To understand the meaning of this statement, let's consider the context of the phrase "I am", attributed to Jesus. He is in the midst of a conversation with opposers, who wish to discredit him, and says (paraphrased) Abraham saw the day of his coming and rejoiced. At this they said you are not yet fifty years old and yet you have seen Abraham? In response Jesus says the disputed verse; “Most truly I say to YOU, Before Abraham came into existence, (I am/I Am/I was/I have been).” It is clear from the context that he is speaking of the past, so the verb should be conjugated in the past tense, unless it is being used as a noun, as it is done in several other places. The difference, though, is that in those places where it is used as a noun it includes the definite article, in the same way that it does for other nouns, like "the John", "the Peter", and "the Paul", it says ""the" I am". This definite article has been removed in English translations because it is redundant. However, when considering how to correctly translate from the Greek, it is of great importance to consider how it is used. In the other instances where "I am" is used as a name it says ""the" I am", in this one it does not. Do they mean the same thing, then, if they are expressed differently? If they did then every prophet scribe or apostle would be a blasphemer, for every time they declare "I am" in an innocuous statement, they would in fact be saying they are God. Common sense must prevail, and the verb "to be" is not always a name. It is made a name by what? By including the definite article, aproximately "the" in English, which is absent from this verse, meaning it is not a name and must be conjugated as a verb, in the past tense, "before Abraham I have been." If it is used as a noun in this instance, then the translators must consider the lack of a definite article and realize that an indefinite article must be inserted to retain the thoughts expressed by the original writer, reading "Before Abraham ""a" I am". Perhaps a bit awkward in English, but showing that the original thought was not an definite person, but an indefinite one, "a" man, "a" state of being, applicable to any person without inferring a claim of Godship. It is literally "I am" in the original, but it is not the same meaning as Jehovahs declaration "I am" to Moses, and is not definitive proof of the trinity, as trinitarians would imply this verse does. What it does tell us, though, is that Jesus did have a prehuman existence. Perhaps it is meant to be a noun, signifying Jesus' positionas a master worker through which all of creation was made, but leaves out the defniite article to make it apparent that he is not God, as it also does in John 1:1?

KJV: Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." NIV: Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” NKJV: Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am." NET: Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!” And finally, from the original Greek: eipen {SAID} autois o {TO THEM} Iesous {JESUS,} amen {VERILY} amen {VERILY} lego {I SAY} humin {TO YOU,} prin {BEFORE} abraam {ABRAHAM} genesthai {WAS} ego {I} eimi {AM.} Actually, there is no magic rendering from the original Greek to most translations. Jesus literally said, "Before Abraham was, I AM."

It is a good question and i feel i can answer this: RS reads: “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am [Greek, e·go´ ei·mi´].’” (NE, KJ, TEV, JB, NAB all read “I am,” some even using capital letters to convey the idea of a title. Thus they endeavor to connect the expression with Exodus 3:14, where, according to their rendering, God refers to himself by the title “I Am.”) However, in NW the latter part of John 8:58 reads: “Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” (The same idea is conveyed by the wording in AT, Mo, CBW, and SE.) Which rendering agrees with the context? The question of the Jews (verse 57) to which Jesus was replying had to do with age, not identity. Jesus’ reply logically dealt with his age, the length of his existence. Interestingly, no effort is ever made to apply e·go´ ei·mi´ as a title to the holy spirit. Says A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, by A. T. Robertson: “The verb [ei·mi´] . . . Sometimes it does express existence as a predicate like any other verb, as in [e·go´ ei·mi´] (Jo. 8:58).”—Nashville, Tenn.; 1934, p. 394. I hope this answer helped.

That Jesus existed before Abraham. That would be the simple answer. I think TulsaDavid said it well enough.

Jesus said unto them, "Verily,verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am". KJV.

14:30. I will not now speak many things with you. For the prince of this world cometh: and in me he hath not any thing. Iam non multa loquar vobiscum venit enim princeps mundi huius et in me non habet quicquam (PRINCE OF THIS WORLD REFERS TO THE DEVIL)

Too hard for me. Translation from what to what? Or do you mean interpretation?

In John 8:58 Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am” while Exodus 3:14 has God informing Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” It’s worth noting that 1 – To say I AM = God doesn’t work. If we substitute it in the verse we get “Before Abraham was, God” that clearly doesn’t make sense. If we removed the coma, arguing that the Greek manuscript from which the verse came is not likely to have punctuation marks like a coma, then we get “Before Abraham was God” - a perfectly sensible sentence. 2 - God’s “I AM” comes from the Greek ‘ho ohn’ whereas Christ’s “I am” comes from the Greek ‘ego eimi’. 3 – The Greek ‘ego eimi’ is found about 152 times in the New Testament. 4 – In the NWT version of the Bible, used by those who do not believe in the Trinity and do not regard Jesus as God the verse appears as ‘Before Abraham came into existence, I have been’ It is reasonable to say that the ‘I am’ (ego eimi) of Jesus has no more significance than the other numerous occurrences of the phrase in the NT, and all that Jesus is saying is that he existed before Abraham. That in itself is not a unique claim because according to Jeremiah 1:5, so did Jeremiah. More existence before the earthly life can be found in Proverbs 8:22-31, and according to Islam the whole of mankind had a pre-human existence. HQ 7:172 makes reference to this "When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam (mankind) - from their loins - their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "Am I not your Lord?"- They said: "Yea! We do testify!" (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: "Of this we were never aware""

whom do u want "translations" from...word translations can still be twisted....focus on the Book of John ...John's focus is the Divinity of Christ!!! I AM is in this Book many times...I AM is God ,plain and simple...but John 1:1 tells us that unless u have a book that added "a" god...i remember in Old Testament reading what God told the Israelites, "There is no Savior but ME!" and "I AM a jealous God"...HE tells the ones who can HEAR, who HE is.... :)Justme

Jesus is saying He is God,and has always been.

the correct translation ,well first u have to understand the 'time' Jesus was having trying to make the Priests KNOW this...but they could not ,they were children of the devil...but the DEVIL and his DEMONS always knew who HE was! God, the Messaih for man... so, i would like to help u realize a few things,as I said...John is to show the Divinity of Christ, oft called the "HOLIEST OF HOLIES".... SO,verse 30 & 31 Then MANY of the JEWISH LEADERS who heard HIM say these things began BELIEVING HIM TO BE THE MESSIAH.... Jesus said to them"you are truly my disciples if you live AS "I" TELL YOU TO, and you will KNOW the TRUTH and the TRUTH will SET YOU FREE." verse 44 says if u cannot SEE what HE is saying , then u are not trully HIS,because u cannot SEE, so u are children of the devil...satan is your father...and it will not be REVEALED, eyes will stay shut because of satan... 57: The Jewish leaders: "You aren't even fifty years old-sure, you've seen Abraham!"(always existed=I AM) 58:Jesus: " The absolute TRUTH is (verily means truth)that I was in existence before Abrham was ever born!"John 1:1-3 The WORD was God...The WORD was "with" God..(understand how "with " is used)...the WORD was GOD...JESUS Abraham knew HE was coming....Jesus was 1 "with " God, Jesus was God in FLESH...1:10 = But although HE MADE THE WORLD, the WORLD didn't recognize HIM... i hope this will help...it truly tells who HE was...:)justme

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Jesus was saying He is God. Go ahead and give extremely long comments denying what Jesus said He was, but remember when you do, you are calling the God of all creation a lier.

That is Jesus affirming that He is God. That He is the "I AM". And to those that say that is not he meaning. Then why did the people want to stone Him for blasphemy?

It could possibly be a reference to the passage in 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.” There is a small quasi-Christian religion based entirely upon this one verse. They worship what they call "The Mighty I AM Presence." So it could be read as "Before Abraham was I AM." Without the comma, which did not exist in either Greek or Hebrew, it could be interpreted to mean that I AM existed before Abraham was born. Blasphemous as it may seem, it could also be a different god, not YHVH at all, whose actual name was I AM [ehyeh asher ehyeh].

John 8:51 & 8:59 are more interesting: 8:51: "I tell you the Truth., if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." Pure unadulterated bullshit. The Jews were right in thinking he was 'demon-possessed' [8:52] another phrase for insanity until recently. Then comes 8:58: (JC is not letting go.) "I tell you the Truth. (Verily, verily)" Jesus answered "before Abraham was born, I am!" [Loss of sense of time & 'delusion of grandeur', proving 'mania': Jesus's insanity] 8:59: At this they picked up the stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. The question is: Why didn'y his RFather save him or smite those Jews?! Rubbish nonsense!