John 8:58Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Since they said that He was the son of the carpenter and imagined nothing greater about Him, He gradually leads them up to a lofty understanding of Himself. Why did He not say, “Before Abraham was, I was,” but “I am”? Just as His Father used this word of Himself, “I am,” so He also used it. It signifies the eternal existence of being, independent of any time. Therefore His words also seemed blasphemous to them.

What then does the Lord say? “Before Abraham was, I am.” Notice, He did not say, “Before Abraham was, I was,” but, “I am.” This saying, “I am,” is more proper to God, because it signifies continuous and everlasting being. Thus His Father also spoke of Himself in the Old Testament: “I am He who is” (Ex 3:14). Of Abraham, as one corruptible, He fittingly said “was.” For what has received being also passes away. But the word “I am” points to freedom from every corruption and to divine eternity.

Again Christ turns to His customary and beloved manner of instruction. Sometimes He speaks very enigmatically and, by shading His exposition with various veils, does not allow it to be clear to all. But when He saw that His hearers understood nothing, He stripped His speech of every obscurity. He set it forth in a clear and simple form, and this is what He hastens to do here. Since He finds that they understand nothing, although a long discourse has already been spoken, they cannot grasp that He is eternal, as One who proceeds from the eternal Father. They cannot grasp that He is incomparably higher than Abraham, as God.

The angered Jews answered, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" (Jn 8:57). And the Lord said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am" (cf. Jn 8:58). Weigh the words and understand the mystery. "Before Abraham was made." Understand this: "was made," fieret, belongs to human creation, but "I am," sum, to the divine essence. "Was made," because Abraham was a creature. He did not say, "Before Abraham was, esset, I was, eram." Rather He said, "Before Abraham was made, who could not have been made except by Me, I am." Nor did He say, "Before Abraham was made, I was made." For "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen 1:1). But "in the beginning was the Word" (Jn 1:1). "Before Abraham was made, I am." Know the Creator. Distinguish the creature. He who spoke became the seed of Abraham. But so that Abraham himself might appear, He existed before Abraham.

“Jesus said to them: Truly, truly, I say to you: before Abraham was, I am,” as God. He did not say, “I was,” but “I am,” as One who always exists. “To come into being” (γενεσθαι) is said of what is created. “I am” is said of the uncreated, and also of what is created.

Our Redeemer graciously draws them away from gazing on His flesh and leads them to the contemplation of the Godhead, saying, "Before Abraham was, I am." For "before" belongs to past time, while "I am" belongs to the present. Since the Godhead has neither past nor future time, He does not say, "I was before Abraham." He says, "Before Abraham, I am." Therefore it is said to Moses, "God said to Moses, I am He who is. And He said, Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: He who is, Jehovah, has sent me to you" (Ex 3:14). Therefore Abraham had both "before" and "after," because he could both arrive by his presence and depart through the course of life. But the Truth has "to be always," because for Him nothing begins in a prior time or ends in a later one.

To these words of malice and blasphemy the Son of God answered, "I am before Abraham was." Then those hardened in their unbelief, His supposed followers, took up stones to stone Him as a blasphemer. From all these conversations with the Jews in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles and shortly after it, with the people, with His enemies, and with those who had shown inclination to faith, one thing becomes clear. His opponents were strong there, and they could grow still more in number and power. Even those who had shown inclination to faith went over to their side. Those who remained faithful in their souls were powerless and despised in the eyes of the nobles. They were despised by men proud of their outward holiness. They remained unlearned men.

The Jews understand the saying of Jesus Christ, that Abraham saw His day, in the sense that Abraham saw with bodily eyes the time of Jesus Christ's appearing on earth and saw Him Himself. Therefore, they infer from this, Jesus wants to say that He lived already in Abraham's time. Fifty years was the age until which Levites served at the tabernacle (Num 7:3; 8:25). The meaning of the objection is that Jesus Christ had not even grown old. To this Jesus Christ answers by pointing to His pre-eternal being and existence: "Before Abraham was, I am." The present tense of the verb "am" points to eternal existence, for which even the past is present. Moreover, the very verb εἰμί forms a contrast with γενέσθαι. It is the contrast between eternal being and created appearance.

The Pharisees’ intention to stone Jesus. To this question Jesus gives a decisive answer, whose meaning was clear even to the Pharisees, who had lost the key of understanding: “Before Abraham was,” before he was born and lived, “I am.” The Pharisees understood that He was speaking of His eternity and therefore of His Divinity.

To this Christ answered with an even more solemn revelation of His Godhead, saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you: before Abraham was, I am.” In these words He revealed to them the dread mystery of His pre-eternal being, His preexistence before entering the temple of a mortal body. But this great and dread revelation of His Divinity only irritated the Jews still more.

"Truly, truly, I say," and so forth. With an emphatic indication of the truth of His answer, the Lord tells His questioners that He is older than Abraham, indeed, that He is eternal. "Before Abraham was," that is, before Abraham was born and lived, "I am." The latter expression, "I am," indicates not only that the Lord existed before Abraham, but also His eternity. It recalls, and perhaps is taken from, the saying of the Psalmist in which he depicts the eternity of Jehovah God. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or the earth and the world were formed, from everlasting to everlasting, You are" (Ps 89:2). Thus clearly Christ teaches His eternity and, consequently, His divinity (cf. Chrysostom and Theophylact). The Jews understood these words in this way, as is clear from what follows.

The Pharisees gave Jesus' words their own false meaning. He said that Abraham joyfully saw His day. But they interpret this as though, according to His words, He had lived in Abraham's time. Why did they say, "You are not yet fifty years old"? Among the Jews, the age of fifty was regarded as the most mature age of manhood, after which old age followed. The Levites could continue their service only until fifty years of age (Num 4:3, 23, 35, 39; Num 8:24-25). Thus the Jews meant to say to Christ: You have not yet reached mature manhood, yet You present Yourself as a contemporary of Abraham. "Before Abraham was born, I am," the Savior answered. Πρὶν γενέσθαι means not "was," but "was born." γενέσθαι stands in contrast to being, εἶναι, as in the usage of Mk 4:22; Acts 26:29; 1 Cor 3:18.

We have already seen in verse 24 that this "I am" is the same most sacred name that was declared to Israel through Moses: Yahweh, or Jehovah, "He who is," or "I am Yahweh." When in the Old Testament the Lord speaks of Himself as known by revelation, He says, "I am Jehovah," or Yahweh. That is, "I am He who is." This means, "I am He who is unchangeably and eternally the same as Himself, and who is known to Israel under the name He who is." This is the name of the second Hypostasis of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, the Hypostasis who reveals God to men. By saying of Himself, "I am," the Lord clearly reveals to His hearers who He is. He shows His identity with the God of the Covenant.