Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageJesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I tell you—before Abraham was ever born, I AM."
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GYeshua said to them, "Amen, amen, I tell you—before Avraham came into being, I AM."
KJV
King James VersionJesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
BSB
Berean Standard Bible“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
Footnotes
This is the theological apex of the chapter and one of the most explosive claims in all of Scripture, and its force is entirely grammatical. "πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι" uses the aorist infinitive γενέσθαι (genesthai)—to come into being, to be born—an event punctuated in time. But Yeshua/Jesus does not respond with "I was" (ēmēn, the expected past tense); He responds with "ἐγὼ εἰμί"—the simple, timeless present: "I AM." The contrast mirrors the grammar of Exodus 3:14 (LXX: ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν) where YHWH's eternal self-existence is distinguished from all created, contingent, time-bound being. Abraham came into being (aorist); Yeshua/Jesus simply is (present)—eternally, beyond the categories of past and future. The crowd's immediate response—picking up stones for blasphemy (Lev 24:16)—confirms they understood the claim precisely and literally. FOG renders "before Avraham came into being" to honour the aorist and its theological import; FOG Message uses "before Abraham was ever born" for emotional immediacy, preserving the temporal contrast if not every nuance of the aorist infinitive.
