John 8:58 – ‘Jesus said… I am…’ (There Is No ‘Trinity’)

Brief Summary

Showing how the popular phrase rendered in English ‘…I am…’, actually means ‘I existed’ in the book of John, upon review of the Strong’s Concordance.

Thus, Christ in no place claims to be G-d, rather is simply communicating that he existed in heaven, before Abraham existed.

This statement angered the dear scribes and Pharisees as it meant that the Messiah (Christ) was infact claiming that he had actually seen Abraham the Patriarch who lived thousands of years prior on the earth (ref. John 8:57).

Begin

The ever popular ‘…I am…’ verse found in the book of John is often used to support the claim for the incorrect doctrine known as the ‘trinity’.

Here, John 8:58 is explained in context – without malice – in order to show that when the Messiah (Christ) said ‘…I am…’, that this simply means ‘he existed, before Abraham’.

The verse in the KJV translation reads as follows;

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
John 8:58 KJV ^{[unclear in this instance (without malice)]}

The Clearer Translation of John 8:58 which will be explained in an easy-to-read manner, is as follows;

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I existed/was.
John 8:58 Clearer Translation

The Interlinear Text

The word rendered as I ‘am‘ in John 8:58, is the Strong’s Concordance Greek word number 1510;

As per G1510’s definitions, usage, and recorded appearances in the Scriptures – this can indeed be legally translated as ‘existed’, or ‘was’;

What does this all mean?

‘…I existed/was…’ therefore is simply referring to how Christ (the Messiah) existed before G-d had sent him to the earth.

Now that this has been established, some Holy Scriptures that show us that Christ (Messiah) did in fact pre-exist in heaven before being born on earth, include Proverbs 8:12 and 8:22, which link with Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:43-45;

‘I wisdom…
The LORD made me as the beginning of His way,
The first of His works of old.‘
(Proverbs 8:12, 8:22 JPS Tanakh 1917. ^{Also see NASB.})

‘The Son of Man… wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
(Matthew 11:19 ESV)

‘The Son of Man … wisdom is justified by all her children.”
(Luke 7:34-35 ESV).

Here, Proverbs speaks of how ‘wisdom’ was made by the LORD (made by God), and with these Scriptures, Matthew and Luke then clarify and confirm the riddle of Proverbs 8 – in that ‘wisdom’ is an alias or ‘nickname’ of sorts for the ‘Son of Man’, Christ (Messiah).

Proverbs 8:12 and 8:22 thus show us that Christ was ‘made’, and in turn existed in the beginning of creation ‘at the first of…’ [God’s] ‘…works of old.’ [ref. JPS Tanakh 1917; see also Brenton Septuagint Translation, NET Bible, Berean Study Bible, NASB, and the NLT etc., in this instance.]

 Another verse, which clarifies that the risen King Messiah (Christ) indeed existed before being born on the earth is Micah 5:2 (or 5:1, depending on your translation);

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
(Micah 5:2 ESV)

Here we read that a leader was expected to come forth from Bethlehem to be ruler in Israel, but at the same time – his coming forth is from ‘ancient days’ – i.e.;

‘he was born, then he leads many on earth to G-d with sound instruction, then he was raised from the dead – though with this; he existed before his walk on the earth, from ancient days.’

May the holy G-d bless you beyond maximum; believing in His risen Son the Lord Jesus Christ (Adonai Yehoshua HaMoshiach). Amen.