SEV Biblia, Chapter 8:58
Les dijo Jess: De cierto, de cierto os digo: Antes que Abraham fuese, YO SOY.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - John 8:58
Verse 58. Before Abraham was, I am.] The following is a literal translation of Calmet's note on this passage:-"I am from all eternity. I have existed before all ages. You consider in me only the person who speaks to you, and who has appeared to you within a particular time. But besides this human nature, which ye think ye know, there is in me a Divine and eternal nature. Both, united, subsist together in my person. Abraham knew how to distinguish them. He adored me as his God; and desired me as his saviour. He has seen me in my eternity, and he predicted my coming into the world." On the same verse Bishop Pearce speaks as follows:-"What Jesus here says relates (I think) to his existence antecedent to Abraham's days, and not to his having been the Christ appointed and foretold before that time; for, if Jesus had meant this, the answer I apprehend would not have been a pertinent one. He might have been appointed and foretold for the Christ; but if he had not had an existence before Abraham's days, neither could he have seen Abraham, (as, according to our English translation, the Jews suppose him to have said,) nor could Abraham have seen him, as I suppose the Jews understood him to have said in the preceding verse, to which words of the Jews the words of Jesus here are intended as an answer."
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 58. Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you , etc.] Whether it will be believed or not, it is certainly fact: before Abraham was, I am ; which is to be understood, not of his being in the purpose and decree of God, foreordained to sufferings, and to glory; for so all the elect of God may be said to be before Abraham, being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world: or that Christ was man, before Abraham became the father of many nations; that is, before the calling of the Gentiles; for nothing is said in the text about his being the father of many nations; it is a bold and impudent addition to it: and besides, Abraham was made the father of many nations, as Ishmaelites, Israelites, Hagarenes, etc. long before the incarnation of Christ; yea, he was so from the very promise in ( Genesis 17:5), which so runs, a father of many nations have I made thee; so that this appears a false sense of the text, which is to be understood of the deity, eternity, and immutability of Christ, and refers to the passage in ( Exodus 3:14). I am that I am I am hath sent me unto you, the true Jehovah; and so Christ was before Abraham was in being, the everlasting I am, the eternal God, which is, and was, and is to come: he appeared in an human form to our first parents before Abraham was, and was manifested as the Mediator, Saviour, and living Redeemer, to whom all the patriarchs before Abraham looked, and by whom they were saved: he was concerned in the creation of all things out of nothing, as the efficient cause thereof; he was set up from everlasting as Mediator; and the covenant of grace was made with him, and the blessings and promises of it were put into his hands before the world began; the eternal election of men to everlasting life was made in him before the foundation of the world; and he had a glory with his Father before the world was; yea, from all eternity he was the Son of God, of the same nature with him, and equal to him; and his being of the same nature proves his eternity, as well as deity, that he is from everlasting to everlasting God; and is what he ever was, and will be what he now is: he is immutable, the same today, yesterday, and for ever; in his nature, love, grace, and fulness, he is the invariable and unchangeable I am.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 54-59 - Christ and all that are his, depend upon God for honour. Men may be able to dispute about God, yet may not know him. Such as know not God and obey not the gospel of Christ, are put together, 2Th 1:8. All wh rightly know anything of Christ, earnestly desire to know more of him Those who discern the dawn of the light of the Sun of Righteousness wish to see his rising. "Before Abraham was, I AM." This speaks Abraha a creature, and our Lord the Creator; well, therefore, might he make himself greater than Abraham. I AM, is the name of God, Ex 3:14; it speaks his self-existence; he is the First and the Last, ever the same Re 1:8. Thus he was not only before Abraham, but before all worlds, P 8:23; Joh 1:1. As Mediator, he was the appointed Messiah, long befor Abraham; the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Re 13:8. The Lord Jesus was made of God Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, an Redemption, to Adam, and Abel, and all that lived and died by faith in him, before Abraham. The Jews were about to stone Jesus for blasphemy but he withdrew; by his miraculous power he passed through them unhurt Let us stedfastly profess what we know and believe concerning God; an if heirs of Abraham's faith, we shall rejoice in looking forward to that day when the Saviour shall appear in glory, to the confusion of his enemies, and to complete the salvation of all who believe in him __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
ειπεν 2036 5627 V-2AAI-3S αυτοις 846 P-DPM ο 3588 T-NSM ιησους 2424 N-NSM αμην 281 HEB αμην 281 HEB λεγω 3004 5719 V-PAI-1S υμιν 5213 P-2DP πριν 4250 ADV αβρααμ 11 N-PRI γενεσθαι 1096 5635 V-2ADN εγω 1473 P-1NS ειμι 1510 5748 V-PXI-1S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
58. Was, I am (genesqai, ejgw eijmi). It is important to observe the distinction between the two verbs. Abraham's life was under the conditions of time, and therefore had a temporal beginning. Hence, Abraham came into being, or was born (genesqai). Jesus' life was from and to eternity. Hence the formula for absolute, timeless existence, I am (egw eimi). See on i. 3; vii. 34.
