The "I Am" of the Fourth Gospel: A Study in Johannine Usage and Thought"The mysterious phrase 'I am' in the Gospel of John has long fascinated and puzzled readers. Was Jesus equating himself with Yahweh? Philip B. Harner delves into this expression, particularly where it appears without a predicate, as in 'before Abraham was, I am.' In assessing the background and sources of the nine verses that contain the absolute 'I am,' the author takes account of Exodus, Isaiah, Judaic traditions, the Hellenistic environment, and the Synoptic tradition. Dr. Harner concludes that the term was central to John's theology and was based on a parallel Hebrew expression found in Second Isaiah. At the heart of this provocative study lies the question of whether or not the 'I am' claim is part of the post-Easter Christology of the early church." -- |
Contents
Possible Sources and Backgrounds | 6 |
Johns Use of the Phrase I Am | 37 |
Concluding Observations | 49 |
Copyright | |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham absolute ego eimi absolute sense account of Jesus anoki anoki hu background believe Biblical Bultmann C. F. D. Moule C. H. Dodd century A.D. Christ connection context creation faith Dead Sea scrolls disciples double meaning Eduard Schweizer eimi in John evidently example Exodus expressed predicate expression ani hu Father Fourth Gospel Gospel of John Hellenistic hu in Second indicates interpretation Israel Jesus says Jesus walking Jews Joachim Jeremias John's Judaism liturgy lord of history Luke Mark Matthew meaning of ego messiah ministry monotheism name Yahweh occurs Old Testament passages Passover phrase ani hu phrase ego eimi possible predicate noun predicateless ego eimi presents Yahweh problem redeemer of Israel reference reflect regarded relation represents Jesus Rudolf Bultmann Second Isaiah Septuagint Septuagint translates similar speaks statement suggest surrogate synoptic Gospels synoptic tradition theme trial scenes understand understood verse wehu Wetter words ego eimi writings YHWH