Full study: meaning in the Torah, judaism and the Midrash; translations and reading more faithful in the key of action–reaction (middah keneged middah)
1) exact Context in Parashat Shemot: why appears this phrase
The expression “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” arises at the time of the founding of Parshat Shemot: the revelation of the burning bush. Moshe raises a practical problem and theological at the same time.
Practical: “I'm going to ask: ‘What is Your Name?’ What do I answer?”
Theological: Israel, in slavery, you need to know what type of relationship offers the God who promises redemption.
The key passage reads:
Moshe: “If you ask me what is His Name, what shall I say?”
God: “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh... Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: 'Ehyeh sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:13-14).
This is not a minor detail: Shemot means “Names”, and its maximum point is that God responds with a “Name” that works as definition relational, not as a mere label.
VIDEO IN SPANISH OF THE PARASHAT SHEMOT 2026
2) Analysis of the Hebrew: what it means ehyeh and why the translation “I am who I am” is debatable
2.1 The verbal form
Ehyeh (אֶהְיֶה) is the first person singular of the verb “to be” in the Hebrew bible, in a way that it can express future or this dynamicaccording to the context. In Exodus 3, the context is the promise, accompaniment and history in place.
So, to translate that as “I am” (present static) you may lose the hue central: “I will be / I will be”.
2.2 The problem of “I AM THAT I AM / I am who I am”
Translation-traditional —widespread by reading christian and philosophical— suggests a definition ontological abstract: “God is the Being”. This reading exists and has a history, but it is not the only, nor necessarily the most faithful to the narrative context of Shemot.
The jewish tradition often results the idea as:
“I will be what I will be / I will Be what I will be”while preserving the historical axis, and relational.
VIDEO IN ENGLISH OF THE PARASHAT SHEMOT 2026
3) classical Interpretations in the rabbinic tradition (Midrash and Talmud)
3.1 Talmud: God “with you in this suffering and in the future”
The Talmud formula a direct reading, historical, and pastoral care:
God says to Moshe (accurate summary):
“I was with you in this submission and I will be with you in the subjugation of other kingdoms.”
Moshe responds:
“Why mention other forms of suffering? Pretty much have this.”
God accepts:
“Say only: Ehyeh sent me.”
Key: the “Name” communicates accompaniment in the story, not a metaphysical concept.
3.2 Rashi: God is with Israel in this and future anguish
Rashiby relying on that line talmudic, explains, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” as:
“I will be with them in this suffering and I will be with them in the subjugation of other kingdoms.”
The shaft is not to define God in the abstract, but to explain how it manifests itself: faithful presence within the pain and the process of redemption.
3.3 Shemot Rabbah 3:6: “I Am called according to My actions”
The Midrash introduces a perspective decisive:
“My Name want to know: according to My actions I Am called.”
And lists various divine Names linked to the different manifestations (El Shaddai, Tzevaot, Elohim, etc).
Here it is clear that, in Shemot, the Name is not a magic soundbut a mode of connection and a the way you act.
4) Interpretations of philosophical beans: the approach of Rambam (Maimonides)
Maimonides addresses “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” from the negative theology: avoid attribute to God human qualities as properties literals.
In this context, the passage is associated to the idea that God is the absolute reality, which is incomparable with the created beings, and that the “Name” that points to a form of existence only.
Reading is an intellectually powerful, but in the context of Parshat Shemot it should be noted with clarity:
Rambam works the text into key metaphysics, while the peshat narrative focuses on presence, promise and covenant historic.
5) The central point: “I will be with you as you will be with me”
5.1 Reciprocity of the covenant
In the readings rabbinical appears a formulation of reciprocity:
God reveals himself as the presence to the extent that Israel is open to the relationship.
It is not a static hostname, but a dynamic relationship.
Expressed in practical terms:
“As you behave with me, so I will conduct myself with you.”
This is the reading that stands out as particularly faithful.
5.2 why it fits in with the context of Shemot
Shemot it is not a philosophical treatise; it is the story of slavery, identity crisis, order of warranties, promise of redemption and the birth of the national pact.
When Moshe asks “What Name shall I say?”, the real question is:
“What kind of God now comes to look for them?”
The answer is “Ehyeh” works as commitment of presencebut not automatic nor abstract, but presence in the key of covenant live, as a divine response to the available human.
6) Action–reaction and middah keneged middah
6.1 Definition rabbinical
Middah keneged middah (“measure for measure”), says that the moral reality has correspondence: the extent to which a person measures, with that same is measured.
It is not “karma” is popular, but a doctrine of ethics, and the judiciary of the rabbinic literature.
6.2 Connection with “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh”
“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” not only says that God will be, but how it will bein a way that reflects the relationship.
If the Midrash says, “I Am called according to My actions”, and another tradition emphasizes “as you with me, and I with you”, then the “Name” expresses a principle:
God manifests himself in a manner proportional and consistent with the direction of the relationship.
This fits perfectly with middah keneged middah: correspondence, not arbitrariness.
7) translations: which reduce the sense and what to preserve
7.1 Translations issues
“I am who I am” may suggest immobility ontological and erase the historical axis-relational.
“I am” as this pure, you can hide the component of promise.
Are not false at all, but yes incomplete to capture the sense of Shemot.
7.2 Translation more faithful to the context
“I will be who I will be” / “I will Be as I will be” preserved the time-verbal-oriented future-active presence and the idea of historical process.
7.3 The interpretive translation is most useful for the message
“I will be with you as you will be with me.”
It is not a literal word-for-word, but a translation-explanatory, based on the Midrash, the reciprocity and the notion of a Name as a mode of divine action.
8) The interpretation most faithful and why
Read more faithful to Parshat Shemot it includes three layers:
- Narrative: promise of active presence in the story.
- Classical exegetical: presence in this affliction, and in the future.
- Midráshica relational: the Name expresses a mode of action that is aligned with the relationship.
Hence the key phrase:
“I will be with you as you will be with me.”
9) Synthesis
In Shemotwhen Israel is reduced to slavery and anonymity, Moshe asks for a Name. And God responds:
Not with a label.
Not with a concept.
With a promise and a rule of relationship.
“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means:
“I do not reduce to a definition.”
“I don't freeze in an idea.”
“I know My presence with you, and that presence is expressed according to the pact, and the human response.”
