Scripture was not written in English. But we read English translations. In the Semitic and Greek of the writers of scripture the essence of holy words, be it those of God or of the Son of God, saying “I am” have subtly different meanings to the English translations. Lost in translation, it is a serious problem. In the Book of Isaiah God is on record having spoken through Isaiah the prophet to tell us “I am” in words of Semitic language which have subtlety of meaning conveying extreme longevity, more lifetime longevity than any other. In the Book of Revelation both Jesus, God’s Son and also the Father, God Almighty, are on record having spoken through the prophet and apostle John, to tell us “I am” in words of Ancient Greek language which have that same meaning of great longevity. Translated into English there is loss of certainty of such meaning. In English I can say “Hey, don’t push in! I am next in this queue!” and it lacks any longevity of being next in the queue since if that fellow succeeds in pushing in front of me I will not be next at all. I can use that same “I am” to say “I am the boss in this office” but my retirement might be next week. I can say “I am your father” and it will be true long after I said it. In rare situations my “I am” might convey greatly long lasting “I am”, such as in answer to a question “Who is the longest reigning champion of the famous book club darts team?” Well that isn’t true, but it could be. I might in some fantasy universe be able to proudly reply “I am!”. Yet the words, if the language is English, only convey longevity in particular contexts. In scriptures the announcement of God and also of Christ His Son saying “I am” is sometimes meant to be unambiguous in its proclamation of unequaled longevity. In Isaiah 41:4,
“Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he.”
In Revelation, the “I am” is also several times accompanied by that same phrase “the first and the last”. In the Gospel of John chapter 8, Jesus says it in answer to ridicule by Jewish religious sectarians who expressed incredulity that Jesus could be any older than fifty when Jesus implied to having seen Abraham who lived thousands of years earlier. Jesus said “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am”. It had such weight, implying again unsurpassed longevity of Jesus in some mysterious sense, that they picked up stones to try to stone Him, though He simply walked away.
