I am he, I who am talking with you appears in New English Bible as “I am he, I who am speaking to you now,” and in Jerusalem Bible as “ ‘I who am speaking to you,’ said Jesus, ‘I am he.’ ” Most other translations are similar, though Moffatt has “ ‘I am messiah,’ said Jesus, ‘I who am talking to you’ ”; and Phillips has “ ‘I am Christ speaking to you,’ said Jesus.”

In the Gospel of John “I am” is used by Jesus in three different ways. (1) It appears as a simple statement of identity here and in 6.20; 18.5. (2) Most often it is followed by a predicate nominative (6.35,51; 8.12; 10.7,9,11,14; 11.25; 14.6; 15.1,5). (3) In several places it is used absolutely (8.24,28,58; 13.19). It is necessary to look closely at the absolute use of the “I am” phrase. Although there is evidence of a similar use of this term in religious literature outside of the Old Testament, the Old Testament itself offers the best background for understanding its use in this Gospel. In Exodus 3.14, the passage in which God reveals his name to Moses, the Greek Septuagint translates the Hebrew phrase as “I am the Existing One.” This rendition of the divine name in Greek is paralleled elsewhere in the Old Testament. In several places “I am” (literally Hebrew “I [am] he”) is used as a divine name. Isaiah 43.25 is a striking example. There the Hebrew reads “I, I am he, who wipes out sin.” The Septuagint translates the first part of this statement by using the Greek expression “I am” twice. The Septuagint actually reads “I am I am who wipes out sin” and the second “I am” becomes the equivalent of the divine name. The Greek translators of Isaiah 51.12 followed the same procedure. In later Judaism the expression “I am” is definitely used as a name for God. Thus in those passages in John’s Gospel where Jesus uses “I am” in an absolute sense, he is identifying himself with God. Good News Translation attempts to indicate this divine title by the use of capitals (in 8.24,28; 13.19 Good News Translation has ‘I AM WHO I AM’; in 8.58 ‘I AM’).

In some languages the closest equivalent to the response of Jesus is “I am that very person, I the one who am talking with you” or “I, as the person talking to you, am that very individual” or “I am just that person, the same one who is talking to you.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .