Matthew Poole and continuators on Exodus 3:14

14 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.

A most comprehensive and significant name▪ and most proper for the present occasion. It notes 1. the reality of his being: whereas Idols ar[illegible: 1+ letters] nothings, 1 Cor. 8. 4. all their di[illegible: 1+ letters]inity is onely in the fancies and opinions of men. 2. the necessariness, eternity, and unchangeableness of his being: whereas all other beings once were not, and, if he please, they shall be no more, and all their being was derived from him, and wholly depends upon him; and he onely is by and from himself. 3. the constancy and certainty of his nature and will and word: The sence is, I am the same that ever I was, the same who made the promises to Abraham, &c. and am now come to perform them, who as I can do what I please, so I will do what I have said. Heb. I [illegible: 1+ letters]hall b[illegible: 1+ letters] what I shall be. He useth the future tense, either, 1. because that tense in the use of the Hebrew tongue comprehends all times, past, present, and to come, to signify that all times are alike to God, and all are present to him and therefore what is here I shall be is rendred I am by Christ, Io[illegible: 1+ letters]. 8. 58. See Psal. 90. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 8. or 2. to intimate, though darkly, according to that state and age of the Church, the mystery of Christs incarnation, I shall be what I shall [illegible: 1 word], i. e. God-man, and I who now come in an invisible, though glorious▪ manner to deliver you from this temporal bondage, shall in d[illegible: 1+ letters]e time come▪ visibly and by incarnation to save you and all my people from a far worse slavery and misery, [illegible: 1 word] from your sins, and from wrath to come. Of this name of God see Rev. 1. 4, 8. and 16. 5.

Heb. [illegible: 1 word], a word of the same root and signification with I am▪ See Exod. 6. 3. This he addes because God was best known to the [illegible: 1 word] by that name, and to shew that though he had given himself a new name, yet he was the same God.

Marginal references: * chap 6. 3. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Heb. 13. 8. Rev. [illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1+ letters].