Lexicon

G1510 - eimi

Strong's: G1510 · BLB lookup Pronunciation: i-mee' Part of speech: verb (the principal verb of being in Greek; highly irregular) Hebrew equivalent (LXX): H1961 - hayah (הָיָה, "to be"), the verb behind YHWH's ehyeh and the divine name itself. NT occurrences: ~2,462 (extremely frequent, eimi is one of the most common verbs in Greek)

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

To be, to exist (substantive / existential sense), to be in actuality (Hebrews 11:6 hoti estin "that He is").
To be present, to come (locative / adventive sense), to be at a place.
To occur, to happen, to come to pass (eventive sense).
(Copular) to be, joining subject to predicate in identity / quality / class statements ("Jesus is Lord").
(Identifying) to be the same as, strong identification.

The verb is the bedrock of Greek predication. Like English to be, it covers existence, identity, presence, and copulative function, but in a much more theologically loaded way given its connection to OT divine self-revelation.

Theological force, the egō eimi sayings of Jesus

The first-person singular present eimi, egō eimi (ἐγώ εἰμί), "I am", is the most theologically loaded two-word phrase in the Greek New Testament when spoken by Jesus. Two distinct usages:

1. Predicated egō eimi, "I am [the X]"

The seven famous "I AM" sayings of John, where Jesus identifies Himself with a predicate of theological-Messianic weight:

John 6:35, 48, egō eimi ho artos tēs zōēs, "I AM the bread of life"
John 8:12; 9:5, egō eimi to phōs tou kosmou, "I AM the light of the world"
John 10:7, 9, egō eimi hē thyra, "I AM the door"
John 10:11, 14, egō eimi ho poimēn ho kalos, "I AM the good shepherd"
John 11:25, egō eimi hē anastasis kai hē zōē, "I AM the resurrection and the life"
John 14.6, egō eimi hē hodos kai hē alētheia kai hē zōē, "I AM the way, and the truth, and the life"
John 15:1, 5, egō eimi hē ampelos hē alēthinē, "I AM the true vine"

Each pairs egō eimi with a predicate that attributes a divine-Messianic role to Jesus. While individually any one egō eimi + predicate is grammatically ordinary, the cumulative pattern in John forms a Christological argument: Jesus claims roles only God / the Messiah can fulfill.

2. Absolute egō eimi, "I AM" without predicate

The theologically explosive case: Jesus uses egō eimi with no following predicate, in contexts where the audience would hear divine self-identification:

John 8:24, ean gar mē pisteusēte hoti egō eimi, "unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins" (no predicate)
John 8:28, tote gnōsesthe hoti egō eimi, "then you will know that I AM"
John 8.58 (pending), prin Abraam genesthai egō eimi, "before Abraham was, I AM", the audience picks up stones (v. 59); they understood the deity claim
John 13:19, hina pisteusēte hotan genētai hoti egō eimi
John 18:5-6, Jesus's arrest in Gethsemane: egō eimi, and the soldiers fall to the ground (v. 6)

The absolute egō eimi directly invokes:

LXX Exodus 3:14, egō eimi ho ōn, "I AM the One who is" (God to Moses; see Exodus 3.14 and H1961 - hayah)
LXX Isaiah 41:4; 43:10, 13; 46:4; 48:12, God's repeated egō eimi self-identifications

When Jesus speaks the absolute egō eimi in John 8:58 ("before Abraham was, I AM"), He is directly claiming the divine name. The audience reaction (stones for blasphemy) confirms the recognition.

This is one of the strongest single-verse arguments for Christ's deity in the entire NT. The egō eimi pattern is systematic in John, it cannot be coincidental or grammatical accident.

Notable verses (beyond the egō eimi pattern)

Existential / philosophical

Hebrews 11:6, "he who comes to God must believe that He is (hoti estin)", God's existence as foundational
Acts 17:28, "in Him we live and move and exist (esmen)", Paul on Mars Hill citing pagan poet
Revelation 1:4, 8; 4:8, ho ōn kai ho ēn kai ho erchomenos, "the One who is, who was, and who is to come", three forms of eimi spanning past / present / future, the divine-name paraphrase

Copular (basic predication)

Thousands of verses; Iēsous Christos kyrios estin "Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:11)
"I and the Father are one" (John 10:30, esmen, plural form of eimi)

Locative / adventive

"where I am, there will my servant be also" (John 12:26)
"where two or three are gathered" (Matthew 18:20)

Connection to John 8:58

The most theologically explosive single use of eimi in Scripture. The exchange (John 8:56-59):

Jesus: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it and was glad."
Jews: "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
Jesus: prin Abraam genesthai egō eimi, "before Abraham came into being, I AM"
Jews: pick up stones to throw at Him (v. 59)

The verb-tense contrast is sharp:

Genesthai (aorist infinitive of ginomai), "came into being" / "was born", the verb proper for creatures coming into being
Egō eimi (present indicative), "I AM", Jesus's eternal-present existence

The structure echoes John 1.1's contrast (ēn for the Word vs egeneto for created things). Jesus claims:

He existed before Abraham came into being.
He exists in the eternal present (eimi, not ēn, though the LXX Ex 3:14 also uses eimi / ho ōn).
The implicit quotation of Exodus 3:14's egō eimi ho ōn.

The audience response, stoning for blasphemy, confirms they heard the divine self-identification. Jesus did not correct the inference.

Patristic / scholarly note

The patristic tradition uniformly reads the absolute egō eimi sayings as deity-claims. Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho 49, 75, c. AD 160), Tertullian (Against Marcion IV.7, c. AD 207), Athanasius (Discourses Against the Arians II.31), Cyril of Alexandria (Commentary on John) all cite John 8:58 as a foundational deity proof.

Modern conservative: D. A. Carson (The Gospel According to John PNTC, 1991); Andreas Köstenberger (John BECNT, 2004); Larry Hurtado (Lord Jesus Christ, 2003); Richard Bauckham (Jesus and the God of Israel, 2008). The "divine identity Christology" school, that Jesus is identified with YHWH, not as a second deity, finds in the egō eimi sayings its NT centerpiece.

The Watchtower / NWT response, translating John 8:58 as "I have been" rather than "I AM", has no Greek warrant; eimi is unambiguously present tense, and the deliberate echo of Exodus 3:14 LXX is too systematic to dismiss.

Verses in this codex

See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here.