Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh

"And God said to Moses, 'Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh,' continuing, 'Thus shall you say to the Israelites, "Ehyeh sent me to you." ' " (Exodus 3:13)

Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה) is an epithet of God in the Bible. It occurs in Exodus 3:14 and is usually translated as "I Am that I Am". The word אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה (ehyé, "I am") is a form of the verb הָיָה‎ (hayá, "to be").

Quotes

When HaShem commanded him to go down to Egypt and liberate the Jewish people from bondage, he asked HaShem, "When I come to the children of Israel and I say to them, 'The God of your forefathers sent me to you,' they will ask me, 'What is His name,' What [לי מה־שמו מה‎] should I say to them?" … Now examine the final letters and discover the singular name HaShem-יהו״ה‎ as follows:
ל״י מ״ה שמ״ו מ״ה‎
… It therefore is evident from the simple meaning of the verse itself, as well as from its letters and its numerical value, that Moshe, peace be upon him, was asking the Holy One, blessed is He, about the secret of His singular and preexistent name, Hashem-יהו״ה‎.
- Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla: Ginat Egoz. As translated in HaShem Is One: A Translation and Adaptation into English of the Wondrous Book Ginat Egoz, vol. 1, "The Name Ehe"yeh-אהי״ה‎ which is drawn from the reality of the Name HaShem-יהו״ה‎", pp. 158–160. Rabbi Amiram Markel and Yehudah Shimon Markel. The Neirot Foundation (2020). ISBN 979-86-22-98878-3.

After the destruction of the Second Temple there remained no trace of knowledge as to the pronunciation of the Name (see Jehovah). The commentators, however, agree as to its interpretation, that it denotes the eternal and everlasting existence of God, and that it is a composition of היה הוה יהיה‎ (meaning "a Being of the Past, the Present, and the Future"). The name Ehyeh (אהיה‎) denotes His potency in the immediate future, and is part of Yhwh. The phrase "ehyeh-asher-ehyeh" (Ex. iii. 14) is interpreted by some authorities as "I will be because I will be," using the second part as a gloss and referring to God's promise, "Certainly I will be [ehyeh] with thee" (Ex. iii. 12).
- J. F. McLaughlin, Judah David Eisenstein et al.: "Names of God". Jewish Encyclopedia.

Moses has the Being of beings say, "I am he who is." … "I am, therefore something exists," seems to us a more primal and simple basis for experimental philosophy. Ego sum qui sum: that is God's first revelation in man and of man in the world, and it is also the first axiom of occult philosophy. אהיה אשר אהיה. Being is being. Thus the principle behind this philosophy is what is, and there is nothing hypothetical or uncertain about it.
- Eliphas Levi: The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, ch. 1, "The Inititate", pp. 27–29. TarcherPerigee (2017). ISBN 0-14-311103-5.

"The Law Is." In this Aphorism the word "is" denotes "present, actual existence." It is as strong a term denoting actual existence as the English language supplies. … The word "Is" has the significance of the word "Am" in the following quotation from Exodus, iii. 14, in the Hebrew Sacred Books: "And God said unto Moses, 'I am That I am'; and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I am hath sent me unto you." This then is the sense in which the Arcane Aphorism employs the term "is"—in the sense of Absolute Existence.
- William Walker Atkinson: The Arcane Teaching, ch. 2, "Absolute Law", pp. 15–16. YOGeBooks (2010). ISBN 978‑1‑61183‑088‑0.

And what is God's self-definition in the Bible? Did God say, "I have always been, and I always will be?" Of course not. That would have given reality to past and future. God said: "I am that I am." No time here, just presence.
- Eckhart Tolle: The Power of Now, ch. 5, "The State of Presence". Namaste Publishing (1999). ISBN 1-57731-480-8.

When Moses asks his name and credentials, Yahweh replies with a pun which, as we shall see, would exercise monotheists for centuries. Instead of revealing his name directly, he answers: "I Am Who I Am (Ehyeh asher ehyeh)." … When the Bible uses a phrase like: "they went where they went", it means: "I haven't the faintest idea where they went". So when Moses asks who he is, God replies in effect: "Never you mind who I am!" or "Mind your own business!"
- Karen Armstrong: A History of God, ch. 1, "In the Beginning…", pp. 21–22. Ballantine Books (1993). ISBN 0-345-38456-3.

One might wish to follow Martin Buber and understand this "explanation" of the name as a refusal of revelation: "I am who I am" and what that is is none of your business. Nevertheless, in the following verses this explanation seems to be explicitly put into a relation to the name Yhwh. … The form ʾehyeh echoes first of all the promise of assistance of verse 12, ʾehyeh ̔immāk. "I shall be" or "I am" refers in the first instance to the god who "is with [Moses]" and promises Moses help.
- Thomas Römer: The Invention of God, ch. 1, "The God of Israel and His Name", p. 29. Harvard University Press (2016). ISBN 0-674-50497-6.

God: [whispering] Moses…
Moses: Here I am.
God: Take the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.
Moses: Who are You?
God: I Am that I Am.
Moses: I don't understand.
God: I am the God of your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- The Prince of Egypt (1998)

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