“I’VE FOUND A MISTAKE …!”

Hello ABM,

I’ve found a mistake in the following verse … “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24). Most, if not all, scholars agree that the italics of John 8:24 and John 8:28 shouldn’t be there as it’s not in the Greek. Later in the chapter Christ says he is the “I am” (Jn 8:58), therefore vs 24/26 shouldn’t have the italics “he”. It would be sufficient for Christ to merely say “I am”.

(From William B., Brisbane)

Dear William,

Thank you for your interest. If we could start at the beginning.

 THE OUTLINE OF JOHN 8:12-59 HAS FOUR PARTS

1. Jesus tells the Jews who he is 2. The Jews argue 3. Jesus tells them who he REALLY is 4. The Jews explode!

PART 1:  John 8:12-28

Christ reveals different aspects of himself with the words “I am …” followed by various descriptions as shown:

v12 I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness

v16 I am not alone but I and the Father that sent me

v18 I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me

v23 Ye are from beneath; I am from above:

v23 ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

v24 for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins

v28 then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself

Suppose a man appears at your front door simply saying “I am”. You would reply “What do you mean “I am”? How can I help you? What do you want?” He would have to add something like “I am here to pour the concrete, or I am here to fix the fence” with a purpose attached to his visit.

Similarly, Christ, instead of telling the Jews at this point, that he is the “I am”, God manifest in the flesh, he warms them up to it with his place of origin, nature and purpose in being sent from the Father in heaven.

PART 2: John 8:33-57

The Jews fire up and start to argue with Abraham being their father, never being in bondage to anyone, not being born of fornication, accusing Jesus to be a Samaritan and having a devil, and mocking Jesus that he would say he was greater than Abraham and so on.

Christ answers back with ‘interest’, clearly telling them their father is the devil, they are liars, they do not know God the Father and so on. They couldn’t believe their ears! They start to get upset!

PART 3: John 8:56-58

Christ then reveals he is God saying “I was before Abraham – I am the I am! I am THE LORD God JEHOVAH.”

PART 4: John 8:59

The volcano erupts! They blow up as one! They take up stones to kill him. The Jews were enraged, livid, gnashing their teeth, that Christ would state “Oh, by the way, before Abraham was, I am.” (Jn 8:58). They went ‘nuts’ and wanted to kill him. Christ was calling himself God LORD JEHOVAH.

 NOW, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “I AM” (Ex 3:14); “I am” (Jn 8:58); “I am he” (Jn 8:24, John 8:28)

Briefly, the three are all God but in different manifestations.

“I AM” is the LORD God JEHOVAH of the Old Testament (Is 12:2; Ex 3:14). This is in capital letters.

“I am” is Christ saying he is JEHOVAH in the flesh. This is in lower case letters.

“I am he” is Christ not saying he is JEHOVAH at this stage, as he adds his origin, nature and purpose.

1. “I AM” (Ex 3:14)

God simply states who he is with no reasons or debate as in the first verse of the Bible. God, if it so pleases him, answers no questions to anyone, anytime or anywhere, about who, where, when, how or what he is. He simply states “I AM THAT I AM”. God is a separate entity of 14 characteristics of being self-existent; without beginning; without end; eternal; all self-sufficient; uncaused; independent; an inexhaustible fountain of being; everlasting; unchangeable; the same yesterday; the same today; the same forever; that he will be.

2. “I am” (Jn 8:58)

Christ does not say he is “I AM”. He says “I am”. Why? They are both God but

“I AM” is exclusively reserved for the LORD God JEHOVAH (with capitals) in the Old Testament.

“I am” is exclusively reserved for the Lord God Jesus Christ (lower case letters) in the New Testament.

This is why Christ states in Jn 8:58 that he is “I am” but not “I AM”. Although Christ is God, he takes the ‘lower seat’ from his Father in heaven, and this is the reason for the ‘lesser’ lower case letters.

Christ tells them that God is a Spirit in heaven – the “I AM”, has now become God in the flesh as the “I am”.

Christ as the Son of God, issued out of and the only begotten of God, is the God “I AM” in the “I am”. The “I am” is technically not the “I AM”.

3. “I am he” (Jn 8:24, John 8:28)

The italic word “he” is vitally necessary here. Christ is not telling them that he is the “I am” at this stage, as he keeps his ‘powder dry’ till verse 58. The title of “I am” is not being used at this stage as Christ is simply telling them who he is in normal conversation. He says “I am a person who is the light of the world and so on.” It’s as if you are telling someone about yourself with “I am from Australia, and I am not alone as I am with my family.”

In summary:

1. Without the italic ‘he’ in verses 24 and 28, to miss the incredible depth, accuracy and astounding revelation that can only be found in the King James Bible’s English language! You can’t “SEEK IN THE GREEK”!

2. The mere fact that it is not in ‘the greek’ simply demonstrates how inadequate the Greek language is

3. Furthermore it shows that the English language is a superior language that gives correct and full revelation

4. it shows how the ‘greek’ lacks the distinction between the three manifestations of ‘I AM’, ‘I am’ and ‘I am he’

5. This is why God had it translated from the Greek into the more perfect language of the English.

6. Contrary to all popular scholarship, the italic “he’ MUST be included!

As someone once said

“THE GREEK IS A FOOT-PEDAL BICYCLE COMPARED TO THE ENGLISH ROLLS ROYCE CAR.”

**** ****

Harley Hitchcock

www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com

“CONTACT US”