and lowercase letters, but that has not always been the case. At certain times, Greek has been written with only today's uppercase letters, and at other times only with the lowercase letters. If there was no difference originally, then it came from the translators.

The TOG​