"I Am that I Am" is a common English translation of the Hebrew phrase (; )– also "I am who (I) am", "I will become what I choose to become", "I am what I am", "I will be what I will be", "I create what(ever) I create", or "I am the Existing One". The traditional English translation within Judaism favours "I will be what I will be" because the imperfective aspect in Modern Hebrew is normally used for future tense and there is no present tense with direct object of the verb "to be" in the Hebrew language.
Etymology
() is the first of three responses given to Moses when he asks for God's name in the Book of Exodus. The word () is the first person singular imperfective form of (), 'to be', and owing to the peculiarities of Hebrew grammar means 'I am' and 'I will be'. The meaning of the longer phrase is debated, and might be seen as a promise ('I will be with you') or as statement of incomparability ('I am without equal').
Biblical Hebrew did not distinguish between grammatical tenses. It instead had an aspectual system in which the perfect denoted any actions that have been completed, and imperfect denoted any actions that are not yet completed. Because these aspects had such general ambiguity on the time and placement of an action, the "past tense" would be represented by a verb conjugated in the imperfect and prefixed by (wa-), the "future tense" would be represented by a verb conjugated in the perfect and prefixed by , and the "present tense", generally, would be represented by a verb conjugated in the imperfect without the prefix . The word () is the first-person singular imperfect form of , 'to be', which in Modern Hebrew indicates the future tense 'I will be'; however, it lacks the prefix which would necessitate this reading in Biblical Hebrew. It therefore may be translated as 'I am', but also as a modal form such as 'I may be', 'I would be', 'I could be', etc. Accordingly, the whole phrase can be rendered in English not only as 'I am that I am' but also as 'I will be what I will be' or 'I will be who I will be', or 'I shall prove to be whatsoever I shall prove to be' or even 'I will be because I will be'. Other renderings include: Leeser, 'I Will Be that I Will Be'; Rotherham, 'I Will Become whatsoever I please', Greek, (), 'I am The Being' in the Septuagint, and Philo, and the Book of Revelation or, 'I am The Existing One'; Latin, , 'I am Who I am'.
The word () is a relative pronoun whose meaning depends on the immediate context, so that 'that', 'who', 'which', or 'where' are all possible translations of that word.
An application of this phrase used in the New Testament has "But by the grace of God I am what I am ..." (1 Corinthians 15:10).
Interpretation
According to the Hebrew Bible, in the encounter of the burning bush () Moses asks what he is to say to the Israelites when they ask what gods ('Elohiym) have sent him to them, and YHWH replies, "I am who I am", adding, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you. It is somewhat remarkable that despite this exchange, the Israelites never ask Moses for the name of God. Then there are a number of probably unanswerable questions, including who it is that does not know God's name, Moses or the Israelites (most commentators take it that it is Moses who does not know, meaning that the Israelites will ask him the name in order to prove his credentials), and just what the statement means.
The last can be approached in three ways: "I am who I am" – an evasion of Moses' question; "I am who am" or "I am he who is" – a statement of the nature of Israel's God; I Am' is who I am", or "I am because I am" – this version has not played a major part in scholarly discussion of the phrase, but the first variant has been incorporated into the New English Bible.
Roman Catholicism
St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctors of the Church, identified the Being of Exodus 3:14 with the Esse ipsum subsistens, who is God Himself, and, in metaphysics, the Being in the strong or intensive sense in whom one has all the determinations of every being in their highest degree of perfection. Therefore, this Being is actuality of every actuality (or pure Act) and perfection of all perfections. In Him, solely essence and existence (in Latin: Actus essendi) are identified. While St. Augustine had a general intuition of Him, His philosophical formulation came only with St. Thomas.