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'I am that I am' (Exodus 3.14) has been an exegetical puzzle to
many generations of biblical scholars as well as theologians: is it
about the present or the future, is it about God's presence or his
hiddenness? Den Hertog argues that such exegetical questions
have been framed too narrowly, and that this deeply suggestive
statement about God needs to be set in a broader context.
First, the statement must be understood within the narrative of
Moses' call as an answer to his problem: how can his being
launched on a radically new, prophetic mission be reconciled
with the features of the God of the patriarchs? This book
substantiates the view that the meaning of the statement is
deliberately indefinite: 'I may be who I may be'. In its context, it
points to Yhwh's other face, the possibility of his manifesting
himself differently from the way he is thought to be.
Secondly, the after-history of this text should also be considered,
since it has shaped our understanding in one way or another. This
book pays particular attention to the renderings by the ancient
and early modern versions (including the King James Version).
The point of departure is the Septuagint rendering 'I am the one
being', which has traditionally been associated with the Greek
philosophical concept of absolute Being. This rendering,
however, appears to have originally signified God's active
presence: 'I am the one who shows himself to be there'.
Thirdly, this fundamental theological statement invites further a
psychoanalytic interpretation. Den Hertog adopts a Lacanian
perspective, according to which 'I am that I am' represents an
irruption of an 'I' from nowhere, from beyond usual thought and
expectation. In its context this means that in a situation of crisis a
new orientation is born, one that undermines the pharaonic powers.
