Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

Bible translations vary considerably; regardless of the translation, the translators will inevitably interpret the text they are rendering into another language. This insight is hardly new. Maimonides writes to his foremost translator, Yehudah Ibn Tibbon, some sobering words about the art of translation:

“One who wishes to translate from one language to another and tries to translate word by word, while adhering to the original order of words, the subject will ultimately produce a confusing and unreadable translation. Instead, the translator should first try to grasp the sense of the subject matter. He should then proceed to explain the material according to his understanding into the other language. Such an undertaking is impossible without transposing the word order of a text. Sometimes, he will have to utilize several words to express a single idea, while at other times the translator will utilize fewer words to express a more complex thought. Adding and deleting words is necessary—if one wishes to produce a lucid translation of an original work . . .”

With this thought in mind, one of the strangest Hebraic passages of the entire Bible demands a thoughtful rendering:

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה תֹאמַר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶהְיֶה שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם׃

Here are some interesting choices to consider:

“I am He who is. And he said, This is what you are to say to the Israelites, I am has sent me to you.  [Exodus 3:13‑14]. [New Jerusalem Bible]

” I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” [The American Standard Version [1901]]

“I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you.””  [The New Revised Standard Version and the New International Version, New America Standard Version of 1995]

“I AM; that is who I am.Tell them I AM  has sent you to them.” [New English Bible]

” I Shall Be As I Shall Be” And He said, “I Shall Be has sent you.”  [The ArtScroll Translation ]

” I will be what I will be, ” and He said, “So shall you say to the children of Israel, “Eheyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.” [Judaica Press]

” I AM the One Who Always Is.” He went on: “Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me forth to you.” [The Word Biblical Commentary]

“I will always be present as I will always be present”  [Martin Buber--by the way, this is also Rashi's understanding of the phrase.]

Note that the message Moses delivered from God to the Israelites had nothing to do with abstract or obtuse theology, which would have meant nothing to an enslaved people. Instead, Moses informs his people about the new creation God was going to do—the God of Exodus, is a God who initiates new beginnings. YHWH announces that He will not allow those forces that are destructive to reduce the Jewish people to non-being.[1]

Soon, the forces that God created from the beginning of creation would converge and force a change in Egypt. The “nobody”  slaves, whom Pharaoh never even recognized as human beings, would soon bear witness to the creative power of God’s Word that would ultimately deconstruct centuries of exploitation and oppression. Although Moses’ words had little to do with “being” as an abstraction, it had everything to do with the process of “becoming.”

In my opinion, of all the translations that speak to the heart of the matter,  I think Buber’s translation is the best of the group. From Buber’s understanding we may deduce God assured Moses, that He would always be present in the life of His people; He has not abandoned them, for even as they suffer, so too, does God’s Shechina ‑‑ the feminine aspect of Divinity. God promised Moses that He and would bring about a new beginning for a suffering people.

Of special note, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes  in his commentary:  “I shall be that which I wish to be” ‑‑ All other beings are what they have to be; their existence is bound up with the will of the One Who alone can say not merely “I am,” but, “I shall be that which I wish to be.”  This name expresses the personal, absolute and free‑willed essence of God.  By declaring not, “I am,” but, “I shall be”; i.e., by speaking in terms of the future which is totally dependent upon His will, He has proclaimed that uniquely Jewish conception of God, an entirely new conception, which is to be made known to mankind through Israel’s deliverance from Mitzrayim and which eventually will bring about the redemption of the whole world.”

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Notes:

[1] Seforno’s Commentary to the Torah