Byzantique

John

21 chapters · Text-Critical English New Testament (TCENT)

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BookJohn

I AM

The Gospel of John features several prominent instances where Jesus says "ἐγώ εἰμι" (egō eimi) which commentators have understood beyond the plain grammatical sense (e.g., "I am" or "It is I"), understanding it as a translation of the Hebrew name of God: I AM.

I've repeatedly heard there are seven such statements in the Gospel of John (e.g., 6:48; 9:5; 10:7, 11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1),1 but there are more.

Bultmann created a classification system for the ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi) statements:2

  1. Präsentationsformel: Introduction as a response to "Who are you?"
  2. Qualifikationsformel: Description of the subject in response to "What are you?"
  3. Identifikationsformel: The speaker self-identifies as another thing or person ("The predicate sums up the identity of the subject"3).
  4. Rekognitionsformel: Distinguishes the subject from others in response to "Who is the one who ...?" ("I" is here truly a predicate).

Bultmann further distinguishes between three grammatical uses:4

  • Absolute with no predicate (John 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19). These can most clearly be optimally translated as "I AM" (and the sentences often feel incomplete due to the missing predicate, which sometimes leads translators to say "I am he," supplying the pronoun).
  • Predicate is not explicitly stated but is understood (e.g., John 4:26; 6:20; 18:55).
  • With a predicate nominative, which are the classic seven instances where Jesus speaks figuratively concerning Himself, which Brown lists as follows:6
    1. "I am the bread of life" (6:35, 48, 51)
    2. "I am the light of the world" (8:12; 9:5)
    3. "I am the gate for the sheep" (10:7, 9)
    4. "I am the good shepherd" (10:11, 14)
    5. "I am the resurrection and the life" (11:25)
    6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (14:6)
    7. "I am the true vine" (15:1, 5)
  • 1Cf., e.g., Donald Alfred Hagner, The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 279.
  • 2Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel according to John (I–XII): Introduction, Translation, and Notes, vol. 29, Anchor Bible (Doubleday, 1966), 533.
  • 3Ibid.
  • 4Ibid., 533–534.
  • 5Brown is (rightfully) reticent to give this example since in context it seems clear that the name of God is intended since the mob "drew back and fell to the ground" (18:6) upon its utterance.
  • 6Some other statements are possibly also in this category, such as 8:18 ("I am he who gives testimony on my behalf"), 8:23.
BookJohn

Signs

There are seven miracles which St. John refers to as "signs" (σημεῖα / sēmeia) in his Gospel account:

  1. Changing water to wine at wedding in Cana (2:1-11, cf. v. 11)
  2. Healing an official's son (4:46-54; cf. v. 54)
  3. Healing the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda (5:2-15)
  4. Feeding the 5,000 (6:1-14; cf. v. 14)
  5. Walking on the water (6:15-21)
  6. Healing the man born blind (9; cf. v. 16)
  7. Raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-44; cf. 12:17-18)

At Jesus' first sign, St. John records that He revealed His glory:

Jesus did this in Cana of Galilee as the first of his signs. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

John 2:11

At Jesus' seventh sign, He told Martha (Lazarus' sister):

Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell yoʋ that if yoʋ believed yoʋ would see the glory of God?”

John 11:40