Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh
5 quotes
"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. . Being is being. Thus the principle behind this philosophy is what is, and there is nothing hypothetical or uncertain about it."
""The Law Is." In this Aphorism the word "" 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, ' That '; and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: hath sent me unto you." This then is the sense in which the Arcane Aphorism employs the term ""—in the sense of Absolute Existence."
"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: "." No time here, just presence."
"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!""
"The exact significance of verse 14 is not completely clear, and it has been the subject of much scholarly speculation. 'Yahweh' is evidently related to the verb 'to be', and the King James Version of the Bible renders it as . The best translation is probably either '; that is who I am' (New English Bible) or 'I am the one who is' (New Jerusalem Bible)."