Exodus 3:14

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
God	אֱלֹהִים֙ 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
said	וַיֹּ֤אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֔ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
AM	אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה 'eh.Yeh	H1961	to exist · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
AM	אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה 'eh.Yeh	H1961	to exist · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
said	וַיֹּ֗אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
say	תֹאמַר֙ to.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
children	לִבְנֵ֣י liv.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
sent	שְׁלָחַ֥נִי she.la.Cha.ni	H7971	to send away · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art G…
Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God…
Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from…
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 3:11-15

God, having spoken to Moses, allows him also a liberty of speech, which he here improves; and, I. He objects his own insufficiency for the service he was called to (Exo 3:11): Who am I? He thinks himself unworthy of the honour, and not par negotio - equal to the task. He thinks he wants courage, and therefore cannot go to Pharaoh, to make a demand which might cost the demandant his head: he thinks he wants skill, and therefore cannot bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt; they are unarmed, undisciplined, quite dispirited, utterly unable to help themselves; it is morally impossible to bring them out. 1. Moses was incomparably the fittest of any man living for this work, eminent for…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 3:10

Come now therefore, and I will send thee--Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Exo 3:11, Exo 3:13; Exo 4:1, Exo 4:10] all of which were successfully met and removed--and the happy issue of his labors was minutely described. Next: Exodus Chapter 4

Adam Clarke on Exodus 3:14

I am that I am - אהיה אשר אהיה Eheyeh asher Eheyeh. These words have been variously understood. The Vulgate translates Ego Sum Qui Sum, I am who am. The Septuagint, Εγω ειμι ὁ Ων, I am he who exists. The Syriac, the Persic, and the Chaldee preserve the original words without any gloss. The Arabic paraphrases them, The Eternal, who passes not away; which is the same interpretation given by Abul Farajius, who also preserves the original words, and gives the above as their interpretation. The Targum of Jonathan, and the Jerusalem Targum paraphrase the words thus: "He who spake, and the world was; who spake, and all things existed." As the original words literally signify, I will be what I will…

Read the whole note in the console

The Church Fathers

Christ therefore is and always is; for he who is, always is. And Christ always is, of whom Moses says, "He that is has sent me."
— Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.1.26

The Lord said, I am that I am, thou shalt say, I AM hath sent me unto you. This is the true Name of God -- Eternity.
— Ambrose of Milan, Letter 8.8

Hold most firmly and never doubt that the holy Trinity, the only true God, just as it is eternal, is likewise the only one by nature unchangeable. He indicates this when he says to his servant Moses, "I am which I am."
— Fulgentius of Ruspe, TO PETER ON THE FAITH 9.50

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Angels — By the word “angels” (i.e. “messengers” of God) we ordinarily understand a race of spiritual beings of a nature exalted far above that of man, although infinitely removed from that of God—whose…
Bush — In which Jehovah appeared to Moses in the wilderness (Ex. 3:2; Acts 7:30). It is difficult to say what particular kind of plant or bush is here meant. Probably it was the mimosa or acacia. The words…
God — (A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew ’El, from a word meaning to be strong; (2) of ’Eloah_, plural _’Elohim. The singular…
Jehovah — The special and significant name (not merely an appellative title such as Lord [adonai]) by which God revealed himself to the ancient Hebrews (Ex. 6:2, 3). This name, the Tetragrammaton of the…
Moses — Drawn (or Egypt. mesu, “son;” hence Rameses, royal son). On the invitation of Pharaoh (Gen. 45:17-25), Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. This immigration took place probably about 350 years…
Plagues, The Ten — The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12.
Census · .By Moses — .By Moses
I Am That I Am · A name of — A name of
Moses · Commissioned as lea — Commissioned as lea
Prophets · INSPIRATION OF — INSPIRATION OF
Religion · .Moses — .Moses
Revelation · God reveals himself to Moses — God reveals himself to Moses

Exodus 3:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 3:11-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 3:10

Adam Clarke on Exodus 3:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 3:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 3:11-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 3:10

Adam Clarke on Exodus 3:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 3:14

John Calvin on Exodus 3:10-14

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 3:13-15

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 3:14

Rashi on Exodus 3:14