在英文KJV版本的圣经中是这样的:
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.【Genesis15:7】这里用的是LORD是“主”的意思。
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.【Exodus6:3】这里用的是 JEHOVAH耶和华(Jehovah),或译雅威、耶威(Yahveh、Yahweh),《圣经·旧约》中上帝名字的音译。
在英文KJV版本的圣经中是这样的:
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.【Exodus3:14-15】
《旧约 圣经》的相关章节,在《出埃及记》第3章第14节中,神回答摩西的问名,答道:ehyeh' aser' ehyeh,英文“钦定本”(KJV)译作: I am that I am。中文对这句话一般翻译作,“我是自有永有的。”
I AM THAT I AM,这是神回答自己姓名时使用的说法。
神说,“我是自有永有的”,于是“自有永有”的希伯来文“YH WH”的发音“Yahweb”,演化出了“耶和华”这个主名,但事实上,这并不是神的真正名字,神的回答仅仅是为人们提供了一个可以称呼他的方式,然而它又同时提醒着人们,不可能用一个名字来概括神的存在。