Why do Christians quote God as saying "I am that I am"?

Question

Why don't they ever quote where he says "I am what I am"?

ug, ug, ug, ug, ug.

Answer 1

God is Popeye?

Whoa....Bluto had better back off, and quick.

Answer 2

This comes from a translation of the Hebrew word, YHWH, which when transliterated with the addition of vowels is rendered Yahweh or Jehovah. It is an emphatic form of I am, and is similiar to another construction in Hebrew, the emphatic repeat. Instead of merely saying that something was destroyed, they say that it was destroyed with destruction. It sounds foreing or awkward to the English speaker because it is a construction we don't use.

The name, or as the Jews call it, the ineffable name could just as easily be translated as "Self-Existant." The repeated I am is an attempt to convey this.

Tom

Answer 3

Its from the Bible, though that is on a part of the verse.

Exo 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.

The Skeptical Christian
Grace, Hope, Love, Faith, Peace, Freedom
PEG

Answer 4

In Exodus 3:13, Moses says when he goes back to the Israelites and says God sent him, they will ask what God's Name is. In Exodus 3:14, God replies to Moses by saying, "I am that I am" and "tell them I am has sent you."

Answer 5

I was gonna say that sounds a little more like Popeye than God, but you beat me to it.

Answer 6

i wonder is " i am that i am " syntacticly correct ? i am not engish but it looks an odd sentence to me, if it isnt correct then my next question is how is it possible that a translation of (hebrew?) to english in the bible is syntacticly incorrect

Answer 7

Because He is God and He will be whoever He is and no one can change Him or what He wants.

Answer 8

I'm a Christian and I'll give you a different and just as valid answer, honestly.

"The Apocryphon of John
(The Secret Book of John - The Secret Revelation of John)"

He said to me, "John, John, why do you doubt, or why are you afraid? You are not unfamiliar with this image, are you? - that is, do not be timid! - I am the one who is with you (pl.) always. I am the Father, I am the Mother, I am the Son. I am the undefiled and incorruptible one. Now I have come to teach you what is and what was and what will come to pass, that you may know the things which are not revealed and those which are revealed, and to teach you concerning the unwavering race of the perfect Man. Now, therefore, lift up your face, that you may receive the things that I shall teach you today, and may tell them to your fellow spirits who are from the unwavering race of the perfect Man."
"He is the invisible Spirit, of whom it is not right to think of him as a god, or something similar. For he is more than a god, since there is nothing above him, for no one lords it over him. For he does not exist in something inferior to him, since everything exists in him. For it is he who establishes himself. He is eternal, since he does not need anything. For he is total perfection. He did not lack anything, that he might be completed by it; rather he is always completely perfect in light. He is illimitable, since there is no one prior to him to set limits to him. He is unsearchable, since there exists no one prior to him to examine him. He is immeasurable, since there was no one prior to him to measure him. He is invisible, since no one saw him. He is eternal, since he exists eternally. He is ineffable, since no one was able to comprehend him to speak about him. He is unnameable, since there is no one prior to him to give him a name.

"He is immeasurable light, which is pure, holy (and) immaculate. He is ineffable, being perfect in incorruptibility. (He is) not in perfection, nor in blessedness, nor in divinity, but he is far superior. He is not corporeal nor is he incorporeal. He is neither large nor is he small. There is no way to say, 'What is his quantity?' or, 'What is his quality?', for no one can know him. He is not someone among (other) beings, rather he is far superior. Not that he is (simply) superior, but his essence does not partake in the aeons nor in time. For he who partakes in an aeon was prepared beforehand. Time was not apportioned to him, since he does not receive anything from another, for it would be received on loan. For he who precedes someone does not lack, that he may receive from him. For rather, it is the latter that looks expectantly at him in his light.

"For the perfection is majestic. He is pure, immeasurable mind. He is an aeon-giving aeon. He is life-giving life. He is a blessedness-giving blessed one. He is knowledge-giving knowledge. He is goodness-giving goodness. He is mercy and redemption-giving mercy. He is grace-giving grace, not because he possesses it, but because he gives the immeasurable, incomprehensible light.

"How am I to speak with you about him? His aeon is indestructible, at rest and existing in silence, reposing (and) being prior to everything. For he is the head of all the aeons, and it is he who gives them strength in his goodness. For we know not the ineffable things, and we do not understand what is immeasurable, except for him who came forth from him, namely (from) the Father. For it is he who told it to us alone. For it is he who looks at himself in his light which surrounds him, namely the spring of the water of life. And it is he who gives to all the aeons and in every way, (and) who gazes upon his image which he sees in the spring of the Spirit. It is he who puts his desire in his water-light which is in the spring of the pure light-water which surrounds him.

For more click on this link: http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn.html

Although, you might want the short version which is, "I am what I am"?

Answer 9

So you don't like spinach?

I hates it!

Answer 10

"I yam what I yam and tha's all what I yam." Popeye.