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John 8:58

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

John 8:58

Verse 58 of 59

Scripture focus

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

John 8:58 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on John 8:58

Theological / Devotional

Verily. See on Matt. 5:18. The statement to follow was most solemn, and fraught with eternal significance.

Before Abraham was. Rather, “before Abraham came into existence.” The verb is ginomai as in eh. 1:6 and not eimi as later in this verse (see on eh. 1:1). The same combination of verbs occurs in the LXX of Ps. 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth [ ginomai ] ... from everlasting to everlasting thou art [eimi] God.” See on John 1:1.

I am. Gr. ego eimi , here used in its absolute sense and understood by the Jews as a claim to divinity (see on v. 24). For a discussion of this title of Deity see Vol. I, pp. 170-173.

By SdaBc