I AM ani אֲנִ֤י,

I AM   ani אֲנִ֤י,

Hebrew Strong’s Number H589

Numbers 18:20 I AM,   ani, אֲנִ֤י,

“And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.” (KJV)

 

When the Lord uses the name ‘I Am Yahweh (Jehovah), it is almost always a declaration of who He is, and there is significant meaning to this declaration.  Let’s take a few moments and look at this name and use the meanings of the letters of Hebrew to help us in understanding what is fully meant when the Lord says ‘I AM’.

The Ancient meaning of Ani, derived from the meaning of the Hebrew letters is:  ‘the deed of life of the strong leader’ who is Jesus.

This meaning of Ani is confirmed in John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”  (KJV) and in John 14:6 where Christ himself said:  “I am the way the truth, the life…” 

‘I AM’ is found in the Bible over 300 times in the Old Testament.  When the Lord uses ‘I AM’ in the Bible, He is revealing Himself to the children of Israel that He is life. Jesus was making it clear that He is life! 

In John 10:10 Christ says "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

 

Here is a thought on 'I Am', found in the Old Testament--and a way we can use the meaning to encourage others.

The Hebrew word/name 'Ani'-- means that that Jesus is life--and greeting others that "Jesus is life', like we greet each other on Resurrection Sunday that 'He is Risen' could possibly encourage others--and knowing that Jesus is life, gives us all the more reason to pray.

On Resurrection Sunday (Easter) we often greet each other saying—‘He is Risen’ and others respond saying ‘He is Risen, Indeed’.  That’s only once a year we do that—I would like to suggest another way to greet and encourage people—would be to ask them to meditate on and thank the Lord that He is the deed of Life.  Yes, Jesus is life!

Greeting people and letting them know that Jesus is Life—may really encourage other and may encourage them to pray! 

Prayer Focus:  Father, Thank you that you are the deed of life.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


Reference and Resource material for the above: 

Definitions of the letters in the name ‘Ani’ אֲנִ֤י

א    Aleph - Strength, leader, first, Strong Leader- strong, power, leader (2b) In the ancient Hebrew, it was drawn like the head of an ox which is part of the original meaning of the letter (1a)  A

נ    Nun-Propagate increase, In the ancient picture language this was pictured as a seed in ancient Hebrew and Egyptian cultures. As mentioned, it represented "life", "posterity", "active life". As used in the Hebrew word for son, the nun symbolized the posterity of the house.(also by inference, Nun could mean purpose—it is used in the word—potter  יֹצְרֵ֔נוּ –see Isaiah 64:8—a potter makes a vessel for a specific purpose) Continue, heir, son (2b)  N

י    Yud - deed done, to make, power, might- Work, worship (2b) In the ancient Hebrew word pictures, the yod was drawn as a "hand" complete with the arm above the elbow. It symbolized work done - (1a) (note: the picture of the letter Yud-of how it was represented in the Alphabet used in Abraham’s time, looks like a possible handshake-a handshake could infer ‘agreement’.)    JI

Possible Letter Meaning of I AM, ani  אֲנִ֣י: the deed of life of the strong leader 

Note:  The above Hebrew letter definitions have been developed through personal detailed research of approximately 3 years of study.  

©2015 Lewis Turner